Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl Analysis

Art recognizes not only the current perspectives and expressions in politics, religions, and social life, but depicts historic events and provides a way to understand different cultures and perspectives of the relative times. Whether a painting, photograph, music, written work, or other form of expression using the creative mindset, art acts as a means of communication to understanding the past. In regard to Carolinas’ history, African American artists and art have depicted unique and individual stories and perspectives of the life and culture, from the era of plantation slavery to modern times created by living and working artists. African American writer, Harriet Jacobs, was of these profound and notable artists who largely impacted the Carolinas as well as the rest of the nation with her work, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”. Like many other great African American artists who call North Carolina home, Jacobs was born in Edenton, North Carolina in 1813 . Her work, which was published anonymously under the pseudonym Linda Brent in 1861,

The use of slaves in North Carolina were mainly for plantation labor and boosting the economy of the South. However, slaves working on these plantations developed customs and traditions based on the lives they had and struggles they encountered in the institution of slavery. For example, in chapter 22 called Christmas Festivities, Jacobs depicts the traditional Johnkannaus celebration as a time for gathering in the community to sing and wear masks that mimic the white slaveholders, as well as go door to door to in hopes of collecting donations. Marital status, efforts at family preservation, and attempts to escape, especially through the nearby harbors, were depicted as part of the slave culture in North Carolina through Jacobs’ perspective as