Mary Prince Thesis

This paper is a comparative evaluation I did between the autobiographical experiences of two former slaves, Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs and the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, were both written during the same time period (the former in 1861, the latter in1856). These two books are compelling works of African American Literature. They are depressing but at the same time hopeful, discouraging but uplifting. Both authors go into many aspects concerning the brutality of slavery, but I have thoroughly reviewed and am about to go over only a few in this analysis. Some of the more pertinent issues are a slaves childhood, the effect of gender on

White explores the master’s sexual exploitation of their female slaves, and proves this method of oppression to be the defining factor of what sets the female slaves apart from their male counterparts. Citing former slaves White writes, “Christopher Nichols, an escaped slave living in Canada, remembered how his master laid a woman on a bench, threw her clothes over her head, and whipped her. The whipping of a thirteen-year-old Georgia slave girl also had sexual overtones. The girl was put on all fours ‘sometimes her head down, and sometimes up’ and beaten until froth ran from her mouth (33).” The girl’s forced bodily position as well as her total helplessness to stop her master’s torture blatantly reveals the forced sexual trauma many African females endured.

As he navigates the fraught terrain of racial identity and social status, Douglass grapples with questions of authenticity, visibility, and empowerment. His narrative reflects the ongoing struggle to assert a positive sense of self amidst the dehumanizing forces of slavery and racism, as he strives to reclaim his humanity and dignity in the eyes of himself and others. Frederick Douglass's narrative offers a multifaceted exploration of identity formation, agency, and resistance within the crucible of slavery and liberation. Through vivid storytelling, Douglass illuminates the complexities of individual and collective identity, underscoring the transformative power of education, resistance, community, and cultural heritage in shaping the evolution of selfhood in the face of oppression. His narrative stands as a timeless testament to the enduring quest for dignity, justice, and freedom, inspiring generations to come in the ongoing struggle for equality and

The History of Mary Prince was a seminal work of the nineteenth century, which today remains an important historical device. Mary Prince’s story is not unique, but the circumstances and context surrounding her novel are. Defying contemporary standards and beliefs, The History of Mary Prince demonstrates the atrocities of slavery, but also a distinctive and deliberate political message. The History of Mary Prince is not only important for its demonstration of human suffering and the legal history it documents, but it also offers insight into the British abolition movement. Twofold, it remains an important text through both its straightforward portrayal of facts and experience as well as its underlying careful manipulation of political and moral themes. The History of Mary Prince served as an influential abolitionist piece of writing, but furthermore can incite multiple layers of interpretation and analysis of the abolition movement.

Slaves were set with harsh restrictions that not only took away

Katherine McKittrick’s article goes back to “transatlantic slavery” and how this important historical event negatively impacted the lives of black bodies throughout history. Because of this occurrence, white bodies use ‘power

In "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," Harriet Jacobs provides a vivid firsthand account of the brutalities of American slavery, demonstrating a unique perspective on the intersections of race, gender, and power. This narrative, when viewed through the analytical lens of Christina Sharpe's theoretical concepts, reveals the deep-seated racism and white supremacy that underpin the systemic oppression of slavery. Jacobs' autobiographical work not only recounts her personal journey towards freedom and dignity but also casts a wider critique on the historical and enduring injustices inflicted upon African Americans. Jacobs' narrative acts as a powerful indictment of the systemic racism and white supremacy of American slavery. Leveraging her

When someone mentions slavery in American history, one may imagine hard working African Americans planting cotton or plowing fields in the scorching heat. Others may recall learning about the Underground Railroad or how slaves would escape their cruel masters and flee to the North. While both ideas were true, not many people think of the harsh lives of African American women who were often treated worse than their male counterparts, both physically and mentally. Harriet Ann Jacobs, an American author and former slave, challenges the normal stereotypes we often encounter when discussing American slavery in her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Furthermore, she gives a critical voice for slave women and writes to encourage the abolishment of slavery with true accounts from her life.

