Category: Incidents in The Life of a Slave Girl

Harriet Jacobs is famous for her escape from slavery. Born in 1813 in Edenton, North Carolina, she persevered in the hands of her oppressors. Sexual abuse was part of her life as a child and growing up, but she successfully escaped. The experiences turned her into an impeccable author, creating the famous ‘Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl’ in 1861. It is a notable element that was rare at the time, considering she was a woman and a black one at that. It was among the fewest narratives written. She advocated for the rights of the blacks in the United States, becoming an abolitionist speaker, a social worker, and an educator. She was the daughter of Elijah and Delilah Knox, and a mother to Joseph and Louisa Matilda Jacobs. Harriet had a happy childhood with cherished moments with close family, friends, ad her mother’s mistress who helped raise her when her mother died (Jacobs, 7). Most of her life is characterized by slavery, from her parents, her brother, to her grandmother. The aspect of religion came into her life through her mother’s mistress (Jacobs, 8). She learned the precepts of God’s word through her, and later on, after a long struggle and escape, Harriet died in Washington DC in 1897.

Harriet had a memorable childhood around family, love, and friends. She only found out after six years of a happy family. The father was a carpenter and a slave as well. Once, he was the head workman because of his skills and intelligence. He had a great impact on Harriet as a father, not only a symbol of love for the family but of hope that one day they would be free. The family of mulattoes relied on the father who also had to pay his mistress 200 hundred dollars. He worked hard with the intent of buying his family back from his mistress. The author never thought herself as merchandise, considering how she was shielded and loved by the family (Jacobs, 8). The maternal grandmother was precious in her life as well, who played a remarkable role in shaping her life. As older, as she grew, so was her intelligence. She would bake crackers for the children at night with permission from the mistress (Jacobs, 9). Her popularity grew throughout the neighborhood, with several people asking her to cook for them. They later established a business that would buy their freedom. Harriet’s uncle, Benjamin, was like their brother and was a slave like the entire family, sold at an early age. Harriet’s mistress was kind and often let her play as a normal child should; she would run and jump outside and gather berries. She also had a little friend Fanny, who died young and in the hands of slavery (Jacobs, 21). Her childhood in the hands of the mistress was nothing but good memories and happiness; she taught her how to read and write.

Dr. Flint was the new master after she was taken into a new household. Like most slaves, her brother was sold as well, to the same family. Her encounter and first impression of the new environment include cold words, treatment, and cold looks. He would weep and moan in bed alone. Slaves were irrelevant to Dr. Flint, especially when it comes to their diet. He was an embodiment of cruelty, sending shivers in the lives of the servants, making them suffer even for the smallest mistakes. If his will is not met, Dr. Flint will sell his servants to a slave trader, where they would experience further torture (Jacobs, 11). He relentlessly tried to bend Harriet’s will coaxing her and whispering nasty words in her ear but never succeeded. He built Harriet a cottage away from his family so that the wife would not suspect anything. Her pea to marry a free black man was revoked violently, by the master (Jacobs, 17). She went to the extent of conceiving a child for a white lawyer so that she would be sold. However, her attempts were not fruitful since she was never sold as a slave. He constantly harassed her, even planned to put them to work in the plantations. At this stage, she escaped and lived among her neighbors, both white and black. Her life worsened and considered slavery harder for women than men. She not only denied her child but also lived in deplorable conditions; mice and rats crawled on her in her poorly lit room without ventilation.

Part of her strategies to escape slavery includes being a mother and hiding for seven years. She had to live in a crawl place for seven years and only came out at night. She hides in her grandmother’s house within her master’s domain without them noticing. All these factors provide her with the opportunity to escape. It grants the opportunity to imagine and locating the resistance against slavery. After many years of hiding, Harriet’s friend Peter organizes another escape for her. At the end of the seven years, her hideout was often hit by storms and was falling apart. By the end of this time, the building is falling apart, and rainstorms often soak her. She has to endure further the long treacherous journey to Philadelphia as a way to seek freedom (Jacobs, 118). Here, she meets with new people, a slave Fanny, the captain, and his crew, who becomes her close allies.

