Elizabeth Bowser: Mary Van Lew, An African-American Slave

In the reading of the Jezebel and Mammy. During slavery era black slave women were

I selected Mary Reynolds because she seemed as though she had a really really tough life but she got through it. She also seems like a very inspirational woman. Ms. Reynolds was blind which also makes her story very unique. She was a hard working slave.When she was interviewed she was over 100 years old. Ms. Reynolds were from Black River, Louisiana. They talked about how she was born into slavery to the Kilpatrick family. They talked about how her dad was a free man, and also died as a free man. Her mom and dad met on the Kilpatricks farm place and Mr. Kilpatrick treated them well, and his daughter sara absolutely loved Ms. Reynolds. Ms. Reynolds went on to say that Mr. Kilpatrick told her to another man that had no slave, wife, or daughters but he treated her very well. Even bought her a

William Grimes in the, Life of William Grimes the Runaway Slave, and Harriet Jacobs in the, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, both wrote about their lives under the hands of slavery. Though they both experienced hardships, the difference in gender played a role in how their enslavement was endured. These different experiences influenced different tones. In Chapter three of Incidents, Jacobs tone is emotional, hopeless and depressing. She writes “ But to the slave mother New Year’s day comes laden with peculiar sorrows.

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”- Nelson Mandela. The quote is describing how freedom is not only being out of chains but to be able to be in society with respect from all. Freedom can also mean a lot of different things depending on the person. For example to a teenager freedom could mean them getting out from under their parents supervision or parental control. But, freedom to an adult that works everyday of the week, their freedom can be, not have to work on the weekends, which gives them their freedom to do anything they want to do. In the slave narrative Incidents of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs about her life as a slave, freedom means Linda (aka Harriet Jacobs) being free from slavery, being away from Dr. Flint, and to have her family free with her. She tries to achieve her freedom in many different ways. She confesses to Mrs. Flint about the advances Dr. Flint makes towards her, she falls in with a free black man, and gets pregnant by Mr. Sands. She uses these to achieve her freedom from Dr. Flint’s advances. She also achieves her freedom by running away to her grandmother’s attic, and running away to the North. Linda also achieves her freedom when Dr. Flint had died and when Mrs. Bruce being her savior.

In these two tales of brutal bondage, Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Frederick Douglass' Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the modern reader can decipher two vastly different experiences from circumstances that were not altogether that dissimilar. Both narratives tell the story of a slave gaining his or her freedom from cruel masters, yes, but that is where the most prominent similarities end. Not only are they factually different, these stories are entirely distinct in their themes.

When slavery was present in the United States, life was very hard for many slaves. They would spend their days working in the fields or in the home, doing whatever their master called upon. Slaveholders also held the power over their slaves treating them however they pleased. Most slaveholders were cruel which led to the slaves to do anything they could to avoid their master’s treatment and hope for a better life in the North. The North was filled with freedom, hope, desire and equality for people. It sounded like paradise to most slaves which was the proper motivation they needed to escape from their masters. Many slaves had goals of making in up North

Although there are numerous famous Arkansans in World History I’ve kindly chosen to do Mary Nell Steenburgen, one of the most celebrated actors.

Why do we value hip hop artists and cool shoes while forgetting and leaving out some of the most important people in the American history like Charlotte Hawkins Brown? Charlotte Hawkins Brown was an African American woman who deserved at least a ¹/₃ of the American History Book because she was a person who devoted her entire life to bettering and equaling education rights for colored students and someone worth being known about. Brown was born on June, 11 1883 in Henderson North Carolina. Charlotte Hawkins brown was a granddaughter of a former slave. When Brown was 12 years old she was involved in Civic, and/or involvement (Unknown D²). Charlotte Hawkins Brown was also someone who suffered through segregation and the Jim Crow laws growing up, but she did not let the inequality, unfairness and mistreatment stop her from reaching her goal and target which was to have a successful educational career. She moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts at a very young age to attend Cambridge English Public School in which she excelled as a student. When she was a senior in high school, Brown had a chance meeting with the prominent educator Alice Freeman Palmer, who was impressed to find the young woman reading Virgil while pushing the stroller of a child she was babysitting to raise money.Palmer would play a profound role in Brown 's life, first by paying for her college education at the State Normal School at Salem, Massachusetts, and then by encouraging Brown to return to her native

“I was born…” is how many distinguished slave narratives begin (Prince 1). This infamous phrase establishes powerful anecdotes that demonstrate unforgettable events in history. Notable authors such as Frederick Douglass and Linda Brent capture their audience with undebatable authenticity. Similarly, Mary Prince, author of the narrative, The History of Mary Prince, utilizes similar themes and strong diction to expose the injustice of slavery. Prince uses allusions, imagery, and pathos to construct convicting arguments about the abominable institution of slavery and disillusion the unawareness of her audience.

