Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs were both slaves in the 1800s. The first and most obvious difference between the two is their gender. Gender roles in slavery differ as well as the gendered experience of slavery. Even before you read their stories, you see that they are male and female black slaves, but when you start to read them, you see a picture being painted of freedom. They talk of when they realized they were slaves, how important it was to be literate and capable, their experiences witnessing the brutality of slave masters, the well meaning white people benefiting from the institution of slavery, the hypocrisy of the church, when and how to pick the better of two evils for either your mental or physical gain and how their gender …show more content…
Despite living on a white man's land, and not having privileges of other children, she didn't see the connection of slavery she had because of the color of her skin. When you read her story you get the sense that she does know what slavery is, but she didn't necessarily tie it to herself because of the privileges her father had been given because of his carpentry skills. Her aunt Martha was also a capable human being as she established her own bakery to earn money. Harriet who is referred to as linda in the book is surrounded by capable black human being and she didn't see a difference until she realised she was a slave herself. Frederick on the other hand, seemed to recognise the rape practice of white male slave owners on black female slaves. He was of mixed race and in the book it explains that he was probably a slave of his own biological father. Even though he looked less dark than his fellow enslaved peers he still recognised his place in time as an enslaved man. He was deprived of his mother, as she was a field hand, and he had no known father. Unlike Harriet, Frederick didn't have a family to begin with, he made one for himself later on while Harriet lost hers and went on to be a woman of independence, even in the face of