The aftermath of Nat Turner’s rebellion is a significant part of Harriet’s life. There are conflicting ideas about brotherhood and morals. The Christian doctrine teaches about brotherhood and love, seeing all the amoral behavior and the brutality that people who claim to be Christian change her perception. Here, she addresses the problems facing the black community. There is lawlessness, unlawful searches, and ransacking of slave cabins (Jacobs, 63). The black people were terrorized, and they were generally perceived as rebels. She begins to get an insight into the concept of religion against what society is doing. She describes the difference between religion and Christianity and the difference between whites and blacks (Jacobs, 68). The spirituality for the blacks was more rooted in their ancestral Africa, and the hypocrisy the whites depict in trying to denounce these religions (Jacobs, 43). In short, she shows how the whites thought that their culture was inferior.

From the experiences Harriet had in her life as a slave, it is evident that slavery is cruelty against humankind. People are used, demeaned and demoralized by other races to a level of utter inferiority. The most troubling aspects of being a slave include being a woman and being manipulated by one’s master to do his sexual bidding (Jacobs, 28). It is risky since there is nobody to protect them from harm. Another factor is the ransacking of slaves cabins with the notion they are rebels, treating them like animals, and being sold like merchandize.

The book is an interesting piece of history that we cannot ignore at all. Slavery took place and various devastating effects on people. Not only did it demoralize people, but it also planted a seed of hate that gave birth to racism. The book is a real picture of transpired in the past and its gruesomeness. However, it also gives hope since, in the end, slavery is banned, and the struggles of the freedom fighters bear fruit. I would recommend the book to both young and adult audiences since it bears facts and motivation to have hope even when it appears blurry.

In the slave narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the author, Harriet Jacobs, tells her journey through slavery and how she overcame it. This freedom was earned through many trials, but mostly by the of hand her master, Dr. Flint. To understand the importance of literacy between Dr.Flint and Linda, we must first understand their characterization. This will help develop reasons why and how they used literacy. This relationship, though initially based on lust, was able to persevere because of one thing that made Linda different from other slaves, her ability to read and write. Linda’s literacy facilitated Dr. Flint’s attempts to seduce her, and also made it easier to continue his obsession even after Linda ran away.

Dr. Flint and Linda have drastically different personalities. Dr. Flint uses forms of manipulation against Linda which characterizes him as obsessive or egoistic. Examples of these personality traits can be seen through Dr. Flint’s attitude towards trying to seduce Linda. Because he already has eleven children with past slaves, he thinks this gives him the entitlement to pursue Linda (Jacobs, 31). Dr. Flint is one of the most disliked characters in the book. I think Dr. Flint embodies a typical slave owner. Stereotypically, plantation owners are known for inflicting savage punishments upon the slaves. In this case, instead of physical abuse, he uses a type of mental abuse. We can see this when Dr. Flint promises to free Linda’s children if she agrees to live in a separate home with her children (Jacobs, 47). Though at first glance, living in a house with her children seems very generous, this is just a ploy Dr. Flint is using to try to get Linda alone (Jacobs, 47). If she refuses this ‘generous’ offer, he will send her and her children to work on the plantation (Jacobs, 48). Dr. Flint’s manipulative and obsessive personality is what builds Linda’s strong and determined personality. Linda was forced to withstand this abuse for years. Because of this, she was continuously getting stronger, which is what eventually resulted in her overcoming it. There are many accounts in the narrative that help build Linda’s character of determination. When Linda finally escapes the clutches of slavery, she is forced into hiding for years after. This confined, dark space would have taken victim of many others who would have tried to inhabit it, but Linda’s determination and love for her children made it possible for her to push on (Jacobs, 92).

Literacy was used for many things in the narrative, to gain knowledge, to help people but also to manipulate others for personal gain. There are many examples in the text that demonstrate these motivations of using literacy. Literacy played a major role in Linda’s life even before becoming Dr. Flint’s slave. Her first mistress taught her to read and write after Linda’s mother died at a young age (Jacobs, 5). This was a talent that was very sought after and made Linda stand out among other slaves who were considered to be unintelligent and worthless. Dr. Flint took notice of this talent, along with her lighter skin complexion and natural beauty. Using crafty ways to try to get Linda to submit to his desires. Because he knew of Linda’s literacy, he took advantage of this by writing her secret notes, knowing that none of the slaves around them would be able to read them (Jacobs, 26). These notes consisted of him telling him to meet him places, away from his wife and the other slaves (Jacobs, 26). Though this is one instance that literacy did not work in Linda’s favor, there were also times where she outwitted Dr. Flint and proved that she could still get use out of her talent. After Linda had run away from the Flint household, she stayed in hiding for years. Though she was in the same town as Dr. Flint all those years, right under his nose, she used literacy in order to trick him into thinking that she had left the state and headed to the north (Jacobs, 103). Though Linda initially learned to read and write in order to help others and help herself through furthering her education, Dr. Flint took advantage of this and tried to use it to his advantage. I think that this shows the character’s personalities further. Linda, a determined a strong woman, tried to use her talent to help her through her situations while in slavery. On the other hand, Dr. Flint tried to twist this extraordinary feat into something that could be useful to him, fueling his ego and obsession.