African American women never receive the true recognition they deserve; and as women we need to know who we are, and why we are important to this nation and to the world. African American women have several contributions to the United States. Their contributions are in fashion, entertainment, art, literature, economics, education, and so much more. Throughout the years these contributions have increased and are continuing to skyrocket as the days go by. Many African American women have made history due to their hard work, and dedication and most of the time it goes unnoticed due to their skin tone and their sexuality. Black women also face several negative stereotypes. They are often seen as angry, ignorant, hostile human beings. It often makes it harder for them to be taken seriously. There are several factors to the stereotypes and are often false, and give black women a bad outlook. Black women are our fighters against slavery, representation of women’s suffrage, the majorettes for the march on civil rights, and the hardworking women in both world wars.

In 1860’s, women were not allowed to join the war, although they could become nurses instead. Women in the North mostly belonged to the Sanitary Commission. It was an organization that traveled to battle to get supplies to soldiers. In my opinion, the sanitary commission was not a good experience since ailments (diseases) could spread in the camps easily. In 1863, Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation, which stated Confederates had to let African Americans out or slavery. Later on, they were acquiesced (accepted) to join the North’s army. Although, if they were captured by the South, they would be killed, but this did not stop their perseverance. I believe this law passed by Lincoln was an excellent idea because African Americans are the same as us, we are all the same human creatures, just a different color; and equality for them should be accepted no matter what. There were spies like Elizabeth Van Lew that would tell others (the North) about what the Confederates were scheduling. She pretended to suffer from a dainty mental illness in order to muster (gather) information. I think that was very sneeky to do, but kids at school do the same concept: act like spies to ahold of rumors and etc. In the book, “Civil War” it states, “Sadly, two of their four sons died before Lincoln’s assassination in 1865…” This shows that Lincoln wasn’t having a peaceful life like people meant have thought, he was also afflicted from family losses too. General Lee sent a note to General Grant while surrounded by Union troops. They met at a house near Hamlet, and Grant approved the surrender of the Confederate Army.

Growing up in the early Americas in the colony known as Georgia wasn't so easy. Martha Smith, a brave and hardworking farmer during The Colonial Period, was about to have a new beginning in her life until a huge business and trade took over the new colony of Georgia. During the time in 1733, the first colonists arrived in Georgia. Georgia was meant to be a place for debtors to get a new chance at life and start over. No slavery was permitted in Georgia and each debtor was to receive 50 acres of farmland, which they could not sell. Most of the female-owned farms were in the more settled areas of the colony and that is where Martha Smith and her family lived. Martha Smith was raised by her mother, Barbara Smith, an independent woman and a big

Mary Prince was a slave in the West Indies in the early 1800s. In her book, The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave, she talks about her life as a slave, and the treatment she received from the different families she lived with. This paper focuses on the cruel treatment of Mary by her slave owners, specifically the Inghams, Mr. D- and his wife, and the Woods.

In "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl", Harriet Jacobs writes, "Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women" (64). Jacobs' work presents the evils of slavery as being worse in a woman's case due to the tenets of gender identity. Jacobs elucidates the disparity between societal dictates of what the proper roles were for Nineteenth century women and the manner that slavery prevented a woman from fulfilling these roles. The book illustrates the double standard of for white women versus black women. Harriet Jacobs serves as an example of the female slave's desire to maintain the prescribed virtues but how her circumstances often prevented her from practicing.

The notion of slavery, as unpleasant as it is, must nonetheless be examined to understand the hardships that were caused in the lives of enslaved African-Americans. Without a doubt, conditions that the slaves lived under could be easily described as intolerable and inhumane. As painful as the slave's treatment by the masters was, it proved to be more unbearable for the women who were enslaved. Why did the women suffer a grimmer fate as slaves? The answer lies in the readings, Harriet Jacob's Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl and Olaudah Equiano's Interesting Narrative which both imply that sexual abuse, jealous mistresses', and loss of children caused the female slaves to endure a more dreadful and hard life in captivity.