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What Is Harriet Jacobs Psychological Abuse

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Harriet Jacobs was an African American woman who wrote incidents in the life of a slave girl in order to discuss her experiences in slavery as a woman. She wanted to unveil the truth about the life of a slave and share her knowledge among white southerners and northerners of slavery. As a slave woman and a runaway, Harriet Jacobs had suffered emotionally, physically, and mentally in the institution of slavery. However, she had suffered far more psychological abuse than physical abuse due to her life as a slave, sexual harassment from her slave master, and the constant fear of being found as a runaway. All these experiences led to the truth of what slavery really was.
Harriet Jacobs didn’t realize that she was born a slave until "six years …show more content…

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. This type of manipulation from Dr. Flint was a huge impact on Harriet Jacobs decisions that led to her escaping from that home and leaving her children behind for their own sake. Jacobs fled to her grandmother’s house where she hid in the attic roof for 7 years to escape her masters mad lust towards her. She watched her children play and grow up through a peep hole with no way of communicating with them. That was the hardest challenge Harriet had to face because she was locked up in a small space with little food and no air to breathe. Harriet Jacobs wrote, “I feared the sight of my children would be too much for my full heart…I bent over the bed where lay my little Benny and baby Ellen. Poor little ones! fatherless and motherless!” (XVII). Her fight for her and her children’s freedom from slavery was what kept her

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Born A Slave: Harriet Jacobs, AKA Linda Brent

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Harriet Jacobs (AKA Linda Brent) was born a slave, although up until the tender age of six she had not known such a thing because know one ever treated her as such. Linda learned to read, write and sew under her first mistress whom was very kind to her growing up. At the age of twelve Linda's first mistress died and willed her to Dr. Flint which would later cause much suffering and pain throughout her life. Linda was subjected to sexual harassment as well as physical abuse from Dr. Flint during her time as his servant. She was later temporarily able to ward off his advances by having an affair with Mr. Sands in which she had two children from him.

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As a woman, Harriet Jacobs faced unique challenges in the slave society. She was forced to endure sexual abuse from her owner and struggled to protect her children from the same abuse. This experience is clear in her narrative, which focuses mainly on the sexual misuse of female slaves. She writes with passion, using her own experiences to gain the attention of free women in the North (Jacobs).

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Summary Of Incidents In The Life Of Since Jacobs By Harriet Jacobs

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The 19th century was one of the darkest times in American history because of the prevalence of slavery that took place during that time period, especially in the South. The importation of slaves into the United States was banned in 1808, but by that year there were already approximately one million slaves in America. African American slaves worked long hours and often did not receive sufficient food and clothing from their masters. Although treatment of slaves varied by their master, there was a constant threat of physical punishment looming over slaves and they had no legal rights. The inhumane treatment of slaves, especially female slaves, is depicted in young mother and runaway slave Harriet Jacobs’ autobiography Incidents in the Life of

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What Are The Similarities Between Frederick Douglass And Harriet Jacobs

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Frederick Douglass & Harriet Jacobs Slavery has been noted as one of the biggest social issues in America. From the beginning of time, race has been seen as a barrier for some people despite their various attempts at equality none seem to yield any positive results. Frederick Douglas and Harriet Jacobs both have tried to be seen as equal to others but come up short due to the oppression of their skin color. But as a result of their power to not conform to being enslaved and treated like objects due to dehumanization is what leads them on their journey to becoming one of the few free slaves. “My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute.”

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She spent a lot of years in this hideout and was almost crippled due to her inability to stretch her legs much. She eventually got to escape from the South to the North where slavery was not allowed. She was later reunited with her children in the North after she was able to gather enough

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What Was The Purpose Of The Autobiography Of Harriet Jacobs

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Natalie Sturza English 8S Purpose of the introduction: In the introduction, Harriet Jacobs explains why she is writing an autobiography. She would rather have kept her painful story private but believes that if it is public, it may bring more abolitionists to the antislavery movement and free her brothers and sisters back South. Tone:

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Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Jacobs

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Harriet experience an internal match between wanting her child to live and wanting him to die so he’s not forced to experience the horror of slavery. As a slave mother, it’s impossible for Harriet to be able to protect her son because she’s considered as property. This is why she thinks in some ways it would be better for her children to die than rather experience the pain of slavery. Then, when her daughter, Ellen, is born, Harriet says, ““When they told me my new-born babe was a girl, my heart was heavier than it had ever been before. Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women.