This use of literacy helped Linda grow throughout the story, but on the contrary, it hindered Dr. Flint from changing as he became a static character as the story progressed. Linda is always moving forward to her final goal of freedom. This motive made her character more dynamic by using her talent of literacy to move toward this goal. When Linda was still a slave with many worries of her own she took the risk of teaching an old mad how to read and write (Jacobs, 61). She took this risk in order to help others when she knew that she should be punished severely. When Linda escaped to the North, she was able to write letters to Aunt Martha in order to gain intel on Dr. Flint (Jacobs, 101). With this intel she was able to track him secretly and secure her own safety. These actions both generous and intelligent helped form her character and grow as a person. Dr. Flint on the other hand, proved to be a static character, exhibiting the same traits throughout the story. He constantly proved to be obsessive, never showing any other traits throughout the narrative. Though literacy perhaps did not start Dr. Flints obsession with Linda, it enabled it and progressed it. He continued this after Linda escaped his grasp, constantly pursuing her and trying to find her. Though it was years after she had left the south, instead of moving on with his life he stayed focused on trying to get Linda back even up until his death.

The narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl gives many insights into what it was like being a female slave and the many hardships that come along with it. Jacobs tells her story through Linda, by doing this we are able to see a unique point of view and the real and raw life she lived. Its important to understand the effects of slavery and the tools used to gain freedom from slavery in order to respect and honor what people were forced to go through during that time.

The definition of morals, according to OXFORD, is concerned with or derived from the code of interpersonal behavior that is considered right or acceptable in a particular society. Many white southerners, especially slave owners, almost acted as if these morals never existed. In the novel Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs, the author, explains her life while trying to escape her horrors and struggles of slavery. “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was written as an autobiography in the form of a memoir, to highlight the more important parts of her life” (Butler). Harriet wrote this novel showing her experiences with the almost non existent morals from her slave master, Dr. Flint. Throughout the entire book, Harriet focusus on the immorality of slavery, the many abuses, and expressing her little to no rights she had. She also showed the effect on slaveholder families.

Slaves received barely any rights from their master. Many of the rights included being able to read and write, attend church, or go into the town nearby. Slaves worked long, brutal hours under harsh conditions, for nothing for their services. As Harriet stated in the novel,

“I had not lived fourteen years in slavery for nothing. I had felt, seen, and heard enough, to read the characters, and question the motives of those around me. The war of my life had begun; and though one of God’s most powerless creatures, I resolved never to be conquered.” (Chapter 4)

Harriet had fought back against Dr Flint., her slave master. He would often punish her for even talking back. When she was a young girl, Harriet was taught to read by her mistress and this was very uncommon for a slave to be able to read and write. Since she was able to learn something slaves were not taught, she believed she can prove to the southern white people that slaves were also people that should be educated. Harriet knew she was born with basic human rights and would fight until she was free of this. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first article states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. The slave masters took advantage of the slaves for being uneducated and the color of their skin. They took the rights slaves had and made them believe that slavery was their only option.

Slave masters in the south were usually white men and were controlling everything when it came to power, assigning slaves work, and punishment. Many of the slave masters had no morality when committing the love of their wives. Many wifes of slave masters were affected by how their husbands would be attracted by the female slaves and soon it would turn into a sexual relationship. Harriet would explain in the novel how the household would change when some of the enslaved women would get pregnant. As Harriet explained in the novel,

“I was an object of her jealousy, and, consequently, of her hatred; and I knew I could not expect kindness or confidence from her under the circumstances in which I was placed. I could not blame her. Slaveholders’ wives feel as other women would under similar circumstances” (Chapter 6).

