The Narrative Of The Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Tubman

This injury handicapped her as a young girl, and her value as a slave depreciated, which resulted in poor treatment from her owners, and a grim outlook on her future as an enslaved woman. In 1849, Harriet Tubman made her initial escape from slavery. She had fallen ill once again, and no longer had any value as a slave in the eyes of her “owner.” Edward Brodess, the slaveowner tried to sell her, but was unable to find someone willing to make the purchase.

Harriet Jacobs book tells us a lot about gender and race, and the issues faced in the U.S. South during the 19th century. In the lifetime of slaves within the south, daily routines very much banked on the slaves gender. Male slaves were known to work out doors doing more physical labor compared to women who were known to be caretakers and do small petty things. Family life for slaves in the south was not easy due to the fact that they were constantly taken away from each other. Marriages in the South were also difficult for slaves and for slaveholders. In Harriet Jacobs’ book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Jacobs gives clear descriptions of the conceptions of masculinity and femininity between slaves, their family life, and of love/marriage

Harriet Tubman was an American hero, who freed thousands of slaves. She was also a spy in the

Tubman was subjected to abuse in her earlier enslaved life, but that was oftentimes further exacerbated because she would response to commands from overseers with some act of refusal. For example, as an adolescent, Tubman was sent to a dry-good store for supplies and while there she encountered a slave who had left the fields without permission. The man’s overseer demanded that she help restrain the runaway slave, but she refused. It was then that the overseer threw a two-pound weight at her, striking her in the head, subsequently causing a life long series of headaches, seizures, and narcoleptic episodes. Regardless of this strife, however, Tubman maintained her position as being a non-violent individual. Instead, she redirected her time and

Tubman experienced the true brutality of slavery since she was as young as five (Clinton 18). Having to watch over a baby when she was just a baby herself, restricted from eating sugar when children desire sweet cravings, and running away from her masters for days because she was afraid to face the horrible consequences that awaited. Even before her birth Tubman understood that the oppression of her lineage and other’s oppression have been occurring for awhile. During her young adult years she developed into a woman of integrity and will: she transported slaves in the Underground Railroad, travelled alone to the South to see her husband which she loved, and she continued to do more risky acts despite having previous head injuries. From the racial segregation

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.

Harriet was one of nine children, but sadly, she lost contact with most of her siblings. It was typical of plantation owners to sell off family members of their own slaves to other slave owner. This is the reality that Tubman was faced with. As a slave, physical violence was a norm for Tubman and her family. She carried scars from being lashed and beaten down. The most severe injury occurred when Harriet was a teenager; she met a slave who had left the field without permission, and when the slave’s overseer demanded that she help restrain the runaway, she refused. Upset, the overseer threw a two-pound weight that struck her in the head. From then on Tubman suffered from seizures, severe headaches and narcoleptic episodes. These unfortunate conditions haunted her for the rest of her life. She also experienced intense dream states, which she classified as religious experiences. Harriet Tubman’s father, Ben, was freed from slavery at the age of 45, as demanded in the will of his previous owner. Although similar circumstances applied to Harriet Green and her children, the individuals who owned them decided not to free them. Despite being free, Ben had little power to challenge their

In Shaping of the Modern World, we are learning about political and cultural changes around the world. Slavery is a significant topic in Shaping of the Modern World, how our world change throughout slavery and how slavery changes over time. In the narrative writing, Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, she talks about how her life changed while serving different and new masters and mistresses. I think that this narrative writing is an important text to help us understand the different perspectives of slavery in America. There are some slave owners that are kind and humane, and some slave owners that are cruel and abusive. Additionally, reading from a female slave’s perspectives teaches us that life on the plantations and life in the house is different. Especially as a female, they would get different treatment from their masters and mistresses. The text has changed my understanding of slavery that not all slave owners are harsh, and not all slaves are not intellectual.

“I grew up like a neglected weed,” were Harriet Tubman’s words about being a slave from the beginning of her life. She was born in Maryland in the year of 1822, and she had to start working at the age of 5. In adulthood, she decided to make an extremely risky decision that could have cost her her life - she fled slavery. Tubman was tired of the harsh conditions she had to endure in slavery, and she wanted her freedom just like she had deserved from the beginning. A couple of her sisters were sold away from her family, and after her master had died in 1849, she did not want to be sold into slavery again.

