Compare And Contrast Harriet Jacobs And Frederick Douglass

Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass are two names that cannot be skimmed over when examining the abolitionist movement in the United States. They were abolitionists who played key roles in dismantling slavery and ensuring equality for those in bondage. Both were former slaves and recounted their hardships when expressing the vile nature of the institution of slavery. Although they were both slaves in the same time period, their experience in enslavement had major differences. There were similarities, of course, as both their childhoods were stripped from them and their own lives were completely under the power of those who “owned” them in their enslavement. While these similarities often cause these two influential figures to be grouped

His autobiography states, “This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free” (Douglass 25). This describes how Douglass’s fight with his master brought him a sense of masculinity and allowed him to believe that freedom could be reached. In proving he was stronger, faster, and better than the man who owned him, he was pulled into the mindset of being a man, rather than just a slave. This proof of masculinity seems to be a more male-dominated slave experience, although women were also stripped of their individuality and autonomy. Much like their masculine counterparts, women were subject to cruel and unjust behavior. Although, they had an additional vulnerability in which men typically did not

Jacobs had a distinct sexual vulnerability which Douglass did not have to face. Jacobs biography, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” recounted her experiences as women in slavery, “He peopled my young mind with unclean images, such as only a vile monster could think of…I saw a man forty years my senior daily violating the most sacred commandments of nature. He told me I was his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things” (Jacobs 6-7). This quote demonstrates the inhuman conditions in which Jacobs was forced to navigate in her life as a slave. Her master, who was vastly older, pursued her sexually, and she could do little to protect herself. Later in the text, she even describes how she pursued another man and got pregnant in order to escape her master's advances. Unfortunately, this is not a rarity in the experience of slavery for women. Rape was a very real and very common fear for women in the institution, as there was nothing protecting them from it. Being the property of whoever owns them, they were subjected to the most horrific of punishments with no way to escape. While their experiences are not comparable in terms of harshness, there is a certain element in the experience of enslaved women that men did not have to