Many of the women just had to deal with what the husbands were doing to the enslaved women. Harriet would also explain that mistresses would change many of their morals because of the husbands cheating on them. The wives would also get jealous of the slave women as they believed the slave women were seducing the husband when it was the other way around, as the husband would be pushing for a sexual relationship, consentual or not. Many enslaved women tried to refuse a sexual relationship with their masters but would be forced or threatened if they would not comply. Husbands would go against their morals of loving and respecting their wives and the respect of consent from another woman. This type of action would be so common in the south and many would not speak about it.

While the slaves would fight to gain their rights, they were mostly abused for fighting back. Many believe that they were only abused physically but that is not even the entire story. Slaves went through physical abuse, mental abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. This was the 5 abuses they would go through daily during their long brutal hours on the field. Slave masters would twist their minds and almost destroy their mental state, they were still expected to work as if nothing even happened. These terrible daily abuses seemed to be normal to people in the south. According to Harriet,

If you want to be fully convinced of the abominations of slavery, go on a southern plantation, and call yourself a negro trader. Then there will be no concealment; and you will see and hear things that will seem to you impossible among human beings with immortal souls. (Chapter 9)

Harriet wanted to explain how you cannot even try to act as if this is normal to own people. She also wanted to explain the abuse and hell Dr. Flint would make her go through and if you would just go onto the plantation to hear the abuse, it would mess with your mentality.

In conclusion, the slave system was morally wrong but seemed to be normal to white southerners. The immorality of slavery included the actions the white southeners continued to show, with nothing opposing the way they were acting. With the idea of this abuse being normal, slave masters would abuse slaves and almost brainwash them to think this is all they have in life. The slaves had no rights and the abuse would affect not only the slave’s family, but the slave master’s family. Lastly, white southerners continued this cycle of life as though they weren’t harming the country and their morals were correct.

Work Cited

1. Butler, Danette, “Incidents Background Notes.” Mascoutah High School. Mascoutah, Illinois. January 2020. Lecture.
2. Alfreðsson, Guðmundur, S., and Asbjørn Eide. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1999.
3. Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2001. Print

Once upon a time it was thought that slavery was just a normal developed part of life. It didn’t matter if you owned a slave or if you were a slave, this was just how things were. The slave narratives in the book were first-hand narratives of former black slaves in the South; and the first expression of humanity from a group of people in a society where antediluvian pseudo-science considered them to be minimal animals. These former slaves were not allowed to be educated so their accuracy and their intelligence were always called into question by a system that had placed economic and social interests in maintaining slavery. Slaves saw themselves as human beings first, but their slave masters did not see them that way. They were constantly abused by their slave masters. Sometimes slavery rechanges murder into love.

The events of the Middle Passage took the enslaved Africans away from what they were accustomed to and their homeland, bringing them to the Americas. During this time period these enslaved people experienced countless incidents that consisted of physical violence and mental violence. They were constantly dehumanized and objectified, as well as being brutally whipped, and raped. The women were separated from their children. Of course, no parent wants to be separated from their child but especially a mother who has carried the kid for 9 months. It was very evident in the slave narratives and some of the videos we watched that the mothers will do anything just to prevent their child from having to experience what they must experience. For example, in the video “Life Aboard a Slave Ship” the mother held her baby close to her chest and then she decided that they both fall overboard, she made this decision for a few reasons. She did not want to be physically and mentally abused and dehumanized, she did not want her body to be objectified and used as a sex toy, and she did not want to be separated from her child. In a sense, she basically committed murder, because she killed herself and her child. However, she did this because she loved her child much more than anything else, so she felt that this was the better decision instead of having her child become enslaved. I think this example gives grounds for my thesis that sometimes slavery rechanges murder into love.

Slave mothers weren’t allowed to speak about who the father of their child was. If they did, they would be punished for it. In Harriet Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl a young slave girl had given birth to a child that was almost white, and she was slowly dying afterwards. The mother of the girl said, “The baby is dead, thank God; and I hope my poor child will soon be in heaven, too” (Jacobs, 422). While the child’s eyes were closing in death, “she thanked God for taking her away from the greater bitterness of life” (Jacobs, 422). No parent wants their child and grandchild to die, but the grandmother’s love for her child and grandchild was so evident that she would rather they both die and be in heaven as opposed to going through slavery. The child distinctly told her mother not to grieve because God knows all about it and he will have mercy upon her.

