There was a conspiracy of silence on the slavery issue. And one of the first things abolitionists had to do was put the issue on the table in a way that it couldn't be ignored. Or as Wendell Phillips said, our enemy is not the slaveowner only, it's also the person of good will who simply doesn't want to talk about slavery. . . .
Eric Foner, Historian (4)
Slave narratives are written accounts of enslaved Africans that were brought to America on colonial slave ships. There have been many former slave whom have testified their records of isolation, violence , and living conditions. Most former slaves were interviewed by someone who worked for an administration of some kind, like the Federal Writers Project. Not to get confused with Harriet Tubman; famous for the underground rail road, but there is another woman named Harriet. Harriet Jacobs was born in 1813 in Edenton, North Carolina and was born into slavery. What makes her narrative different from all the rest is that her accounts were written by herself. Her autobiography was the first slave narrative ever published by a women. In 1858, she had finished the manuscript of her book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Due to the publishers Thayer and Eldridge going bankrupt, the book was published three years later in 1861. Her autobiographic story is most significant because there are only two other slave autobiographies, and they are by Frederick Douglass and Nat Turner.
Uncovering Truth..............
In Harriet's novel she exposes the truth about how she was sexual abused by her white master; an issue most denied. She exploits her living conditions by stating "I HARDLY expect that the reader will credit me, when I affirm that I lived in that little dismal hole, almost deprived of light and air, and with no space to move my limbs, for nearly seven years. But it is a fact; and to me a sad one, even now; for my body still suffers from the effects of that long imprisonment.(1) At six years old Harriet and her sibling's moved in with their grandmother, whom also was a slave. Harriet's grandmother's mistress taught Harriet how to read and sew and after her grandmothers Mistress died, Harriet used her new found skills of literacy to later recall her days spent with her new owner Dr. Norcom at fifteen "He tried his utmost to corrupt the pure principles my grandmother had instilled. He peopled my young mind with unclean images, such as only a vile monster could think of. I turned from him with disgust and hatred. But he was my master, I was compelled to live under the same roof with him -- where I saw a man forty years my senior daily violating the most sacred commandments of nature. He told me I was his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things. ... But where could I turn fo
r protection? No matter whether the slave girl be as black as ebony or as fair as her mistress. In either case, there is no shadow of law to protect her from insult, from violence, or even from death... "(1) In 1842 Harriet planned for her getaway from Norcom and escaped from her inborn slavery. She was a fugitive on the run with an reward out for capture. The runaway Notice read as followed:
r protection? No matter whether the slave girl be as black as ebony or as fair as her mistress. In either case, there is no shadow of law to protect her from insult, from violence, or even from death... "(1) In 1842 Harriet planned for her getaway from Norcom and escaped from her inborn slavery. She was a fugitive on the run with an reward out for capture. The runaway Notice read as followed:$100 dollars will be given for the apprehension and delivery of my Servant Girl HARRIET. She is a light mulatto, 21 years of age, about 5 feet 4 inches high, of a thick and corpulent habit, having on her head a thick covering of black hair that curls naturally, but which can be easily combed straight. She speaks easily and fluently, and has an agreeable carriage and address. Being a good seamstress, she has been accustomed to dress well, has a variety of very fine clothes, made in the prevailing fashion, and will probably appear, if abroad, tricked out in gay and fashionable finery. As this girl absconded from the plantation of my son without any known cause or provocation, it is probable she designs to transport herself to the North. The above reward, with all reasonable charges, will be given for apprehending her, or securing her in any prison or jail within the U. States. All persons are hereby forewarned against harboring or entertaining her, or being in any way instrumental in her escape, under the most rigorous penalties of the law. JAMES NORCOM.(4)
The escape.....................
Harriet was never seen again by Dr. Norcom and found having two children with a white attorney that ended up giving their children away to work as servants. She found her children and moved to New York where she decided to become public and being a fugitive slave mother once freed in 1852. "Praised by the antislavery
press in the United States and Great Britain, Incidents was quickly overshadowed by the gathering clouds of civil war in America. Never reprinted in Jacob's lifetime"(3) While in New York Jacobs worked with other abolitionist closely linked to Fredrick Douglas paper, The North Star. She was convince by the friends she had met in the north to tell her story. Her " primary motive in writing Incidents was to address white women of the North on behalf of thousands of "Slave mothers that are still in bondage" in the South.(3) Jacobs wanted to expose the truth and nothing less than that. She wanted to tell her whole story from beginning to end starting from her childhood to her abuse at the hands of Dr. Norcom, to her preparations to escape. Her book will remain one of the most original dialogs about the sexual aggravation and belittlement experienced by slave women; a matter that made countless abolitionists enraged and indignant.
press in the United States and Great Britain, Incidents was quickly overshadowed by the gathering clouds of civil war in America. Never reprinted in Jacob's lifetime"(3) While in New York Jacobs worked with other abolitionist closely linked to Fredrick Douglas paper, The North Star. She was convince by the friends she had met in the north to tell her story. Her " primary motive in writing Incidents was to address white women of the North on behalf of thousands of "Slave mothers that are still in bondage" in the South.(3) Jacobs wanted to expose the truth and nothing less than that. She wanted to tell her whole story from beginning to end starting from her childhood to her abuse at the hands of Dr. Norcom, to her preparations to escape. Her book will remain one of the most original dialogs about the sexual aggravation and belittlement experienced by slave women; a matter that made countless abolitionists enraged and indignant. Life after book............
Work Cited:
"Africans in America Teacher's Guide - Part 4 Lesson Focus." PBS. Web. 18 Sept. 2009. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/tguide/4tgfocus.html. (4)
"Chapter 29." American Studies @ The University of Virginia. Web. 18 Sept. 2009. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/JACOBS/hjch29.htm. (1)
"Harriet Jacobs." Spartacus Educational - Home Page. Web. 16 Sept. 2009. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Sjacobs.htm. (2)
"Library of Southern Literature homepage." Documenting the American South homepage. Web. 16 Sept. 2009. http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/index.html. (3)
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