Female Slave History Research Paper

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 shows the evils of slavery as being worse in a woman's case by the gender. 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.

Harriet Jacobs wrote, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” using the pseudonym Linda Brent, and is among the most well-read female slave narratives in American history. Jacobs faces challenges as both a slave and as a mother. She was exposed to discrimination in numerous fronts including race, gender, and intelligence. Jacobs also appeals to the audience about the sexual harassment and abuse she encountered as well as her escape. Her story also presents the effectiveness of her spirit through fighting racism and showing the importance of women in the community.

Describe the treatment of slaves in the South as compared to the lives of urban workers in the North during this time period.

The slave narratives Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jones are similar but different in many ways. The narratives tell from the perspective of a man and woman the struggles of slavery and their journey to freedom. Their slave narratives help us to better comprehend the trials and tribulations that happened during slavery. The main difference between Douglass’s and Jacobs’ narratives is their gender. Their gender has a direct impact on the experiences they had and how their got to their freedom.

“Not Killing Me Softly: African American Women, Slave Revolts, and Historical Constructions of Racialized Gender” is an attempt by Rebecca Hall, to uncover women’s participation in slave revolts and to address a concern of why enslaved women were silenced in revolt. She also focuses on why certain aspects of slave revolt are seen as exclusively male activities. To accomplish her task, she uses a number of book excerpts from prominent historians, as well as many sources from accounts of slave revolts in history. Although Hall relies heavily on the works of other historians to support her argument, she also utilizes her own observations and experiences to strengthen her thesis. The significant points discussed in Hall’s dissertation are, the

During the fifthteenth century, when the Europeans first colonized the North American continent, the land was tremendous, the work was cruel and there was not sufficient work of labor. The land needed to be worked on; thus, many people developed toned to pay for work through the use of indentured servant. However, indentured servants did not provide enough labor for the vast land. Although, the indentured servants improved a lot of the work issue, much still needed to be done. Around the seventeenth century, African American servants were brought to the colonies by a Dutch ship. Originally, the idea of African American servants (who are later known as slaves) were of indentured servants and was only meant to

Slaves in the South performed many different types of labor. Many of the slave population performed as field laborers conducting agricultural work. Some of the labors performed by Southern slaves included cultivating cotton which involved 55% of the population, growing tobacco which involved 10% and producing sugar, rice and hemp involved the other 10%.

White historians in the past described the relationship between slavery in the American South and the rising political power and economic growth of the United States as i.e. timely unrelated. Furthermore, white historians believed that slavery had no impact on America’s modern economy or industrialization. Perhaps slavery wasn't considered a “modern” institution because to acknowledge it as a modern act in society would be to recognize it as something commonplace in that specific day and age.

The working and living conditions of the enslaved Africans in the New World were inhumane. It was brutal, degrading, and stripped the slaves of their humanities. They were met with harsh physical abuse such as whipping, beating, shackling, mutilation, branding, imprisonment, and even sexual abuse. Slaves were usually beat if they were disobedient, but some were beat by their owners to solely assert dominance. The barracks that the slaves were kept in were tightly packed and securely locked down to prevent anyone from escaping, usually with barbed wire at the top. Slaves received hardly any food and water and were malnourished, some even dying from this.

The bright orange sun was scorching, and the slaves were worn out. They were excited for the sun to go down, so they could take the night to cool down. The day seemed to never end, with an owner whipping and yelling at them to stay on their feet at all times. The cotton fields were slimming, but they knew the work wasn't over until they could escape from this place. They had hope for the day they’d been planning for months. It was Jonathan, the slave owner's eldest son, who was secretly the slaves best friends. The day the six slaves arrived on the farm, Jonathan was in charge. He watched them for several weeks, until his father could trust them to stay.

Linda’s account of the incidents she encountered during her 27 years as a slave shows us the harsh, terrible, fearful conditions in which slaves lived. Especially, the life endured by slave girls. In fact, these girls grew up side by side with the children of their masters, but at age fifteen they would become subjects of the morbid attention of their masters. If these girls were blessed with beauty, then they would endured even harder situations due to the attraction that their masters had towards them. Linda recalls how she used to play with her master’s daughter until she turned fifteen.

Imagine being told hideous stories growing up as a child, living in fear of being captured, taken away from your family, beaten, and even killed. Yes, this may sound like a Hollywood horror movie script, but was actually a harsh reality for children involved with the slave trade. In the year 1807, the United Kingdom passed a Bill that had abolished the slave trade within the British Empire. This Bill did not abolish slavery itself, but lead to the British Navy’s missions of intercepting slaving ships along the coast of West Africa (Burroughs). A photograph taken in the year 1869, shows around 95 slave children that had been rescued from a slaving vessel and brought aboard the Daphne one of the many British Navy ships (Sulivan). In the photograph none of the children are smiling, or show any signs of joy from being rescued from such a cruel fate. Giving the photograph an eerie atmosphere while staring into the signs of pain, sadness, and uncertainty that rest upon the children’s faces. Being so young, the now liberated slave children may have been mentally influenced, or broken by the slavers and the cruel sights that they may have witnessed or had to endure. Depicting the children as hopeless, mentally broken, with an uneasiness in their hearts of what is

No one in today’s society can even come close to the heartache, torment, anguish, and complete misery suffered by women in slavery. Many women endured this agony their entire lives, there only joy being there children and families, who were torn away from them and sold, never to be seen or heard from again.

The overall treatment of both men and women was horrendous. Both male and female slaves were punished, both would be whipped and beaten but females would also be raped. If a female slave tried to defend herself or even tell that she had been raped by her master, the master or his wife would possibly beat her. Treatment of female slaves was so bad that many girls upon becoming pregnant would immediately pray for a boy or pray for a miscarriage so that their daughters would not have to endure some of the same travesties their mothers had to. Unlike women who some slave owners took as prized possessions because of fertility which would easily increase their profits, males

The simple fact is that everybody has heard of the Underground Railroad, but not everyone knows just what it was. First of all, it wasn=t underground, and it wasn=t even a railroad. The term AUnderground Railroad,@ actually refers to a path along which escaping slaves were passed from farmhouse to storage sheds, from cellars to barns, until they reached safety in the North. One of the most widely known abolitionists in history is a slave by the name of Harriet Tubman. She is best known as the conductor of the Underground Railroad and risked her life to help free nearly 300 slaves. The primary importance of the Underground Railroad was the ongoing fight to abolish slavery, the start of the Civil War,