In the same narrative Jacob’s body was constantly being a target for sex at such a young age of 16 by her mistress’s father Dr. Flint. He repeatedly subjected her to aggressive and harsh sexual harassment because he saw her as an object and wanted to use her for his sexual pleasures without considering her feelings. Dr. Flint went as far as to build a little house for her to stay in just so that he can have access to her whenever he wanted. Forced her to become pregnant adding to his number of slaves, something she did not want. She wanted to have the freedom of choosing whom she wanted to be intimate with and she chose Mr. Sands. He got pregnant for him and then told Dr. Flint that she is “carrying another man’s child”. Once a woman is a child bearer it allows them pardon to death. Jacob’s was smart enough to know that and her fear of death or murder is now taken away and changed into a love that she will now have for her child she is pregnant with.

In Fredrick Douglass’s narrative his mother was a former slave and she was excluded from the cult of true womanhood. The cult of true womanhood is believed that the woman’s proper place was in the home taking care of the children, making beds, cooking, and needlework, they were supposed to be submissive and remain virgins until marriage and value their religion. However, Douglass’s mother was deprived of this privilege her role of motherhood was broken and she couldn’t be with her child; bodies being used for slavery. Instead she had to work on a farm, and she was separated from her son when he was very young. “Before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it, and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off, and the child is placed under the care of an old woman, too old for the field labor” (Douglass, 316). Douglass being able to see his mother only a few times in his life “I never saw my mother, to know her as such, more than four or five times” (Douglass, 316) demonstrates the institutional rape being done to black slave mothers. Hence why many of the mothers in these narratives rather undergo murder, death, or harsh treatments in exchange for the love of their children, they value that way more than anything else.

Douglass was so determined that he did not want to be a product of slavery after knowing of the struggles that his mother went through, he was committed to learning to read and write. His Mistress was unlike any other and was teaching him the A, B, Cs, until her husband out. She was given strict orders by her husband to not teach him anything else. “It was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read, if you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master if you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him” (Douglass, 338). What the master told his wife was true and after hearing that Douglass decided that he would do whatever it took to learn so that he could escape slavery. He learned from other white children in the neighborhood and that is how his opposition to slavery came about.

Fredrick Douglass is an anti-racist and anti-essentialist, he believed that systems are what create behaviors. The poor white children in the narrative are an outside system, they have not been put into the slavery but because they are surrounded by the system of slavery it is what causes them to be racist. In the narrative the poor white children were always starving and not being fed. Douglass mentioned that he was better off than much of the white children. He portrays that white children weren’t intentionally racist by explaining how they were the ones who taught him and gave him the knowledge that he had to read and write. “This bread I used to bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give me that more valuable bread of knowledge” (Douglass, 342). He would feed them bread and they would give him knowledge in return. He had so much gratitude and affection for them. Again, this gives ground for my thesis because since it is against the customs of slavery to teach a slave how to read and write, he could’ve been killed or murdered by his master if they had found out that he was being taught. But if this was to happen Douglass would’ve just been quite content that he was able to learn to read and write before he was killed/murdered, and he would’ve loved the white children for what they had done for him.

Similarly, in the Phyllis Wheatley reading she played with the images of light and dark. She believed in the racist theology of the time and that was because she was surrounded by a system of slavery and racism. Wheatley was mentally enslaved and thought that black people were “under the white”. In Africa her life was wrong because she did not know Jesus and her soul was filled with darkness. “Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land; Taught my benighted soul to understand that there’s a God, that there’s a Savior too… Their colour is a diabolic die” (Wheatley, 219).

In closing, the institution of slavery was an inconceivable, physical, emotional, and spiritual cruel system supported by racism and greediness. These slave narratives are so important because they mark the beginning of written self-expressions from the enslaved people in America. What is especially important to me is that I noticed in each of the narratives, the opening sentence is “I was born” which shows the slave existed as a human. The sad part about it is that throughout the narratives we see how the system of slavery continuously denied them of that humanity and instead treat them like animals. Like denying Douglass the right of knowing his birthdate and separating him from his mother. I personally, cherish these slave narratives because they are the first-hand accounts, real stories and experiences from former slaves. Also, because helps me to expand my own moral imagination in terms of being able to better identify and understand other people’s experiences.

Harriet Tubman once said, “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember you have within you the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” Harriet is talking about how your dreams are powerful and can change the world so go for it! During the Civil War Era, there was an outbreak of slavery treatment famous authors that were slaves and express their experiences through literature and became influential members. The struggles that African Americans went through impacted their culture throughout history. Literature pinpoints the main force that slaves overcome such as racism and discrimination. Literary works of the Civil War Era such as Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, Anti I A Woman by Sojourner Truth, and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, reflected the historical events of the time period.

