Analysis Of Harriet Jacobs Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl

Harriet Jacobs was a well-known slavery abolitionist in the 1800s. She was born a Slave and ended up gaining her Freedom by fleeing her master. A couple of years later she wrote the book “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” where she wrote about her experiences with slavery and how she felt being free. Harriet describes slavery to be extremely dreadful with a lot of abuse and immorality. She also describes how freedom gives her a sense of hope and security.

To Harriet slavery is atrocious and disheartening because they aren't seen as people but instead as property. They were mistreated, beaten, and forced to live in horrible conditions. There was no escape from slavery and the only way freedom could be obtained was to flee. This didn’t come

“Everywhere men, women, and children were whipped till the blood stood in puddles at their feet. Some received five hundred lashes; others were tied hands and feet, and tortured with a bucking paddle, which blisters the skin terribly.” (Jacobs 98). If slaves were caught trying to flee they would be brutally beaten and sometimes killed. This doesn't even account for the brutality they experience every single day by being a slave. When Harriet's daughter escaped her master he was filled with the most uproar and he said: “She shall be my slave as long as I live, and when I am dead she shall be the slave of my children” (Jacobs 166). This shows the harsh reality of slavery and how there is almost no escape from its grasp. Slaves are seen as property, not human beings and they will keep getting passed down from generation to generation. This will be an endless cycle unless the slaves do something about it, this is what makes the north so desirable. Harriet was born into slavery, which led her to wonder why this is the life

She never knew what freedom was or what it would be like until she decided to flee the south. She talks about the changes in perspectives when it came to slaves and whether they should be free or not. She mentions what it feels like to finally be free and be reunited with her children once again. Freedom seemed to be unattainable for so long and with the freedom, she finally felt secure. As time came around more (white) people started to see the blacks as more than just slaves and started to realize that they are human too. When Harriet's mother was in her 50’s she was up for auction but she had gained a reputation in her community and no one made a bid for her. Her mistress’s sister had known Harriet's mother for 40+ years and bidded on the auction. She then granted Harriet's mom freedom.“She had lived forty years under the same roof with my grandmother; she knew how faithfully she had served her owners, and how cruelly she had been defrauded of her rights; and she resolved to protect her.” (Jacobs 21). This is showing how some of the perspectives of the white slave owners are starting to shift. They knew she was a good honest person and because of that, she was able to gain her freedom. Harriet also speaks about freedom from her own experience. “I afterwards staid with that friend in New York, and found her in comfortable circumstances. She had never thought of such a thing as wishing to go back to slavery.” (Jacobs