...This biography of Harriet Jacobs from a website titled, Documenting the American South, is mainly about Jacobs’ slavery life, how her famous book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, came about, and what the main purpose of the novel was. This article contained a couple terms that were confusing to understand. For example, the terms were; unassailably, clandestine, liaison, obscurity, and expatriate. The definition of unassailably is that someone is unable to be attacked, questioned, or defeated. Clandestine means when something or someone is kept a secret or done in secret. The term liaison indicates a certain communication or cooperation that facilitates a close relationship with people or organizations. Obscurity is when something is unknown or unimportant. This term can also be defined as the quality of being difficult to understand or something is unclear and not understandable. Lastly, expatriate means someone that lives outside their...
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...Empathy Between the Slave and Slaveholder’s Wife It’s common to learn about slavery through the perspective of a slave, but not through the eyes of a slaveholder’s wife. Fanny Kemble married a slave owner and moves to the South from Britain and is shocked by the conditions that slaves faced. In her journal she wrote about the traumatic imagery of slavery. Harriet Jacobs also shares her experiences as a slave in her narrative. Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Fanny Kemble’s Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-1839 each show how slavery affects more people than just the slaves, but through the perspective of a slave (Jacobs) and through the perspective of a slaveholder’s wife (Kemble). Jacobs’s narrative...
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...Jared Page Mrs. Justeson English 3A 28 January, 2017 Slavery Literature Reflects Slave Life Slavery literature reflects the life of freed or escaped slaves. Slavery literature shows what it was like to be a slave. Some slaves when they were freed or when they escaped wrote about their life and what their life was like as a slave. Two great writers that wrote about their life as a slave after they escaped slavery were Harriet Ann Jacobs and Frederick Douglass (biography.com, 2014). Harriet Ann Jacobs wrote an autobiographical novel called,“Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” (biography.com, 2014). Frederick Douglass wrote an autobiography called,“Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” (biography.com, 2016). Harriet...
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...Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl written by Harriet Jacobs was written between 1853-1858 and published in 1861 covers many aspects of her life. Jacobs recounts her childhood and young adulthood as a slave; her escape from the persecution of her lascivious master Dr. James Norcom (renamed Dr. Flint in the book); years of hiding in a small space in her grandmother's shed; her travels to the north and her residence there; and her eventual freedom. The main purpose of Incidents in Life of a Slave Girl is to give the reader information about her situations with slavery. She is informing the reader of things that has happened to her and her family during the 1850’s, which is also in the slave era. Jacobs states many issues about slavery, corruption, religion and how family is important. Some of the most important parts of the book tell how Jacobs and her family lived during this time period. “Reader, I draw no imaginary pictures of southern homes. I am telling you the plain truth. Yet when victims make their escape from the wild beast of Slavery, northerners consent to act the part of...
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...Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is an autobiography written by Harriet Jacobs to share what she experienced as a slave girl. Linda Brent, a pseudonym for Harriet Jacobs, undergoes several transitions due to unfavorable circumstances. However, Linda initially was not a common slave. She was the product of “Mulattoes” and was trusted upon them for safe keeping. Her father was reputable for the many skills he had and as a result lived a life that was above that of a common slave, one similar to a freeman. He although never had full custody of his children, no matter how much he intended to pay for them. Upon first revelations, the readers learn that following the death of her mother, six year-old Linda Brent is handed over to her mother’s...
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...In the book, Incidents in the life of a slave girl, written by Harriet Jacobs, presents events that occurred in the everyday lives of African American slaves. Harriet describes these incidents as a cruel and immoral institution that dehumanized her race, one that she refuses to comply. This institution included, but not limited to severe and numerous suffering among a big number of slaves that were refer as nothing but property. Harriet unfolds monstrosity including beatings, murders, sexual assaults and much more, in which, in fact, would be illegal today. She endured life's hardships for many years. On occasion she seeks death as the best alternative to escape this dreadful life. This institution demanded a different motherhood, a different...