Friedrick Douglass was a slave at Maryland like most slaves they didn’t have an education or resources to get any. Early on he realized that the only way he can become a freeman or become an equal is to get an education since slaves didn’t have any schooling he taught himself to read and write. As his progress increased his goal was to be a freeman he became very determined to make it happen. After Douglass ran away at the age 20 he was speaking at antislavery assemblies that was the boost of his career becoming one of the most influential people of the civil war era he wanted to express his story and send messages to others through writing the only freedom he can grant himself. One of his most famous writings is The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave during the time he wrote his narrative the Civil War was taking place. His story was so difficult for people to process because they couldn’t believe that his life of this can ever happen as if it was made up. Slave narratives helped a lot of African Americans finding themselves in a white America ton of white people were mad that colored people were finding their own identity. He was well known for his writing to be very frank and always tell a message to give his readers “to never turn away from the hard truths and to never stop believing in a better future.

Sojourner Truth had an extremely harsh life and made its goal to fight for colored women’s rights to vote and freedom. She can also be known as an abolitionist and always fight for what you believe in. When she escaped from her slave owners she asked God for guidance and a new name he told her to spread his word he gave her a new name Sojourner meaning spreading his word. Truth beloved that God intended her to spread his word to become a preacher and is well known for that. After finding guidance from god she joined The Northampton Association of Education and Industry with a bunch of other abolitionists who made her feel equal she traveled north and met with more people who had the exact same mindset as she did to fight for colored women rights to vote. Sojourner visited 22 states and was able to speak to a public audience talking about her personally experienced as a slave, she always showed great determination and confidence when speaking. Women were important members of the movement. She noticed that women were not allowed to vote or government employees. She’s also fought for rights for both races and African American freedom. At Ohio after giving her most well-known speech she overheard men talking saying that men are more superior than women, so she started to speak to the crowd, “ That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place, and ain’t I a woman? … I have plowed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me—and ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man (when I could get it), and bear the lash as well—and ain’t I a woman? I have borne five children and seen most all sold off into slavery and when I cried out with a mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard—and ain’t I a woman?”

Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery and she didn’t even know it until the age of 6 as many slaves they weren’t allowed to read but Harriet was taught to read by her slave owner. She is also known as an abolitionist. She wrote a narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in 1861 discussing the sexual abuse she went through when she was a slave by her slave owner not just her but it was a common thing to happen to female slaves. She often refers to her life as “war” because she was constainting fighting for her and her sons’ freedom. The central theme of her narrative was the social and sexual treatment from female slaves she vouch for females to stand up and have a voice when situations like this happens. Although the impact of Jacobs’s book on the abolitionist cause was limited because of the lateness of its publication, appearing on the brink of the war that would fulfill the hopes of the movement, the value of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl goes far beyond the politics of its period. The book provides crucial insights into the unique difficulties that female slaves faced in the antebellum South, a contribution that is particularly valuable, as few enslaved women left any written record of their lives. Jacobs’s story fits easily into the freedom narrative subgenre of African American literature, and as such its serves also as a political document that indicts the American justice system for its complicity in the many deprivations and abuses associated with chattel slavery. In addition, the narrative serves as a historical document that contains numerous references to actual historic landmarks, events, and persons. It has become a staple of courses in literature, gender studies, and history.

Literary works of the Civil War Era such as Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, Anti I A Woman by Sojourner Truth, and Incident of a girl by,Harriet Jacobs reflected the historical events of the time period. Impacted the world on how the world and the authors see the world with how it relates to history.

