Summary Of Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Jacobs

In Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs narrative they show how the institution of slavery dehumanizes an individual both physically and emotionally. In Jacobs narrative she talks about how women had it worse than men did in slavery. While men suffered, women had it worse due to sexual abuse. The emotional, physical, and sexual abuse was dehumanizing for anyone.

Although she did not receive any physical punishment by her master, she lived in a tight-knit community and was aware of the conditions of other slaves who received brutal punishments. For example, Jacobs notes that “every where men, women, and children were whipped till the blood stood in puddles at their feet.” (page 56). Female slaves lived in fear that they would be raped by their masters. Jacobs’ master, Dr. Flint, often made relentless sexual advances at her, and justified his behavior by saying that she was “made for his use.”

She depicted the violence and cruelty that went on in slave owning homes. As a slave woman, Jacobs had no legal protection and small variety of choices she could make in self-preservation. Harriet Jacobs’s narrative shows that freedom is a human right, and the

In the issue of whether the name should be American Culture or American Cultures I believe that due to the vast variety and distinctness of the cultural groups that make up the United States the name should be American Cultures. To examine why we will look at sources from several different figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Harriet Jacobs, Jackson Turner, John D’Emilio, Gerda Lerner, and Fredric Douglas. To start, we will first look at Harriet Jacobs and her biography detailing her life as a slave. Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, however was unaware of this until the loss of her protection, her father who was a skilled slave, she is shocked by the realization saying “I never dreamed I was a piece of merchandise”(Jacobs, 8)

In this book, Jacobs’ describes the living conditions as a slave and her own personal experiences; her descriptions show how violent and poor her living conditions were. Harriet Jacobs wrote, “Various were the punishments resorted to. A favorite one was to tie a rope round a man’s body, and suspend him from the ground. A fire was kindled over him, from which was suspended a piece of fat pork,” (Jacobs 41) . This is one of the many examples of how poorly slaves were treated on plantations and by their owners.

Frederick Douglass & Harriet Jacobs Slavery has been noted as one of the biggest social issues in America. From the beginning of time, race has been seen as a barrier for some people despite their various attempts at equality none seem to yield any positive results. Frederick Douglas and Harriet Jacobs both have tried to be seen as equal to others but come up short due to the oppression of their skin color. But as a result of their power to not conform to being enslaved and treated like objects due to dehumanization is what leads them on their journey to becoming one of the few free slaves. “My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute.”

Hopkins remained but a short time in the office of overseer. Why his career was so short, I do not know, but suppose he lacked the necessary severity to suit Colonel Lloyd. ”(Douglass 32). Aunt Hester, a slave Frederick’s master owned, was stripped naked from neck to waist and beaten with a whip until she bled. Whipping is such as not getting up early or not doing your work fast enough, but other times it was just seen as a form of enjoyment.

The niece’s father, Dr. Flint, was nowhere near as kind to Harriet as her previous Miss Horniblow. In fact, when Harriet hit puberty Dr. Flint began to pursue an unrelenting aggressive and sexual attitude toward Harriet. This was not uncommon for slaves during the time period. Many slave masters assumed and expected their slaves to bend to their every whim, and often times because of fear the slaves submitted. Sexual relationships and oftentimes rape were not uncommon.

No, indeed! They knew too well the terrible consequences” (Jacobs, p.25). Enslaved women were in constant fear of being sexually assaulted by their master. This emotional abuse controlled them and allowed the slave masters freedom to not only own their bodies, but their soul as

Those that were not within the trade heard rumors of the acts that were committed but many were apathic to the plight of others that did not directly affected them. However, once Douglass began to speak and write about his time as a slave recounting the at times unsolicited violence that occurred, the tides began to turn within the public opinion. It was no longer merely rumor, it was fact being presented by a survivor. Within the “NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE” Douglass brought to life the everyday horrors that he had witnessed such as the treatment of his aunt, “The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest” (1184). This image of a woman being whipped and treated with such degradation was appalling to bear to the supporters of the abolition.

When speaking out against the horrors of slavery, Abraham Lincoln once proclaims, “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves”. Unfortunately, many people in the world, especially the United States during the 1800s, did not agree with this statement. Fitz Hugh and many others during that time period, believed that slavery is good for everyone involved, arguing that slave masters are fatherly to their slaves. Harriet Jacobs challenges the multitude of arguments that claim slavery is beneficial and moral in her auto biography Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. The reader follows Harriet through her journey of surviving slavery while enduring a sexually abusive master, hiding in an attic for seven years, and finally escaping

Harriet Jacobs writes about mainly mistreatment, but there

White people have more rights and privilege from birth, while blacks face discrimination and the lack of opportunities from early years instead. The author wanted to show that people’s personal and professional success in life was closely associated with their racial and cultural background either increasing their chances to succeed or limiting them instead. Although both categories of people have the right to be happy, only white women can be truly happy in their life being able to marry, have children, have her own home, while black women are enslaved, oppressed and sexually exploited their entire life dreaming about a peaceful home, true love and a happy family. While writing the present book, Harriet Jacobs did not only want to show the hardships of slavery, its impact on people but also wanted “women of the North realizing conditions of two millions of women at the South” (Jacobs 2).

Slaves were often beaten by their masters or overseers in order to keep them in line and stop them from disobeying their masters by instilling fear and a constant physical reminder

Disobedience was often punished by floggings, one of the most common forms of violence. Blacks were expected to do everything the white man insisted. They could not say or do anything without fear of angering their master. Within the story of Thomas Jones, there are multiple accounts of beatings. Jones recalls that “[my master] whipped me with great severity, inflicting terrible pain at every blow upon my quivering body, which was still very tender from the recent lacerations” (Jones, 103).