Harriet Jacobs Slavery Essay

Words: 587

Pages: 3

Open Document

Slavery may have been in one of many forms, the best know describe it as completely degrading and slave being synonymous with an item of property, the other called for a system of bargaining between slaves and their masters. Although there is little evidence to pull from to dispute these claims, there is still evidence nonetheless. Therefore, Harriet Jacobs’s narrative on slavery provides a stance that slavery was completely degrading to all that were forced under its cruel reign. Jacobs begins to feel the oppression of slavery in her early childhood years, much like any other slave girl. Alike to Equiano, Harriet Jacobs is passed between owners as a child. Jacobs had one favorite master early in her life whereas Equiano had favorable owners for the entirety of his enslavement. Under her disliked master as a child, Jacobs remarks on not being allowed to mourn for her father’s passing, “What cared my owners for that? He was merely a piece of property. Moreover, they thought he had spoiled his children by teaching them to feel they were human beings” (Brent 451). At a very young age, Harriet Jacobs realized the demoralization of the African Americans down to being akin to property of a superior race. If there were a system of bargaining, she may …show more content…
However, it was for the purposes of intimidation to Harriet Jacobs so that she would conform to his will. Dr. Flint would brag to Harriet that her children would, “‘bring me a handsome sum of money one of these days’” (Brent 529). In contrast to the system of paternalism where the masters negotiated with their slaves for the better of both parties, this slaveholder uses intimidation tactics to keep one slave (if not others) from getting too much of an idea in her head. Dr. Flint was described by Harriet to love power even more than money. Either of which he possessed in the outcome of his interactions with the author in this

Frederick Douglass And Harriet Jacobs Essay

Slavery is a destructive force that steals away the lives of everyone trapped under its umbrella; Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs each understood that and even while ensnared they never lost their ideas of freedom. During this essay I will describe each of their ideas of freedom and assess the differences of them and the white Americans of the nineteenth century. Fredrick Douglass described his freedom as independence of his wages and education. For Harriet Jacobs, her meaning of freedom was…

Words 963 - Pages 4

African American History Essay

Hawthorne HIS 14 FALL 2012 Essay Assignment Due: November 29, 2012 An analysis of the book Harriet Jacobs autobiography Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl reveals, in my opinion, that it is an accurate representation of the antebellum South under a slave system based on other published works such as Soujourner Truth, Address to the Womens’ Right’s Convention Akron, Ohio 1851 and Benjamin Drew, Narratives of Escaped Slaves 1855. The accounts described by Harriet Jacobs are consistent with these…

Words 1112 - Pages 5

Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl

Girl Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, describes how women are exclusively degraded under slavery. Jacobs also shows how strong a woman's bond can be with other women. Whether it was the motherhood of her grandmother or the friendship of Mrs. Bruce. Friendships between women cut across class and race lines. Jacobs uses alternative names for all the characters including herself for confidetiality purposes. For Jacobs, or Linda Brent, womanhood and friendship wasn't all…

Words 1850 - Pages 8

AFAS 306essay

lives of African Americans, especially African American women during the time of slavery. Autobiographies of African American woman is still important today as it was back then, however the act of writing during the time of slavery is what shapes the way these women have and are writing today. In this essay I will discuss how the act of writing became a form of reclamation for African American women such as Harriet Jacobs, Ida B. Wells, and Margaret Walker. These African American women are each extremely…

Words 1587 - Pages 7

American Slavery Essay

Literature of Slavery During the 19th century America was enduring one of its first extreme economic advances as well as a major and detrimental division of its citizens. Northern Americans wanted to abolish slavery due to Federal Government and economic reasons. The South wanted to keep slavery because it was the main source of income for the entire nation. Not only were slaves struggling to fight for their freedom, but women were as well. Women had a fractional amount of freedom compared to…

Words 1824 - Pages 8

Resistance To African Americans Analysis

This is shown in a variety of ways. There are examples of open resistance. The most drastic example of resistance for the enslaved was to fight back. This is mentioned in several of the texts. Harriet Jacobs mentions the Nat Turner rebellion. Additionally the essay From Creole to African” recognizes that numerous slaves escaped to Spanish Florida and helped defend “against incursions by English raiders.” A less drastic means of resistance was to escape to the North and to provide…

Words 1827 - Pages 8

American Slavery Essay

Ryan Rigby Honors Writing Workshop American Slavery Essay-Final Draft 27 October 2014 Imagine waking up in a world where everyday you are forced to downright abide by another man’s command at all times. One would most likely figure that this person would be a prisoner of some sort. Now, imagine the person being commanded is one who has done no wrong and has committed no crimes. If one falls under this specific category, you could consider them a slave. A slave is someone who must stand by any orders…

Words 1690 - Pages 7

Life in the Antebellum U.S. Essay

disappearance of Native Americans as separate and distinct peoples. Jeffersonian Indian policy ultimately failed. Its failure is best measured by the emergence of the Shawnee leader Tecumseh in the early nineteenth century. As mentioned in Dowd’s essay, there was quite a resistance to the Jeffersonian Indian Policy. Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa began urging Ohio Native Americans to return to their traditional ways. In 1810, Tecumseh traveled south to ask the Creeks and others to join him…

Words 3598 - Pages 15