Works Cited

1. Anon, (2020). [online] Available at: http://www.black-collegian.com/issues/35thAnn/truth.shtml [Accessed 25 Feb. 2020].
2. Collection, Gale, 2019. Gale In Context: High School, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/LTLQEO012363025/SUIC?u=j015910&sid=SUIC&xid=76c2a1e2. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020.
3. Docsouth.unc.edu. (2020). Summary of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Written by Himself. [online] Available at: https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/summary.html [Accessed 25 Feb. 2020].
4. Douglass, F. (2020). Frederick Douglass. [online] Americanliterature.com. Available at: https://americanliterature.com/author/frederick-douglass [Accessed 25 Feb. 2020].
5. ‘Every Great Dream Begins with a Dreamer. Always Remember You Have Within You the Strength, the Patience and the Passion to Reach for the Stars, to Change the World.”.’ Passiton.com, www.passiton.com/inspirational-quotes/7065-every-.
6. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2020). African American literature. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/African-American-literature [Accessed 25 Feb. 2020].
7. “Frederick Douglass.” Short Stories and Classic Literature, americanliterature.com/author/frederick-douglass.
8. “Frederick Douglass.” Frederick Douglass < Authors < Literature 1991 < American History From Revolution To Reconstruction and Beyond,
9. ‘Harriet Jacobs.’ Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 104, Gale, 2013. Gale In Context: Biography, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1606005761/BIC?u=j015910&sid=BIC&xid=243d4b6e. Accessed 24 Feb. 2020.
10. HISTORY. (2020). Why Frederick Douglass Matters. [online] Available at: https://www.history.com/news/frederick-douglass-bicentennial [Accessed 25 Feb. 2020].
11. “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.’ Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, edited by Jessica Bomarito and Russel Whitaker, vol. 162, Gale, 2006. Gale Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1410001537/GLS?u=j015910&sid=GLS&xid=1c016165. Accessed 24 Feb. 2020.
12. King, Lovalerie. ‘Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.’ American History Through Literature 1820-1870, edited by Janet Gabler-Hover and Robert Sattelmeyer, vol. 2, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2006, pp. 554-560. Gale In Context: High School, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3450700123/SUIC?u=j015910&sid=SUIC&xid=436ddf1e. Accessed 24 Feb. 2020.
13. Let.rug.nl. (2020). Frederick Douglass < Authors < Literature 1991 < American History From Revolution To Reconstruction and beyond. [online] Available at: http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/outlines/literature-1991/authors/frederick-douglass.php [Accessed 25 Feb. 2020].
14. ‘Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.’ Gale In Context Online Collection, Gale, 2019. Gale In Context: High School, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/LTLQEO012363025/SUIC?u=j015910&sid=SUIC&xid=76c2a1e2. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020.
15. ‘Sojourner Truth.’ Gale In Context Online Collection, Gale, 2018. Gale In Context: High School, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/ETKRBH666851533/SUIC?u=j015910&sid=SUIC&xid=9ca1ebf8. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020.
16. ‘Themes and Construction: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.’ Gale In Context Online Collection, Gale, 2019. Gale In Context: High School, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/RGJCRW282749909/SUIC?u=j015910&sid=SUIC&xid=3f99a9b9. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020.
17. Ultius.com. (2020). Frederick Douglass | Authors | Literature | Ultius Glossary | Ultius. [online] Available at: https://www.ultius.com/glossary/literature/authors/frederick-douglass.html [Accessed 25 Feb. 2020].
18. Wilhelm, Jeffery D. Literature: TExas Treasures: American Literature, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2011
19. Williams, Yohuru. “Why Frederick Douglass Matters.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 10 Feb. 2018,

Nothing good has ever came from the institution of slavery. Slavery was a monster that destroyed everything in its pathway. It ripped families apart, forcing people to work tirelessly all day, then if you disobeyed your masters you were lynched for your actions. Treated like cattle the life of a slave was dispensable and most White people knew this which why most of them took advantage of the slaves when given the chance. As terrible and hopeless slavery was some people fought hard to kill the beast that is Slavery.

Harriet Jacobs was one of those people who made sacrifices for her freedom. In her memoir called “Incidents in the life of a slave girl” Harriet chronicled her life as a child born into slavery to when she was an adult that escaped to freedom. For Harriet to achieve her freedom she had to pay a price. This price was paid through the many sacrifices she made. From enduring the harsh abuse of her master’s and not being able to raise her children as her own. Slaves were not classified as human beings which ultimately means that slaves were not capable of defending themselves from the abuse of their masters. In the autobiography of Harriet Jacobs, she describes the abuse that she endured at her master, Dr. Flint, plantation. The year that Jacobs turned fifteen was the year that Dr. Flint started harassing her with his unwanted advances. Dr. Flint would often corner and whisper harsh words to her, slipping notes in her hands, and calling her into his private study to tell her all of the things he wished to do to her. The other slaves in the house pitied her for being the new object of Dr. Flint’s desires. It was not uncommon in the south for the white male master’s to sexually harass and rape the slave women on their plantation.

