Essay on Women Authors of the 19th Century

Similarly to Frederick Douglass, who was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland, she was born into slavery. What makes Harriet Jacobs story different from many slaves during this time period is that she didn’t know she was born as a slave. She lived with her father and mother and even explained in her Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, that she “…was so fondly shielded that I never dreamed I was a piece of merchandise” (Jacobs 820). This shows that for the first few years of her life, she was not treated as a slave, but rather, as a normal child during this time period. This is different for Frederick Douglass who was separated from his mother when he was a baby. Both Douglass and Jacobs lost their mother at the age of six or seven but as Douglass describes in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, he only saw his mother “four or five times in my life” (Douglass 946). Douglass also

Douglass was young when he found his identity through his escape from Baltimore to Massachusetts. Jacobs, on the other hand, became trapped in her community, family, and domesticity. She was “domestic” where she worked, as well as a slave with children. Jacobs expressed, "Slavery is bad for men but it is far more terrible for women." Jacobs’s narrative was explicit and frightening for herself and for the woman of her time because of the involvement with her master’s forced sexual interactions. Jacobs’s narrative is the sexual exploitation that she and all other woman who were slaves at the time had to face and endure. In comparison to Douglass, Jacobs was determined to fight for her freedom. Although, Douglass showed his audience “how a slave became a man” by being in a physical fight with a superior, Jacobs’s gender demonstrated a different perspective. She was pregnant with the child of a white man when she was fifteen and believed that it would encourage her master to sell her and her child. Once she was became mother with “ties to life,” her concern for her children had taken over her own self-interest. Throughout Jacobs narrative, she is not only looking for freedom but a home to protect her children.

Harriet Jacobs on the contrary to Douglass, had no idea she was a slave until she was six years old. Her first mistress treated her very well, almost as if she were white. She was taught how to read and write. The majority of Jacobs' family, excluding her father, served the family of her first mistress very well, and the family returned the favor by treating their slaves with a little bit of dignity. Her mistress also taught her the Bible. This teaching allowed for Jacobs to know the rights and wrongs being done to her and other slaves. Harriet picked up on the conversations around her after her mother died, and she figured out she was a slave from the discussions.

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

Jacobs is born to her mother in the southern states of America. She is born without freedom and rights as she is black, property to her master as a slave. Her mother is a slave to a man name Dr. Flint and so therefor she too is a slave of his property. On page 26, the first sentence of chapter 5, Jacobs states "During the first years of my service in Dr. Flint's family I was accustomed to share some indulgences with the children of my mistress. Thought this seemed to me no more than right, I was grateful for it, and tried to merit the kindness by the faithful discharge of my duties." Harriet shows gratefulness for a period of time that she is a slave. The next line says "But I now entered on my fifteenth year -- a sad epoch in the life of a slave." Harriet starts to show hatred for her slavery and sadness. As a fifteenth year slave she is getting tired of how she is being treated, many girls that are her age at this time would be very frustrated with this too.

Harriet Jacobs was born in North Carolina, along with her younger brother, William. Born as a slave, their mother and father died when she was young. Her grandmother raised the siblings and Jacobs worked for a mistress, Mrs. Margaret, where she was taught how to read and write. Mrs. Margaret was the little girls’ first mistress and she worked hard for her until she passed way when she was twelve years old. In hopes of being freed; Mrs. Margaret left her to Dr.

Harriet Jacobs was born on February 11, 1813. Harriet was born a slave but her parents did not tell her until she reached six years old, the same year her mother died. Harriet Jacobs was sexually harassed since she was fifteen years old by her master. She was a woman with a very strong character for even if being harassed by her owner she still had sense of self-pride. She was very intelligent and she stood up for what she thought as the right thing, even if that meant being punished. Harriet was a persistent woman, not giving up on her dream to be free and to have a normal life. In 1858 Harriet Jacobs finished her autobiography called “ Incidents in the life of a slave girl”. Harriet died on March 7, 1897 in

Harriet Ann Jacobs was an African-American writer who managed to evade the slavery and to become a free person. Having joined the abolitionism movement in the US, she spoke for the nullification of slavery and for the reforms, supporting the atmosphere of change at that time. In her book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, through the mix of slave narrative and sentimental novel genres, the author depicted her own reality of fighting against the slavery phenomenon, in particular, the struggle of enslaved women for freedom and the issues they were facing while protecting their role as mothers. The literary works of Jacobs reflect on her whole life and its key events in connection with the changes in the social life that were occurring at

First, let’s go over some background information and touch on Jacob’s back story and her life. As previously mentioned before, Jacobs was born into slavery in Edenton, North Carolina, in the year of 1813. Even though Jacobs was born as a slave, as a child she was really unaware of it. The reason being is that her parents’ slave holders, allowed them to live together. Then following the tragic loss of her mother, in the year of 1825, her slave owners were Dr. and Mrs. James Norcom. Despite all the hard work she would do for them day by day, she constantly experienced abuse. Such as being sexually threatened by Dr. Norcom and being physically abused by his wife. Despite the abuse she would encounter day by day, she happened

One of three children Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet born in Amherst, Massachusetts, 50 miles from Boston, born December 10, 1830. Dickinson is known for her unusual social life and reserved lifestyle. Dickinson went to Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley But she only attended for one year. Dickinson was a very rare but bright individual at a young age Dickinson was not allowed to read different types of literature including Walt Whitman which like Dickinson was a great poet but was discovered after his lifetime.

Jacobs was born into slavery in Edenton, NC in 1813. Jacob was a happy young child in her yearly years as a slave since her family, her brother, parents, and grandmother, where in good positions as slaves. But that changed when Jacobs’ mother passes away that Jacobs’ begins to start leading a hard life as a slave. At six, Jacob was sent to live with her mother's mistress, who did treat Jacob well for a slave and also teach her how to read. Then the mistress

Written expression is a beautiful thing and one of which is a freedom in which Americans are granted, upon becoming citizens of the United States. Harriet Beecher Stowe is known as “The most important American woman writer of the nineteenth century” (Showalter, Ch. Harriet Beecher Stowe). Famous for Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe published ten novels during her writing career. Stowe began writing in the 1830’s to support her family of seven children and husband, Calvin Stowe. Stowe wrote with a comedic tone, yet, she also had intentions of writing for a purpose of the weakening of human ethics and the troubles of servitude. She was a very bright,

Emily Dickinson is one of the most influential female poets of the 19th century. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1830, Dickinson began her life as a normal child. Growing up, Dickinson had more opportunities than most women of the 19th century; being able to attend the all-female Amherst Academy, as well as Mount

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was the oldest daughter of Edward Dickinson, a successful lawyer, member of Congress, and for many years treasurer of Amherst College, and of Emily Norcross Dickinson, a timid woman. Lavinia, Dickinson’s sister, described Emily as "perfectly well & contented—She is a very good child & but little trouble." (Sewall 324) She was graduated from Amherst Academy in 1847, which was founded by her grandfather, Samuel Dickinson (Sewall, 337, Wolff, 19–21). She attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley in

Emily Dickinson was an American poet who was born on December tenth, 1830. Emily Dickinson lived a very secluded life and preferred to stay in her home in New England and she even lived in isolation starting in the 1860s only seeing close family members (“Emily Dickinson”, poets.org). Dickinson began to write while spending her days in her home reading. Her style of writing and themes were influenced by seventeenth century English poetry (“Emily Dickinson”, poets.org). Her puritan and religious upbringing also led to her different style of writing (“Emily Dickinson”, poets.org).