Chapter IX of “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”, titled “Sketches of Neighboring Slaveholders”, provides true imagery of the brutality of slavery. The author, Harriet Jacobs, who goes by the name of Linda, goes through a process of dehumanizing experiences by a multitude of slave owners in her city, Dr. Flint and Mrs. Flint. In the book several neighboring slave owners are mentioned including: Mr. Litch, Mrs. Wade, and Mr. Conat. To start, though, Mr. Litch, who creates unique ways in torturing his slaves by means of even starvation and murder.1 In addition to this torture, Harriet mentions a neighbor of Mr. Litch, Mr. Conat, who was not as discussed in the book, punished a slave by forcing him to spend a winter night outside and naked. Following this, a neighboring …show more content…
With this, it can be tied in to the populace of 1860 in many ways. To start, in 1860, the United States was deeply divided over the issue of slavery. In history, the Southern states had a large population of slavery, while the Northern states were growing exponentially opposed to it. Harriets’ experiences would have been a start to exemplify the horrors of slavery. Moreover, her interactions with Northerners was focused to enlighten them about the hidden horrors faced by enslaved individuals, especially women. For example, whites living in Southern counties that had high shares of slaves in 1860 were more likely to express racial resentment and darker feelings toward blacks. All in all, the experiences of Harriet Jacobs, as depicted in her book, provide a personal perspective on the brutalities of slavery. This could have influenced public opinion in 1860, among those who were previously of the harsh realities of slavery. The impact would have varied greatly depending on existing attitudes towards slavery and