A slave woman has no way to protect herself in these instances and has to endure so much sexual trauma. There is also some irony that is displayed in these instances since whites, especially white males, would consider Black women to be dirty animals. However, they still desired them sexually and even forcing them to have their children. Sadly, this was the experience that most slave women had to endure. “…many Americans assumed that black males sexually abused white females and that white males were solely responsible for the sexual violation of black females. African American males faced execution, legally and illegally, for abusing white women but it also assumed that males regardless of color, went unpunished for the violation of black females.” (King. 1) It was considered a legal act for Black women to be raped because it was believed that Black women were “sexually aggressive and wanted advances. These assumptions forced Jacobs to be on edge constantly, watching out for Dr. Flint’s next move. It also came to an outrageous point that he even built a cottage away from the plantation so when he was ready, he could rape and she would be stranded. If was not enough that she had to endure the advances of her master, she also is dealing with the petty jealousy of his wife. If there were a question as to why a wife of a rich white man would be jealous of a slave girl there would be no reasonable answer.

As described in the novel, Mrs. Flint was incredibly jealous and vindictive. Jacobs was always confused about why Mrs. Flint was all too aware of the nature of her husband’s character and still chose to take her anger out on the slave women he targeted. Because he was the father of eleven slave children. It was also very common for white masters to have several children from slaves. So, her hatred was surely fueled by her insecurities. Mrs. Flint hated Jacobs and was even more frustrated when Dr. Flint forbade anyone from punishing her. Mrs. Flint made Jacobs sleep in her room so Dr. Flint couldn’t sneak into her bed at night. She sat by Jacobs as she slept to make sure that nothing is going on between them. Jacobs states “The old man raved to have me removed from his immediate power; but his wife vowed, by all that was good and great, she would kill me if I came back; and he did not doubt her word.” (Jacobs 117) As a result of the fear of becoming Dr. Flint’s concubine to the abuse, she experienced from his wife influenced Jacobs to plan her escape. Although the events that are taking place in the story are true, the story can be used as an empathetic appeal to the audience. The target audience was white people, more specifically white women. Jacobs knew that her story would appeal to white women which in turn will have their support in the abolition of slavery.

Throughout the novel, there is a constant message of how Jacobs wanted to make a decent home for her children. As a slave, her children were not her own and were liable to be taken away from her at any moment. Most Black mothers had to live through this reality that the very children she birthed belonged to someone else other than her. In Jacobs’s case, she was able to somewhat be around her children, but it was not in the way she would have intended. This was due to her plan to escape the wrenched hands of Dr. Flint. In this chapter Jacobs escape. At this point, she was instructed by Dr. Flint to go to her room and wait for him. He took a long time to get to her and she grew more fearful the longer she waited. She decided to sneak out a window, run to a friend’s house to get some things, and leave. She had to make the hard decision of not taking her children with her. By this time, she has two children and just like any mother she wanted to take them with her, but she could not. Although this separation between her children was a choice that she had to make many Black mothers did not have this privilege. Many times, they were taken for them by force. Jacob’s experiences of regretfully abandoning her children for freedom tugged at the heartstrings of northern White women. Since most of them were mothers and could not bear the notion of being separated from their children.

As the story continues, Jacobs had gone back to her grandmother’s house where she hid in a shed that her uncle had built which attached to the house. She hid there for seven years while her Aunt Nancy would come and relay her news she heard from the main house. All through this time she would listen and see life pass her by while she hid. “… I the voices of my children. There was a joy and there was sadness in the sound. It made my tears flow. How I longed to speak to them! I was eager to look on their faces; but there was no hole, no crack, through which I could peep. This continued darkness was oppressive.” (Jacobs.158). Imagine sitting in a cramped shed while life was going outside, and you could not enjoy it. It is extremely heartbreaking when you realize that Jacob’s mad a necessary sacrifice to gain her freedom even if that meant not being with her children. Jacob’s story is unlike another slave narrative because she discusses the life of a slave through the perspective of women and a mother.

Most slave narratives were usually told by black men which is why Jacobs’s story is so unique. Having to experience sexual harassment and abuse as a young girl and having to miss out on important parts of life like raising children. The price Harriet Jacobs paid to receive freedom was through the sacrifices she made Through enduring abuse and sexual violence and abandoning her children. Most of what she went through is what appealed to the audience of the novel which changed the perspective of the lives of slaves. Thus, helping make the necessary change to abolish slavery.