Letters From A Slave Girl: The Story Of Harriet Jacobs

Harriet Ann Jacobs is a girl who is locked away, away in a place that only Dr. Flint knows. She is a struggling girl who wants to be free and go out and be free, although, she cannot. She speaks about how much she dislikes where she is living and she wishes she could be somewhere else, although, she has seen worse things happen outside. As she talks about her current living status and her memories, she incorporates or talks about them very well. In this passage or section, she uses rhetorical strategies to add a different feel and perception of her life.

Despite this continuous separation, Harriet managed to find ways to spend time with her family.” Even at the youthful age of six, Harriet still

Harriet meets a young attorney who was a born free man named Samuel Treadwell Sawyer and this causes confrontation between her and her jealous lover, Dr. Norcom. It isn’t until then that her master lays a hand on her and abuses her. She is shamed and is given strict orders not to come within contact of this man or she will suffer the consequences. She presents victimization of female slaves at the hands of their masters. Dr. Norcom exposes Jacobs to sexual harassment and mental abuse while his wife also directs frustration and anger towards Jacobs. In fact, Norcoms wife should have assisted the people but Jacobs’ states that Mrs. Norcom was even worse. Jacobs has had enough and looked to find a way out. This then drives Jacobs to encounter Sawyer again and she becomes pregnant in hopes of her freedom being bought, due to carrying another man’s child that isn’t Norcom’s. Rewriting the American Self states, Jacobs takes the “masculine” prerogative in choosing her lover as a way to prevent sexual oppression (11). Jacobs’ grandmother wanted to buy her freedom but Dr. Norcom refuses. Dr. Norcom continuously torments Jacobs and follows her even after she gave birth to Sawyers children.

In her book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs is a slave that was born into slavery in 1813 that has decided to share her amazing story of slavery and her struggles to become free. When she was young her parents were “property” of a really nice lady that allowed her family to have a very comfortable life for a slave family. They were allowed to work for their own money and Harriet did not know that she was a slave for until she was twelve. When she was seven her master died and left her to her sister’s daughter who was five years old. She believed that it was not right to treat blacks in the way that whites did and that someone should not have to purchase themselves or their children. She believed that the whites were way too cruel. She eventually escaped to the north and eventually had someone purchase her freedom for her and her children. Reaching north, Harriet was relief and breath of freedom when she get out from the boat, not long after her arrival to the north she was reunited with her daughter and was ensured of her safety and good treatment she received. She found work in one house and find a friendship in the house she got work with a woman named Mr. Bruce who she was working for, her struggle in those days was been reduce, coming to the north would end all her painful sorrow and struggle. However, there is still another thing she

Then that night when she was going to leave she remembered a old lady who talked to her about using the Underground Railroad,Then when she told her family about that her brothers wanted to come. So then they left but Harriet’s brothers were to slow then later got scared they would be caught and killed so they dragged Harriet back to the plantation. But at that moment Harriet knew she was a brave,strong and woman who should be treated equally  so she tried to fight her way back from the the plantation but she failed to get away the first time.

Harriet returned home to Auburn, New York after the Civil War had ended. By then, her mother and father were elder and had a system supporting them during Harriet’s absence. They still needed her financial support to carry them (Civil war). In 1867 harriet had found out that her former husband, John Tubman had been killed with a white man named Robert Vincent. He wasn’t ever convicted. Although she was never legally married to John, there was an informal marriage just like all the others who lived in slavery. They loved each other, but he moved on (Civil War). In 1869 Harriet met a guy named Nelson Davis. He was a man who had looked for a shelter in her home. He had been a former slave in North Carolina. He served as a soldier in the Civil

When Harriet was six years old, a typical day in her life would be that first, right when she would wake up, she would put on her tow-linen shirt, and go to work as a slave in the plantation. While she would work, Harriet would secretly sing the forbidden song, which was about Moses and the children of Israel, that her mother, Old Rit, taught her. While she was singing the song, she heard a few other slaves secretly singing it as well. Then, Harriet’s father, Ben, would inform Harriet about how to survive life outside the plantation by talking about the woods, which berries were safe to eat, and the many animals that lived there as well. While Ben would talk to Harriet, Harriet would feel moments of pride when Ben was consulted about the weather by an overseer. Ben would tell the overseer that the direction of the wind was coming from the north, by licking his forefinger and holding it up.

