The autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, was written by Harriet Ann Jacobs as a young mother and fugitive slave. In regards to its historical context, the book was written by Harriet herself, using the name Linda Brent as an alias, as she did with all of the characters. Incidents in the Life of a Slave girl displayed the exploitations of slavery on women, particularly sexual abuse, and the struggles she faced with motherhood. She recounts her life as a child, born into slavery and thereon through adulthood. Harriet’s family was relatively prosperous at first until the death of her mother and her mother’s mistress when she was forced to be given to new masters where she endured harsh and negligent treatment. After enduring
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As a means to escape slavery, or as a strategy to be sold, Harriet used her relationship with a white neighbor, Mr. Sands, in conceiving two children thinking this would force her to be sold again, only to discover that she would be sent to the fields for work as punishment just as the men were. It was not until she learned that her kids would be sent to the plantation for hard labor as well when she decided to plan her escape. Ironically, her escape involved her to being confined to a small attic crawl space unknowingly, where she stayed for seven years watching her children grow up until she could free …show more content…
Harriet told the story of one of her uncles who escaped his master, whom he had a physically altercation with. The tale of her uncle Benjamin was an eye opener to the consequences of slaves being defiant. He was caught, jailed and sold afterwards, only to escape a second time. His last escape proved to be successful as he had escaped up north. There he decided to pass himself off as a white man, seeing as though his skin was of a light complexion. This was often something that slaves did to free themselves which was conflicting to the fact that they needed to become those they despised the most. Extraordinarily, they were seen as free to themselves, however, lost without the ability to communicate with family anymore. A slave, intentionally impersonating a white person ruined their chances of ever being with their families again due to fear of being seen for what they really
As a means to escape slavery, or as a strategy to be sold, Harriet used her relationship with a white neighbor, Mr. Sands, in conceiving two children thinking this would force her to be sold again, only to discover that she would be sent to the fields for work as punishment just as the men were. It was not until she learned that her kids would be sent to the plantation for hard labor as well when she decided to plan her escape. Ironically, her escape involved her to being confined to a small attic crawl space unknowingly, where she stayed for seven years watching her children grow up until she could free …show more content…
Harriet told the story of one of her uncles who escaped his master, whom he had a physically altercation with. The tale of her uncle Benjamin was an eye opener to the consequences of slaves being defiant. He was caught, jailed and sold afterwards, only to escape a second time. His last escape proved to be successful as he had escaped up north. There he decided to pass himself off as a white man, seeing as though his skin was of a light complexion. This was often something that slaves did to free themselves which was conflicting to the fact that they needed to become those they despised the most. Extraordinarily, they were seen as free to themselves, however, lost without the ability to communicate with family anymore. A slave, intentionally impersonating a white person ruined their chances of ever being with their families again due to fear of being seen for what they really