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Slave Girl

711 Words3 Pages

In the book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself by Harriet Jacobs, she tells the story of her life as a slave and how she was able to eventually gain her and her children’s freedom. Through out the book she recounts moments about her life, many of which show how cruel slave owners were to her, her children, and her fellow slaves. Many memories, such as in Chapter 15 “Continued Persecutions”, show how manipulative a slaveowner can be towards their slaves and how the slaves are suppose to stand idal while these disparities happen right in front of them.
Jacobs recalls when Dr. Flint visits her and just his presence in the room is enough to make her very confomfortable, “The doctor came to see me the next day, and my heart beat quicker as he entered...He seated himself and looked at me with withering scorn”. Not even saying a word, this man has Jacobs uneasy and her children fearful. When he does finally open his mouth is it to mock her by saying her master is tired of her, laughing in her face, and ridiculing her in front of her children. Being told all of these horrible qualities that Jacobs apparently has with her children present is demening. Although her children know that the doctor is a terrible man, having those kind of thoughts ringing though her head must have been awful for her mental state. It …show more content…

The media prominently portrays slavery to be bad because of all the pysical abuse that happened to slaves, but the silent attacker that effected most all slaves were the ones they couldn’t even see. Psychological abuse is no stable matter, because once the cracks in the foundation of the mind begin to fall a part, it is only a matter of time until the whole person collapeses. Harriet Jacobs was an inspiration then and is an inspiration now because of her strong will to keep going until her and her children were free, and leaving her memories in the

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At the age of five, she witnessed the atrocity of a male slave being whipped to death. This monstrosity can be seen in the picture of a slave’s scarred back; seeing this, one can only imagine how it affected Sarah. Only three years later, the slave girl her father had assigned “constant companion,” suddenly died. Sarah was compelled to lobby for equal rights for women because of her lack of education as a young woman. She dreamed of continuing her education, but this was denied to her by her father because she was a woman.

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After having read both Frederick Douglass’s Narrative and Harriet Jacobs’s Incident 1. How were Douglass and Jacobs similar and different in their complaints against slavery? What accounts for these differences? In both the inspiring narratives of Narrative in the Life of Fredrick Douglass by Frederick Douglass’s and in Incidents in the life of a slave girl by Harriet Jacobs the respective authors demonstrate the horrors and disparity of slavery in there own ways.

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For most slaves they were physically abused and were put to work hard extensive work by the slave owners. Jacobs was still a slave but she wasn’t used for intensive labor rather for household needs and sexual means. Both of her masters had sexually abused her and mistreated her because of her title consistently though the abuse physically hurt her she was bothered more by the mental consequences of the

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The narrative of Frederick Douglas breaks down the very mechanisms used to enslave African Americans; from the deprival of education to an over use and desensitization of violence. What also occurs: is the realization that slavery as a system is able to damage those who are in power and use slavery. Corrupting the morals and empathy of white Americans who come in contact with the societal structure of enslavement. The same cycle which keeps African Americans from breaking free also keeps slave owners on a continuous path of cruelty. As an industry slavery seeks to survive and to do so it must have full support and no opposition; by both parties being changed to fit their roles it is able to do so.

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In their opinion, it humiliates their higher position, as the owner seems to be more attracted by the enslaved. Jacobs found comfort from her grandma. Though she felt ashamed to tell her grandma what Dr. Flint had done to her, Jacobs is glad that she lived somewhere near her grandma, because her grandma is someone Dr. Flint fear of. In this sense, her grandma can provide her some sort of protection, and lets Dr. Flint be aware and more careful. Jacobs is also making an appeal for the women in North to help the enslaved in the South.

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Harriet Jacobs suffered psychological abuse through Dr. Flint’s constant manipulation. Dr. Flint offered freedom to her children if she agreed to be his mistress. This is evident when she says, “Sometimes, when my master found that I still refused to accept what he called his kind offers, he would threaten to sell my child” (XIV). Even after she conceived two children with Mr. Sands, Dr. Flint’s threats continued. He saw Jacobs’ children as a goldmine that could later be sold.

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When Harriet turns fourteen, she mentions how Dr. Flint acts to her: “He peopled my young mind with unclean images, such as only a vile monster could think of. I turned from him with disgust and hatred. But he was my master. I was compelled to live under the same roof with him- where I saw a many forty years my senior daily violating the most sacred commandments of nature” (30). Harriet divulges that Dr. Flint not only has no respect for his wedding vows, but is also sexually abusing a girl forty years younger than him, who can do nothing to defend herself because she is his property.

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In “The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass” Frederick Douglass talks about his life as a slave ,and the challenges that he went through ,but he also tells how slaveholders were affected during slavery. Frederick Douglass talks about how slaveholders have great powers over their slaves. Being the slaveholder can enforce that you are above the slave ,and that you are allowed to do what you please to you “property” ,and that could corrupt your humanity. One example of this is Sophie Auld. Sophie Auld was a kind and generous slaveholder ”I was utterly astonished at her goodness”(Douglass 45); she even helped teach Frederick Douglass to write, but after she had been the master of Douglass for a while she started to become inhumane, cruel, and malice.

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The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.

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The emotional and sexual abuse was awful for Jacobs. In her narrative she talks about how horrible it really was for women "My master began to whisper foul words in my ear." Her master told her she was property "He told me I was his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things." She says how she had to give up their children "The children were sold to a slave-trader,

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Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the  kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.

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Slavery is wicked and gory and monstrous and that is well known today but during the time it was well known. In Frederick Douglass’s, Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass tries to persuade everyone to stop the madness and recognize how awful slavery is; to do this he uses comparison and realization leading to the reader being blown away by this one slave’s life story. The goal of Douglass’s writing makes the reader see slavery in a different light. This is why Douglass’s writing is such a heavy read. To get his point across he talks about how monstrous his whole life is, starting for the very beginning when “... the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it” (Douglass 1.4) Douglass had to go through

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Alizae lounnarath Prof. Troy HIST 1301 12/1/14 Harriet Jacobs Final Paper Assignment Harriet Jacobs was a very important African American women during the hard times of slavery. Harriet was an example of how African American women were treated. Although she was tough and went through a long journey she survived and accomplished her goal of gaining freedom for herself and her family. Harriet was also an author who wrote a popular book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl which told her personal story including all the barriers in her life so that people could be aware of the cruel treatments and the lifestyle some of the helpless enslaved women had to go through during the 1800-1900’s.

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The beginning of the 17th Century marked the practice of slavery which continued till next 250 years by the colonies and states in America. Slaves, mostly from Africa, worked in the production of tobacco and cotton crops. Later , they were employed or ‘enslaved’ by the whites as for the job of care takers of their houses. The practice of slavery also led the beginning of racism among the people of America. The blacks were restricted for all the basic and legally privileged rights.

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