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...Discovering Truth in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl _________________________ Melissa McGowen English 601 December 2013 Melissa McGowen Barish Ali English 601 December 2013 Discovering Truth in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Publication and Critical Reception: The autobiographical text, Incidents in the Life of Slave Girl suffered a difficult road in becoming published. The text suffered an even larger feat in becoming recognized for its worth. Because it took many years for the author, now revealed as Harriet Jacobs, to be properly identified, the work had been dismissed as fictional. Jacobs’ decision to remain anonymous came from guilt and disgrace over the way she was treated while enslaved and the actions she was forced to take to become free, particularly those pertaining to sexual acts. Wanting to be viewed as a “proper Christian” she decided to create the pseudonym name Linda Brent. It was under this name the text was published. In later years, her text has been viewed as an important text, speaking truth to the ears of sentimental novel readers in the north, and calling for action against the cruel institution of slavery. Employed as a teacher by Pace University in 1968, Jean Fagan Yellin wrote and published her dissertation. While re-reading Incidents in the 1970s as part of the project and to educate herself in the use of gender as a category of analysis, Yellin became interested in the question of the text's true authorship. Over the...
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...who suffer had a different way to see life; they appreciate every single moment of happiness. For slaves, there was almost no time for happiness. A writer that describes all that he/she had to go through during his/hers life time, explains every single detail because they remember what they felt at that moment, how it felt, the smell, the light, the thoughts, everything. Slaves suffered too much, until they said “enough”. As black slaves, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs have a lot of common because of the symbolism they used, the theme of how they describe slavery, and the literacy scene in how they did something everyone thought was impossible. For both, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, the symbolism of the word “slave” had a deeper meaning than just a word. In “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave” is written, “The fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made all of sweet accord, change to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon” (Douglass). In this quote, Douglass is describing how the person who bought him for slave changed from being a good person to becoming a demon. The power that corrupts this person which in the story is Mrs. Auld makes her become a bad person by wanting to have control over the slave. This is one example of the symbolism...
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...Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Jacobs, Harriet Mroz, Jessica March 23, 2011 Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Barnes & Noble, Inc. 2005). In her book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs is a slave that was born into slavery in 1813 that has decided to share her amazing story of slavery and her struggles to become free. When she was young her parents were “property” of a really nice lady that allowed her family to have a very comfortable life for a slave family. They were allowed to work for their own money and Harriet did not know that she was a slave for until she was twelve. When she was seven her master died and left her to her sister’s daughter who was five years old. She believed that it was not right to treat blacks in the way that whites did and that someone should not have to purchase themselves or their children. She believed that the whites were way too cruel. She eventually escaped to the north and eventually had someone purchase her freedom for her. The female slaves seemed to have the most difficulties while in slavery. Harriet Jacobs says “My master met at every turn, reminding me that I belonged to him, and swearing by heaven and earth that he would compel me to submit to him” (35). I interpreted this as a grown man trying to get a 12 year old girl to have sexual relations with him. I know that this was common in the years of the slavery but it was really not a good thing. I feel that it is disgusting...
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... In modern history, historians have researched the significance of slavery in the United States’ history. Many Black women and men in America suffered misery of slavery through their entire lives especially by their slave owners. Most African Americans people were sent to the United States and were underprivileged from the freedoms, joy of family life, ability to make own choices, and even from the basic human rights. In order to evaluate the American system of slavery this paper will analyze and compare two primary sources, Thomas Jefferson's, “ Note on the State of Virginia”, and "The Trials of Girlhood and The Jealous Mistress" in “Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl,” by Harriet Ann Jacobs. While Thomas Jefferson proposes his idea to emancipate freed African American slavery, he was willing to reconsider the relationship between slaves and their owners. Harriet presents real situation of degraded relationships between white and slaves in her early slave life. However, both two disagree that slavery in the United States would divide human races into even more conflicts with social, cultural, economic, and political impacts. In “Note on the state of Virginia,” Jefferson discussed his proposal for the emancipation and removal of Virginia's slaves. In his not he explained why freeing black slaveries could not remain longer in the future. Jefferson argued that “deep-rooted prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries...
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...This brief biography of Harriet Jacobs by Glenna Matthews, indicates a couple of events that occurred in Jacobs life. Also from the short article it states how Jacobs wrote about her life in her novel titled, Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl, and what she did to get it published. In the article there were three terms that were confusing and they are; substantial, subsequent, and sanction. Substantial means that something is of considerable importance, size, or worth. The following term, subsequent, indicates that someone or something is coming after someone or something in time, or following someone or something. Lastly, sanction can be defined as two different meanings. The first meaning is when someone was a threatened penalty for disobeying...
