Harriet Jacobs Essay
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Harriet Jacobs Analysis
Jacinto Rubio
Dr. Jaime Cantrell
English 223
7 November 2017
Analysis of Harriet Jacobs' and Frederick Douglass' experiences
Among many abolitionists of slavery in early America were former slaves, Frederick Douglass and
Harriet Jacobs who lived to tell the stories of their quests for freedom during their time as slaves.
Harriet Jacobs, known for her narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, was born into slavery
like many African Americans at the time. Frederick Douglass who was also born into slavery was
best known for his "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass." Through these narratives both
Jacobs and Douglass each portray their own experiences of slavery in contrasting ways. Harriet
Jacobs centers her narrative around the
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Since slaves were not allowed schooling, illiteracy was very common for African Americans slaves.
For many people not accustomed to slavery, it was believed that slavery was simply a state of
natural being. People believed African Americans were inherently incapable of residing in their
society and consequently should live as laborers for white slave owners. Enforcing illiteracy among
children deprived them of their necessary morality and ethics. Southern slave owners used this to
their advantage control how the remainder of the country viewed slavery. If slaves were illiterate,
they were incapable of telling their side of slavery. Douglass is saying that knowledge is key to
winning against slavery. His quote, "You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how
a slave was made a man" (Douglass) describes his transformation as a slave with little knowledge
and education to a man who has become very knowledgeable and educated to beat slavery. Douglass
uses knowledge as the road to his freedom. He seeks knowledge and education to help slaves voice
the wrong doings slaveholders are bringing upon blacks. Douglass helps slaves discover their selves
not as slaves but as men instead.
Frederick Douglass's "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" emphasizes less of the abuses of
female slaves and more of the abuses of slavery in general unlike Jacobs where she mostly focuses
on struggles from female slaves. Although Douglass doesn't talk as much about women as Jacobs,
he does mention female slaves usually associated with them suffering physically by the hands of
white men. Douglass only explains the physical abuses on these female slaves while Jacobs
emphasizes the mental abuses and tortures to where she explains to be much worse than any
physical
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Harriet Jacobs Motivation
Harriet Jacobs was born on February 11, 1813. Harriet was born a slave but her parents did not tell
her until she reached six years old, the same year her mother died. Harriet Jacobs was sexually
harassed since she was fifteen years old by her master. She was a woman with a very strong
character for even if being harassed by her owner she still had sense of self–pride. She was very
intelligent and she stood up for what she thought as the right thing, even if that meant being
punished. Harriet was a persistent woman
, not giving up on her dream to be free and to have a
normal life. In 1858 Harriet Jacobs finished her autobiography called " Incidents in the life of a
slave girl". Harriet died on March 7, 1897 in
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Harriet Jacobs Research Paper
In the early eighteenth century through the mid–nineteenth century slavery was arguably the most
controversial topic in the newly formed United States. Testimonies such as those found in Common
Sense, American Yawp, and Narrative of Sojourner Truth, are just some examples of the cruelty and
harshness slaves endured. Many people of different races and social standings rose together in
Christianity and spoke out against slavery in hopes to reform the new country. Those such as Harriet
Jacobs, Charles G. Finney, David Walker, and Sojourner Truth's testimonies and speeches still ring
throughout history today. Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery. Her parents, both of mixed race,
were salves as well; although her father was such a skilled carpenter he was able to buy his freedom
but unfortunately not his families, Jacobs' mother on the other hand died as a slave. In her testimony,
she describes her younger years as a slave were happy and unaware that she was considered
property. Jacobs shared the same treatment as her Mistress' children until
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Finney, preached and stressed the importance of human action in the battle against slavery. Finney
claimed that the "world is divided into two great parties;"5 one party being those of the sinners,
"Satan as the god of this world," selfish, wicked hearted and greedy.6 The other party Finney refers
to in his writing were those who "choose Jehovah for their governor,".7 Finney went on to explain
that the sins that sinners commit are those of their choosing, "Some persons, as I have already
observed, seem disposed to be passive, to wait for some mysterious influence,"8 he wrote in hopes
to encourage the nation to eradicate their sin of slavery. Finney know the sins his people were
committing and tried to reach out to them so they could live in a country and hopefully one day a
world, where everyone was treated equal and lived in
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Harriet Jacobs
Although all the slave narratives are similar in some respects; Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of
a Slave Girl was comparatively different from Olaudah Equiano's and Venture Smith's slave
narratives. The major contrasts start in the beginning; Jacobs' was born into slavery, whereas
Equiano and Smith were native Africans who were captured and brought to America. By being born
into slavery I believe that she had a different mentality of what being a slave was, unlike the other
two authors who had to learn the language and had to adapt to a completely different environment.
Although all of them had different life experiences, I believe that what makes Jacobs' story stand out
is that is was told from the perspective of a woman.
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Her plight in acquiring freedom is parallel to that of Anne Frank; she hid in the crawl space for
seven years from 1835 to 1842; sewing reading the Bible, and keeping watch over her most prized
possessions, her children. I believe that living there was both a blessing and a curse; she was able to
see her children grow up but she could never talk to them or hold them. She was safe but in a way
she was in constant danger of being found. She was close to freedom but she had to stay in a
cramped space for seven years. What she had to endure made her seem more relatable to then the
other slave narratives that I read. She was determined to be free and for both her children to be free
and this was the only way she knew of how to accomplish her dream.
After Jacobs' ran away from Mr. Flint, Dr. Flint never gave up looking for Harriet. This was another
difference in this narrative; the owner had somewhat of an obsession with his former slave. He did
everything in his power to find her, from putting out wanted ads offering money for her return,
writing and visiting New York where he thought she was hiding, and constantly questioning her
family on her whereabouts. It was as though he couldn't deal with the fact that he didn't have control
over her anymore. Maybe it was because she didn't give into his sexual advances or maybe it was
just because a slave had outsmarted him, but his determination to enslave Jacobs' again was peculiar.
Another way Incidents in the Life of
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