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”- Nelson Mandela. The quote is describing how freedom is not only being out of chains but to be able to be in society with respect from all. Freedom can also mean a lot of different things depending on the person. For example to a teenager freedom could mean them getting out from under their parents supervision or parental control. But, freedom to an adult that works everyday of the week, their freedom can be, not have to work on the weekends, which gives them their freedom to do anything they want to do. In the slave narrative Incidents of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs about her life as a slave, freedom means Linda (aka Harriet Jacobs) being free from slavery, being away from Dr. Flint, and to have her family free with her. She tries to achieve her freedom in many different ways. She confesses to Mrs. Flint about the advances Dr. Flint makes towards her, she falls in with a free black man, and gets pregnant by Mr. Sands. She uses these to achieve her freedom from Dr. Flint’s advances. She also achieves her freedom by running away to her grandmother’s attic, and running away to the North. Linda also achieves her freedom when Dr. Flint had died and when Mrs. Bruce being her savior.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and The Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl are both nineteenth-century narratives about Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs’s experiences born into slavery and as escaped slaves. The concept of gender makes each narrative have distinct perspectives’ of their version of what they endure during slavery and how it shapes their freedom. Even though both narratives have many similarities of educating the complexity of being a vulnerable slave, Harriet Jacobs’ narrative provides more reason that slavery is far worse for women than it is for men.

Separation and subjugation filled our country in the mid-nineteenth century. African Americans were segregated and seen as "property," not people. Having been conceived as a slave, Harriet Tubman was no more abnormal to the unforgiving reality of subjection. Tubman's youth included filling in as a house worker and later in the cotton fields. With the dread of being sold, Tubman chose to escape from a superior life. Harriet Tubman spent her life attempting to spare others from subjugation, getting to be a standout amongst the most well-known ladies of her opportunity who could impact the cancelation of servitude and impact the lives of numerous African Americans.

Slavery was common in the eighteenth century. Slaves were seen as property, as they were taken from their native land and forced into long hours of labor. The experience was traumatic for both black men and black women. They were physically and mentally abused by slave owners, dehumanized by the system, and ultimately denied their fundamental rights to a favorable American life. Although African men and women were both subjected to the same enslavement, men and women had different experiences in slavery based on their gender. A male perspective can be seen in, My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass. A female perspective is shared in Harriet Jacobs’ narrative titled, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Upon reading both of the viewpoints provided, along with outside research, one can infer that women had it worse.

In modern day American culture we can see many citizens striving to achieve the American dream of a brighter future, but imagine having your dream destroyed based on your physical appearance and ethnical background. In the novel Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs, the author writes in her first point of views and recounts her experiences as a slave during this time in American history which helps brings the attention of social issues amongst African American slave. The main character, Linda, learns from late of her childhood the savagery of being a slave and the consequences she sees first hand of the hostilities her race has against her from her owners and the society around. Though many American citizens at this time of history felt it necessary to imply to all colored people that the white city folks were the dominate race of the nation and will show enmity to any who wish to be free. Society has been revealed through history to be a positive or negative to a certain class of people for the purpose of having the achievement of power through fear. The negativity from the general population to physical differences proved during this time period fear was the only consistent thought that ran the lifestyle to control the African American slaves. Within the context of the novel the first-hand view of experiencing segregation and rights taken away from Linda will help the reader understand fully the impact of many social issues at this time.

Being born to two enslaved parents was anything but easy for this inspirational figure; she was forced into gruelling housework as a child, and suffered from various kinds of physical assault throughout her enslaved life. These many factors, and Harriet’s independent and determined nature, led to her making it her life mission to play her part in the abolishment of slavery. Tubman was faced with countless obstacles when it came to overcoming slavery, which started when she was forced to escape her owner’s property alone to avoid being sold, since her brothers refused to escape with her. After she made her escape, Tubman did not stop at that, she traveled back and forth from Canada to Maryland to save over 300 slaves, other than her family members. She stated, “I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land” (Tubman, 1886). Tubman was alone, but that did not cripple her determination, it only fuelled her independence. This helped her gain respect, and the title of one of the most important abolitionists in history. Her self-sufficiency, also, contributed to her single-handedly leading an armed expedition for the Union Army in the American Civil War, whereas she led hundreds of slaves in the Combahee River Raid. Later on