Harriet’s grandmother was a well-respected older slave woman who gained her freedom in the last will and testament of her mistress.

From learning this we know Harriet is not in for a good future with this family. The way Jacobs describes the importance of the women in her life is inspiring, given that, at the time they had such little power and such few rights. “Mrs. Flint, like many southern women, was totally deficient in energy. She had not the strength to superintend her household affairs; but her nerves were so strong, that she could sit in her easy chair and see a woman whipped, till the blood trickled from every stroke of the lash” (Jacobs 360). The way she describes Mrs. Flint perfectly captures what all women in the south were like. This portrays an excellent example to Northern women how serious slavery can affect a person.

The group then decides that Harriet is learning how to live on the plantation and what to do if she escapes at the same

Harriet’s bravery played a huge role in her escape. If she wasn't brave she would’ve never been able to stand up to her bigger stronger brothers when they told her not to run for the north. If she didn’t have bravery she would have never left the plantation to make it to the north. She also had to be brave when she was making it to house to house  without being

Jacobs is born to her mother in the southern states of America. She is born without freedom and rights as she is black, property to her master as a slave. Her mother is a slave to a man name Dr. Flint and so therefor she too is a slave of his property. On page 26, the first sentence of chapter 5, Jacobs states "During the first years of my service in Dr. Flint's family I was accustomed to share some indulgences with the children of my mistress. Thought this seemed to me no more than right, I was grateful for it, and tried to merit the kindness by the faithful discharge of my duties." Harriet shows gratefulness for a period of time that she is a slave. The next line says "But I now entered on my fifteenth year -- a sad epoch in the life of a slave." Harriet starts to show hatred for her slavery and sadness. As a fifteenth year slave she is getting tired of how she is being treated, many girls that are her age at this time would be very frustrated with this too.

Harriet was born into slavery as Araminta Rose, along with ten other brothers and sisters. No known birth date, because as a slave they were not important enough to know when they were born. Her parents were Harriet and Benjamin ross. They were also born into slavery. As a child Araminta Rose now known as Harriet was sent out from her master to watch a small child although at age five she was a small child herself. Her job was to stay awake at night so they child would not cry and disturb the mother's sleep. If she happened to fall asleep and they baby woke up and started to cry the mother would get out of bed a beat Harriet. From this point on she knew she wanted to be free. Harriet was also faced with many different task not just watching the baby at night. At 7 years old Harriet was sent out to get muskrats from the traps. This job lead to Harriet standing in waist deep waters until dark, from being wet all day long she caught the measles. She had to continue going to work because she really didn't have a choice. It's not like she could call off for the day. Her sickness started to become really bad. Which lead her to become really weak and she collapsed while working. At age eight Harriet was sent to another household. This house was very rough for her. She was not given much at all. One day while the masters of the house were in a very aggressive argument Harriet snatch up some sugar. She just wanted to try it. She had never even tasted it. Later that evening the master had found out she took some sugar. In Harriet's fear of being beaten she ran away before the master could find her. Harriet was gone for three days. During those three days she slept in a pigpen with nothing to eat she fought against the pigs for scraps of food that the pigs were given to eat.Later on in life Harriet describes this time as one of the times that she felt the most neglected. At age

Harriet always loved to read. She read her favorite book, Sir Walter Scott’s Lvanhoe seven times in one month at age 12. She also loved to write. Harriet believed that the purpose in life was to write. In 1852, Harriet wrote the bestseller “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. This book was about the injustices of slavery. It was first published in an antislavery newspaper in 40 installments. The first day it appeared in book form, it sold 3,000 copies also in 1852. By the outbreak of the Civil War, Harriet’s book sold over $3,000,000. Still to this day she has been the most famous Beecher in her family. Some more interesting facts I have about her family are that Harriet worked at her sister’s school. It was there that she met a handsome man named Calvin E. Stowe. He was a college professor and Harriet ended up falling in love with him. They married and had seven children. Prior to her children she wrote short stories to earn money for her and her husband. After the kids were born she still went on writing novels, essays, children’s books, biographies and more. When Harriet would write, she would write at the kitchen table while the kids ran in and out of the

An example that gives an even deeper look into Harriet’s archetypal character is when Roy is finally at his hotel. A mysterious thing Harriet did was when she called Roy’s room and then told him to come up to her room. But since Roy didn’t see anything wrong with that at the time he went on up to her room without a second