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Unfortunately Jacob’s happy childhood did not last forever, the kind mistress died and she left Jacobs in the hands of her sister’s daughter. The only problem was the kind mistress’s sister’s husband, Dr. Flint. Jacobs describes him as “ a man forty years my senior daily violating the most sacred commandments of nature” (pg.26). He told her that she was his property and she was “subject to his will in all things” (pg. 26), he would also follow he around everywhere, like a

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Harriet was a slavery in the 1813’s, she was harassed by her master. She got pregnant when she was sixteen with a boy, three years later she got pregnant again this time was a girl. She hide in a tiny garret above her grandmother home for seven years with no light, just the light from the sun. Harriet escaped to the north in 1842. She got to New York in 1845 where she was reunited with her daughter and they both made a new life.

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Flint substitutes the letter with his own recreation. When Dr. Flint reads the substituted letter to Jacobs’s grandmother, it states how Harriet regrets leaving the plantation and, more importantly, leaving her children behind and sending them to her in New York or Philadelphia (Levine 867). Dr. Flint uses this fabricated letter in an attempt to get Jacobs’s grandmother on his side and sway her to collaborate with him in retrieving her. Furthermore, it can be added that Dr. Flint made that substitution to convince not only Jacobs’s grandmother but also himself, where he believes Harriet ought to express gratitude for being a slave to him. This reflects well on the numerous instances in which Dr. Flint attempted to secure her obedience, but failed nonetheless.

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Harriet Jacobs Research Paper

1802 Words | 8 Pages

She had lived her first years as happy child, but when her mother died, Harriet Jacobs was sent to her mother’s master, Margaret Hornblow, who taught her to read, write, and sew. Harriet’s master Margaret, had always shown love and affection to Harriet, which she did not realize her life as a born slave girl. In the year 1825, Harriet’s master Margaret had passed

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Harriet Jacobs Research Paper

894 Words | 4 Pages

Prior, her first owner, raised her along with her family, was kind and loving Jacobs did not really see herself as a salve because she was “always glad to do her [master’s] biding, and proud to labor for her” (2342). Little did she know how much her freedom will change as she moves to her late master’s sister’s daughter plantation. Jacobs’ carefree heart like “any free –born white child” would soon be torn apart. Now, serving the Flint family, Jacobs realizes how the power Mrs. Flint gains corrupts her standards of virtue as she emotionally abuses Jacobs and manipulates her to her liking. In one scene, Jacobs finds Mrs. Flint crying as she assumes her husband is no longer faithful to her in their marriage.

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Frederick Douglass Response Paper

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However, by getting herself pregnant by a white man of her choosing, she was able to escape Dr. Flint. Jacobs refused to submit to her master’s rape, making a choice demonstrating her self-determination: Harriet writes, “It seems less degrading to give one’s self then to submit to compulsion” (X.291). Thinking of her children’s freedom, Jacobs escaped the home of Flint, hiding in a crawl space above a storeroom in her grandmother’s house for seven years. Harriet took the fate of her children in her own hands, hoping her escape would prompt Dr. Flint to sell her children to their father. Finally making it to New York, Jacobs spent 10 years as a fugitive slave on the move.

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In Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs narrative they show how the institution of slavery dehumanizes an individual both physically and emotionally. In Jacobs narrative she talks about how women had it worse than men did in slavery. While men suffered, women had it worse due to sexual abuse. The emotional, physical, and sexual abuse was dehumanizing for anyone.

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Harriet Ann Jacobs Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl

769 Words | 4 Pages

My father was a carpenter, and considered so intelligent and skilful in his trade, that, when buildings out of the common line were to be erected, he was sent for from long distances, to be head workman. On condition of paying his mistress two hundred dollars a year, and supporting himself, he was allowed to work at his trade, and manage his own affairs. His strongest wish was to purchase his children; but, though he several times offered his hard earnings for that purpose, he never succeeded.” (page 820) Harriet Ann Jacobs was born into slavery in Edenton, North Carolina in 1813. Jacobs grew up in a family where her father was able to keep her and her brother together without being separated.

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