In the documentary “Slavery & Making of America” (SMA) they paint a completely different picture about life as a slave. Slaves were captured, torn from their families, abused, raped, overworked and even whipped. Not to mention bought and sold as if they belonged to anyone other than themselves to begin with. Most slaves, afraid of what might happen to them and/or their family members, lived with the abuse, as they had no other choice.…
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, is a biography on Harriet Jacobs life, she is telling her story as a slave and the events that occurred in her life. I choose this book because I’ve always been interested in the topic of slaves and how their lives were. Being a female myself, I was curious about the life of a slave girl. I wanted to know and understand the life of Harriet Jacobs. Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery to Elijah and Delilah Jacobs in 1813. Grow up in Edenton, N.C. Both her parents were slaves with different families. She had a brother named John. At an early year her parents died, she was raised by her grandmother Molly Horniblow. Harriet had two children Louisa Matilda Jacobs and Joseph Jacobs who’s names…
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is an autobiography by a young mother and fugitive slave written by Harriet Ann Jacobs. Harriet Ann Jacobs used the penname Linda Brent. The book is about Jacobs’s life as a slave woman who goes through obstacles to gain freedom for herself and for her children.…
Slave Country, is a book on early America and it tells the story of the rapid growth of slavery in the newly formed states. Slavery slowly disappeared from the northern states and the importation of captive Africans was prohibited. But, at the same time, the country's slave population grew, new plantation crops appeared, and several new slave states joined the Union. Adam Rothman explores how slavery grew a staggering amount in a new nation formed by the principle of equality among free men, and tells the consequences of U.S. expansion into the region that became the Deep South. Rothman delves into the ideas of capitalism and nationalism that began a huge forced migration of slaves into Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. He tells the story of the relationships held among the European, African, and indigenous peoples who inhabited the Deep South during the Jeffersonian era, and who turned the region into a slave system. Rothman writes of the violence that jeopardized Jefferson’s vision of republican expansion across the American continent.…
In the passage "Incidents in the Life of a slave Girl" by Harriet Jacobs she says "Slavery is bad for men, but is far more terrible for women. " In my opinion I believe that it is equally harsh on both men and women. In Frederick Douglas narrative he explains how slavery was immoral for men. One of the ways men suffered from slavery was physical.…
Now that the picture has been painted of what times were like many would assume well life seems to be great for the elite whites and dreadful for the slaves but little did anyone ever think to consider how slavery could possibly be bad for the South? In the book Incidents in a Life of a Slave Girl the main character Linda talks about her life from the very young age of 6 till she is a grown women. The book gives us a clear view of what it would be like to be a young girl growing up as a slave. One of the biggest things I was able to better understand from the book was truly how cruel slaves were treated numerous times the author Harriet Jacobs used details…
In the Southern states, slaves were forced to work and received no compensation. Being a slave meant you were often disrespected, demoralized, and detested. Trying to escape was not an option and surviving alone was difficult. Harriet Jacobs, writing as Linda Brent, gave an intimate view of what it meant to be a slave in the mid 1800’s. Linda earned no wages for her hard work, and could have received “thirty-nine lashes” just for knowing how to read (Jacobs). Linda experienced far less physical discomfort than many other slaves; however, she was a victim psychological pain due to the fact that she was seen as nothing more than a piece of property. It is hard to believe that Jacobs 's contemporaries would have to be convinced of the natural wrongness of owning another person. In “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”, Jacobs clearly explained and helped us gain an understanding of self-assertion, family bond, unity, dependence, resistance, equality, and…
In the early eighteen-hundreds, slavery was a very popular trade. Down in the south, slavery basically meant that African-Americans could be sold and owned as property for laborious work. The slaves were put to work as soon as possible no matter the age to help support their families or save enough money to free themselves. Many of the female slaves were often sexually harassed and/or raped by their masters; which in turn made them even more hated by their mistresses. This often gave women a sense of fear when around a man.…
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass uncovers an abundant amount of American history during this time of slavery. Douglass does this by the way he describes the slave family, the treatment and living conditions of slaves, and the master-slave relationship. The master often tears families apart by breaking them up. Douglass says that many times mothers have to leave their babies, before the child reaches one. He thinks this occurs to damage the bond of affection between a mother and child. Douglass also goes on to state that families are always at risk of being separated by being put up for sale. The treatment of the slaves is somewhat barbaric. If one of the slaves "misbehaves" in anyway, they will be punished by being hit with a…
