Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Jacobs

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was written by Harriet Jacobs under the pseudonym Linda Brent. It was published in 1861, the year the civil war started. Its publication was an effort to let the American public know what the life of a slave was really like, as well as the pains and inhuman acts that they endured. In the book, Linda Brent (Harriet Jacobs) describes her life from childhood to adulthood, touching on all the horrors she constantly suffered, as well as most other slaves of that time. What makes Jacobs’ story different than other slave narratives like Frederick Douglass’ is that her novel doesn’t focus on a daring and adventurous escape but instead it focuses on a mother's love and her family. With manumission, not an option

A slave's life was far from easy. Harriet’s mistress, in the beginning, is nicer than what a slave owner could be. The mistress, Margaret Horniblow, taught Harriet how to write and sew, which was extremely uncommon for slaves. Because of this Harriet was very well educated for her time and situation. However, at the age of 12, her mistress passed away and willed Harriet to her 5-year-old niece. The niece’s father, Dr. Flint, was nowhere near as kind to Harriet as her previous Miss Horniblow. In fact, when Harriet hit puberty Dr. Flint began to pursue an unrelenting aggressive and sexual attitude toward Harriet. This was not uncommon for slaves during the time period. Many slave masters assumed and expected their slaves to bend to their every whim, and often times because of fear the slaves submitted. Sexual relationships and oftentimes rape were not uncommon. Because slaves were seen as lesser humans and inferior, their compliance was expected in any and all situations. Harriet's master continued to pursue her relentlessly. In an effort to get away from this Harriet started a relationship with the neighbor. This begins a series of picking the lesser of two evils for Harriet, and that’s when she had the option to choose. This was the normal, sadly, for slaves. Harriet deals with many things after this from being forced or “broken in” as a field hand to

The treatment of minorities in America during this time period, as well as many others throughout history, was despicable. However, the focus of family and church in the slave culture, their always believing in freedom and never losing hope was admirable. Their “Silent Sabotage” to the everyday plantation routine and the fearless individuals who ran away from their oppression to the underground railroad are very interesting and inspirational to read about. In “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” Harriet hides in her grandmother's attic for seven years, developing a physical handicap because she was unable to sit or move. She eventually ran to New York City. She manages all of this while continuing to look out for her family and attempt to set them free. Harriet’s unrelenting loyalty to her family and constant supervision is beautiful. The splitting up of families through auction was common in the Slavery era and were often times a threat when it came to getting slaves to comply, it was easier to be miserable together than to be miserable