Mary Prince was a slave in the West Indies in the early 1800s. In her book, The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave, she talks about her life as a slave, and the treatment she received from the different families she lived with. This paper focuses on the cruel treatment of Mary by her slave owners, specifically the Inghams, Mr. D- and his wife, and the Woods.

Enslaved women’s experiences are excellently defined in Stephanie Camp’s article “The Pleasures of Resistance” by using their physical body as a political resource. Dr. Camp’s description of the body as both the most private and the “most personal, intimate thing that people possess”

The slave owner’s exploitation of the black woman’s sexuality was one of the most significant factors differentiating the experience of slavery for males and females. The white man’s claim to the slave body, male as well as female, was inherent in the concept of the Slave Trade and was tangibly realized perhaps no where more than the auction block. Captive Africans were stripped of their clothing, oiled down, and poked and prodded by potential buyers. The erotic undertones of such scenes were particularly pronounced in the case of black women. Throughout the period of slavery in America, white society believed black women to be innately lustful beings. The perception of the African woman as hyper-sexual made her both the object of white man’s abhorrence and his fantasy. Within the bonds of slavery, masters often felt it was their right to engage in sexual activity with black women. Sometimes, female slaves made advances hoping that such relationships would increase the chances that they or their children would be liberated by the master. Most of the time, slave owners took slaves by force.

Through the course of history, whenever people hear the word “slaves”, they imagine a long period of hate,torture, ignorance, and cruelty. The term slaves mostly refers to the group of people that today are know as Africans. During these harsh times some slaves kept the detailed memories of their daily suffering and later told them to help create their narratives. In the Classic Slave Narratives the hardships of four slaves who today we remember as Mary Prince, Frederick Douglass, Gustavus Vassa, and last but not least Harriet Jacobs, are descriptively told. Experiences varied based on where the slave was located or their gender. Slaves would be treated as objects, rather than human beings, they were someone’s possession. In The Classic Slave

Slavery has affected generations of people while Caucasian men slaveholders were living in the luxury, and the most vulnerable part of society was slave women. Somewhere in the middle, there was a plantation mistress, often portrayed as an unfaithful character but, as a matter of fact, a victim of slavery. In this essay, I will conduct a comparative analysis of the lives of free and enslaved women of Old American South through the information gathered from “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” by Frederick Douglass, and “The plantation mistress. Woman’s world in the Old South” by Catherine Clinton. While reading these books, the question arises ‘Were the lives of free and enslaved women from the Old South alike?’

She emphasizes that the life of a slave woman is incomparable to the life of a slave man, in the sense that a woman’s sufferings are not only physical but also extremely mental and emotional. Whether or not a slave woman is beaten, starved to death, or made to work in unbearable circumstances on the fields, she suffers from and endures horrible mental torments. Unlike slave men, these women have to deal with sexual harassment from white men, most often their slave owners, as well as the loss of their children in some cases. Men often dwell on their sufferings of bodily pain and physical endurance as slaves, where as women not only deal with that but also the mental and emotional aspect of it. Men claim that their manhood and masculinity are stripped from them, but women deal with their loss of dignity and morality. Females deal with the emotional agony as mothers who lose their children or have to watch them get beaten, as well as being sexually victimized by white men who may or may not be the father of their children. For these women, their experiences seem unimaginable and are just as difficult as any physical punishment, if not more so.

The horrific and heartbreaking history of slavery is often depicted as a powerful force at the hands of the slave owners. Indeed, this depiction rings true in many because the brutality, the beating, the lynching, simply the denial of absolute rights born to human beings, are disgraceful and dominate for many years. However, these people, not property, proved their strength, resilience, and perseverance repeatedly. The black slaves proved their innate ability to cope with adversity far beyond that which the slave owners could ever dream of overcoming. Throughout history and the stories left behind, we can observe the deep love and commitment of the African American slaves for and to their families (Martin, 2010). The will to protect their family members was greater than any of the risks of punishment or death. Unimaginable and heartbreaking sacrifices were made to save children from the tragedies and atrocities that many slaves, including their parents, had endured. To understand the need for resistance is to understand the magnitude of the pain, suffering, and enslavement.