Harriet Jacobs Thesis

From learning this we know Harriet is not in for a good future with this family. The way Jacobs describes the importance of the women in her life is inspiring, given that, at the time they had such little power and such few rights. “Mrs. Flint, like many southern women, was totally deficient in energy. She had not the strength to superintend her household affairs; but her nerves were so strong, that she could sit in her easy chair and see a woman whipped, till the blood trickled from every stroke of the lash” (Jacobs 360). The way she describes Mrs. Flint perfectly captures what all women in the south were like. This portrays an excellent example to Northern women how serious slavery can affect a person.

Harriet Ann Jacobs helped start a movement of anti-slavery writing that, through literature, would eventually help change society’s view of slavery. Jacobs’ “Incidents” was written for an audience of free white women and its purpose was to involve these women in political action against the institution of chattel slavery and the ideology of white racism” confirming herself as an anti-slavery writer using a fictional character and different voice to tell truth (Yellin

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.

Among many abolitionists of slavery in early America were former slaves, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs who lived to tell the stories of their quests for freedom during their time as slaves. Harriet Jacobs, known for her narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, was born into slavery like many African Americans at the time. Frederick Douglass who was also born into slavery was best known for his “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” Through these narratives both Jacobs and Douglass each portray their own experiences of slavery in contrasting ways.

The document, “Harriet Jacobs Deplores Her Risks in Being a Female Slave, 1861,” describes how female slaves during her time period felt towards slavery and how it was like to grow up as a slave. According to Harriet Jacobs’ document, she started off as an innocent child, unaware of what happens around her and how harsh slavery actually can be. This changes as she grows up and her life becomes more and more miserable due to her status as a slave. By the time Jacobs reaches fifteen and starts to enter adulthood, her master would continuously harass her in numerous ways treating her as property. Being a slave, she had no way of defending herself from how she was treated and no means of running away from her master. Even when she feels hatred

Harriet A. Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Jacobs’s construction of black female empowerment despite the limitations of slavery

Harriet A. Jacobs, a devout abolitionist, that was born into slavery in the year 1813 in Edenton, North Carolina. Jacobs is considered one of the most powerful and influential anti-slavery advocates of her time. She used the power of her rhetorical writings as well as her overarching ambitions to have her voice heard. Jacobs lived with her mother, Delilah Horniblow until her untimely death in the year 1819; the passing of her mother along with many other events during her early childhood, shaped her into the women she was. Many of the contributions Jacobs made toward society, were directly correlated with her ability to overcome adversity. As a young black female growing

How thankful I was that my lover was a free man! That my tyrant had no power to flog him for speaking to me in the street!” (65) . Harriet’s inability to marry is emphasized by Dr. Flint. Harriet’s womanhood that wanting of marriage is laughed at and this emphasizes how Dr. Flint views her as nothing more than cattle.

After she gave birth to her children, Harriet escaped, drawing closer to obtaining self-determination. Harriet then took fate into her own hands by devising a plan to get Dr. Flint to unknowingly sell her children to Dr. Sands. Once this occurred,

Harriet Jacobs is a very tough girl that has put up with a lot of slavery and bad treatments in her life such as being horribly punished for her actions. I have

Harriet Jacobs, in her narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, was born into slavery in the south. While her youth contained “six years of happy childhood,” a few tragedies and mistresses later, Jacobs spent many years in pain under the possession of her cruel five-year-old mistress, Emily Flint, and Emily’s father, Dr. Flint. Once able to obtain freedom, Jacobs spent most of her life working for the Anti-Slavery office in New York, in hope that one day she could make a difference in the world. “She sought to win the respect and admiration of her readers for the courage with which she forestalled abuse and for the independence with which she chose a lover rather than having one forced on her” (Jacobs 921). Linda Brett, the pseudonym that Jacobs uses to narrate her life story, endures the harsh behavior women slaves were treated with in the south during the nineteenth century. The dominant theme of the corruptive power and psychological abuse of slavery, along with symbolism of good and evil, is demonstrated throughout her narrative to create a story that exposes the terrible captivity woman slaves suffered. The reality of slavery in the past, versus slavery today is used to reveal how the world has changed and grown in the idea of racism and neglect.

Slavery was a horrible institution that dehumanized a race of people. Female slave bondage was different from that of men. It wasn't less severe, but it was different. The sexual abuse, child bearing, and child care responsibilities affected the females's pattern of resistance and how they conducted their lives. Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, demonstrates the different role that women slaves had and the struggles that were caused from having to cope with sexual abuse.

Living in England during World War II had an impact on her life because it coincided with the time that she was moving around, making it symbolic of her life at that time. She would be lured into a false sense of security in a new home (think of the times in between bombings) and then her world would be turned upside again as she was moved away from her father, and into beaten down homes, and then again to a somewhat

To begin, Harriett Jacobs carefully formulates a narrative that depicts the lives of slave girls and women as it truly was lived. Rather than conform to the readers' tastes and avoid the horrible gruesome details of the lives of female slaves, Jacobs grasps these events and passionately depicts them to her readers in hopes of some form of compassion. She knows her readers are never going to completely understand what women in slavery went through (it would take living it to comprehend) but she feels to protect them from these truths is only greater blurring the understanding of these issues. Jacobs details her life in hopes that her audience will begin to understand the hardships undertaken by innocent black women in the south and no longer sit quietly by and watch. Jacobs states that slavery is far more appalling for women; "they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own" (825). In order to truly touch her intended audience, she brings up topics that all women, free or enslaved, can understand - adultery, family, love. She hopes that by creating a piece that touches the personal lives of women, she will make it difficult for them not to stand in her shoes, even if just for a moment.

Further parallels exist in the relationship they have with their masters. Jacobs? master, Mr. Flint, is obsessed with having her and takes every chance he gets to proposition her in some vulgar fashion. Yet while he desires her, he never tries to force or beat her into submission. Instead he attempts to manipulate her and when that fails threatens to beat or kill her. Jacobs does not hide her dislike of Dr. Flint and at times wonders herself why he does not punish her. She states, ?Sometimes I so openly expressed my contempt for him that he would become violently enraged, and I wondered