Harriet Jacob's Horrifying Portrait Of Southern Slavery

I am Clayton Franklin, a lifelong tradesman and abolitionist from New York, and I believe that the Civil War needs to be fought in virtue of Harriet Jacob’s horrifying portrait of southern slavery. Jacobs describes many episodes that should convince any God-fearing man or woman to take up arms against the evil South and its particular institution of slavery. In this essay, I will be explaining some of the ghastliest events and experiences I learned from Harriet Jacobs had to experience at the hands of southern slavery, such as being forced to separate from her children, how slavery has affected both families of slave owners and slaves, and how slave owners have been using religion as a tool for evil. I believe that together as a nation we can

Slaveholders are using religion to keep their slaves in check. Jacobs explains that “Many of the slaves believe such stories, and think it is not worthwhile to exchange slavery for such a hard kind of freedom. It is difficult to persuade such that freedom could make them useful men and enable them to protect their wives and children. If those heathens in our Christian land had as much teaching as some Hindoos, they would think otherwise. They would know that liberty is more valuable than life. They would begin to understand their own capabilities and exert themselves to become men and women.” (Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the life of a slave girl: seven years concealed, The Floating Press, p. 87) One of the goals of Christianity is to spread the word of god, then Christians are missing a massive opportunity by not educating their slave but if the slaves were educated they would begin to believe in their own capabilities and value their lives. Thereby making it much harder to control them. Rather than spending thousands of dollars on foreign missions, we should spend more time abolishing slavery which would much more impactful than foreign missions. After the Nate Turner Rebellion, Jacobs explained that the slaveowners hired a free black man to deliver sermons to their slave regarding the importance of being obedient. “Although your masters may not find you out, God sees you; and he will punish you. You must forsake your sinful ways and be faithful servants. Obey your old master and your young master--your old mistress and your young mistress. If you disobey your earthly master, you offend your heavenly Master. You must obey God's commandments. When you go from here, don't stop at the corners of the streets to talk, but go directly home, and let your master and mistress see that you have come." (Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in