When reading the story Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, one would become very interested. The author Harriet Ann Jacobs begins the story with an introduction stating why she is writing this autobiography. She states that it is a hard, painful read and that she wanted to keep it private but she knew that people must know the truth. Her life story is agonizing but she was determined to put it out there for readers to read, hoping that by making it public it may help the antislavery movement. Harriet uses the penname Linda Brant to narrate the story in first person. Harriet writes about the struggles of being a female trapped into slavery and how she fought to protect not only herself but her young children too. She also highlights her darkest and happiest moments and how in instants she could have easily given up but chose not to. Harriet Ann Jacobs wrote this story to not only help the antislavery movement but to also educate people on how hard slavery was on a person, especially a woman.…
Slavery is the saddest period of human’s history. What slaves went through was really hard and it takes strong people to survive to that’s situation. They not only had to work every day of their lives without any compensation, but they were also broken down morally and separated from their families. Slaves were not treated as humans. They were treated as objects and machines and the only thing they were supposed to do were to obey to their masters, and if not, they would get beaten up, whipped or even killed. This is clearly shown on the Angela Davis’s essay, Reflection on the Black Woman’s Role in the Community of Slaves.…
Slavery, the practice of being possessed by someone as a labor force or for his personal needs, was a ubiquitous workforce in nearly every part of the world. Slaves served as the propelling engine behind the Southern labor force for a long time. These African-Americans first arrived in ships from Africa and progressively started setting in the South, were they worked and served as a labor powerhouse. These slaves were used predominately for plantations, were treated as animals and worked under extremely harsh conditions with no pay. Historians have argued for a long time on whether slavery destroyed the black family. Despite the fact that Eugene D. Genovese states that slaves created there own system of family and values, Wilma A. Dunaway clearly proves that due to the harsh living conditions, the inevitable separation between families and the absolute lack of freedom of slaves, destroyed the black family.…
However, labor in the southern colonies was increasingly severe. One observer said it to be “the hardest work I have seen [slaves] engage in.” (Berkin, 121) Overall, slaves were malnourished and wore raggedy clothes, they were also frequently abused. Whether slave or free African American women found it difficult to establish and maintain a family. They all faced the risk of becoming pregnant and then being sold away therefore separating them from their husbands and relatives.…
During the time of the 1900’s, we have seen the disgusting ways African Americans were treated. We have seen the selling, leasing, and physically punishing someone. There was torment that a human being had to go through because they were taken away from their homeland and were considered “slaves”. Now you would probably think that between enslaved men and women that enslaved women would have less suffering to go through. Completely false. Women were given the hardest workload and the hardest time during enslavement. Enslaved women went through so much more pain and hardship than anybody can ever imagine. The road to freedom was more gruesome and intense for a enslaved women that it would ever be for an enslaved man.…
Both Mr. Hughes and Aunt Harriet Smith state that they did not personally experience violence while in slavery, but they had heard of occasions of violence. Although slavery was not pleasant, both parties state that they were treated well. Mr. Fountain Hughes recalls that “boys lived to, they had a good time. The masters didn 't treat them bad. And they was always satisfied.”i Although Mr. Hughes did not witness violence, he stated that “if you was bad and mean and they didn 't want to beat you and knock you around, they 'd sell you what to the, what was call the nigga trader.”i Aunt Harriet Smith recalls that “they was good to us. Good. They never whipped none of their colored people, our colored people. They 'd take big saddle horse, Mrs. B 's saddle horse, big gray animal, and she 'd have them riding. Grandma would ride to Mountain City to church.”ii When it came to freedom, Mr. Fountain Hughes and Aunt Harriet Smith had very different experiences. Aunt Harriet Smith states “we didn 't know anything about freedom at all.”ii On the other hand, Mr. Fountain Hughes experienced the positive and negative side of freedom living in Virginia. He comments that “soon after when we found out that we was free, why then we was, uh, bound out to different people…and we would run away, and wouldn 't stay with them. Why then we 'd just go and stay anywhere we could.”i When discussing the…