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...In the small town of Edenton, North Carolina Delilah and Elijah Jacobs brought into the world a baby girl entitled, Harriet Ann (Brent) Jacobs. Who would’ve expected over two hundred years later their little girl a product of slavery would be an epitome of women in literature. For years Jacobs grew up in the life of slavery, but it was not until her parents’ death that she became aware of such lifestyle. Throughout her journey as a slave she endured several misfortunes in life and later was subjected to sexual promiscuity by her master, Norcom. For many years she was caged in her grandmother’s roof in order to escape the ongoing tragedies of slavery. In 1842 Harriet parted ways from slavery and travel to New York to seek a new outcome of life...
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...Huihui Zong Ally Day Women’s Studies 367.01 2/13/2011 Sexuality for Slave Girls In the book, “ Incidents in the life of a salve girl” (Jacobs, 1861), the writer Harriet Jacobs presents how a slave girl, Linda Brent, who mirrors Jacobs’s real experience, being suffered under the control and threaten of his master and how she escapes from the captors and finally gets free. The main character, Linda Brent, who is a slave girl working for Dr Flint’s daughter, is an epitome of the resistant black women. Having a master like Dr Flint, who threatens Linda constantly with violence and humiliating words, Linda shows intelligence and endurance to escape being further offended by Dr Flint. After Linda has children with Mr Sands who appears to be truly cares for Linda, Linda is threatened by Dr Flint again by being offered to buy her children’s freedom if Linda agree to live with him as his mistress. Linda refuses him and begins to plan her escape from that time. Linda has spent seven years hiding in her grandmother's attic and this exhibit her extraordinary psychological and spiritual strength. During the seven years, to elude her captors, she has moved several times to different cities within the help by some kind white people. Linda manages not only to survive but also to transcend seemingly insurmountable barriers, showing the difficulty for slave to live, especially women slave. Although some male authors of slave narratives had mentioned that African American women had been enslaved...
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...P.6 Harriet Jacobs Slave Narrative Harriet Jacobs, born in 1813, was born in North Carolina and was born into to slavery to her mistress Margaret Horniblow. Harriet spent the first six years of her life not knowing that she was indeed the property of Margaret and before her master died in 1825 she was taught how to read and sew by Margaret. Once Margaret passed away, Harriet was inherited by Margaret’s niece Mary Norcom. When Mary inherited her new slave she was only three years old. Since Mary was so young, her father, Dr. James Norcom, became Harriet’s new master. Under James , Harriet soon became aware of the harsh realities of slavery. For twenty years Harriet struggled with Dr. Norcoms sexual victimizations. During this time she grew close to her grandmother, a free slave, and with a attorney by the name of Samuel Sawyer who fathered Harriet’s two children. In an attempt to manipulate Dr. Norcom into selling her to his father, Harriet ran to Grandmother’s house. For those seven years, she spent her time raising her two children, reading the bible, and sewing. In 1837, Samuel Sawyer was elected into the House of Representatives and had purchased his two children but he did not free them. In 1842, Harriet escaped North and was determined to free her daughter from her father. For ten years Harriet lived as a fugitive slave but she was able to locate her daughter, Louisa, in Brooklyn and secured a home for both of her children in Boston. While in Boston, Harriet was able...
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...Essay 1 Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs are two authors with very similar backgrounds. Both Douglass and Jacobs illustrate the tension involving being African American in a time where slaves did not have any rights, and when they were treated like property instead of a humans. Each of the slaves had different experiences with slavery, but one thing in common: share their accounts through autobiography on how slavery greatly changed their lives. The experiences, memories and treatment in any situation are viewed upon differently between a man and a woman. Obvious in the case of slavery, the two sexes were treated differently and so therefore their recollections of such events were-different Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs and the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, were both written during the same time period. Both authors go into many aspects regarding the cruelty of slavery, but they still had their differences. During each of the author’s childhood they explain how it was for them. When Harriet was growing up in her, she was shielded from slavery. Her Father was accomplished carpenter, whose wish was to someday buy his children. “I was so fondly shielded that I never dreamed I was a piece of merchandise…” On the other hand Fredrick childhood was the opposite. Fredrick was born to a slave mother and an undisclosed white man. He did not know his age growing up he had to make educational guesses. ”I have no...
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