Summary Of Incidents In The Life Of Slave Girl By Harriet Jacobs

During the Antebellum period, slavery was ordinary, especially in the south of the U.S. Although such events occurred we are able to read about the truths and perspectives of a slave’s life. In Incidents in the Life of Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs talks about her life and the struggles of being a slave. In addition to her life, the book describes first-hand encounters of events that also took place during this period such as the Nat Turner rebellion and how the character Harriet Jacobs was involved in such events.

In Edenton, North Carolina, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery in 1813. She lived a happy life with her family although she consciously was not aware that she was a slave girl, until the age of six when her mother died. Jacobs was …show more content…
Despite the fact that Christianity teaches good ethics such as respect, generosity, goodwill, and etc. Christian slaveholders justified themselves from these religious standards. Harriet's JAcobs mention in the book how the slave owners would have ministers delivered scriptures in their sermons about slaves obeying their masters. Most slave masters would reduce the slaves as if they were property or animals never acknowledging their humanity. The Declaration of Independence states “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”(Jefferson). Thomas Jefferson wrote these words at the time when slavery was at its peak. The interesting thing about this is Jefferson had strong political views on freedom and equality, however, he was a Christian slave owner contradicting his own statement: all men are created equal”, yet he owned slaves who were being denied human rights. Therefore is it hard for Christianity to coexist with those who practiced slavery because the Bible’s views contrasted with the views on slavery. “Slavery is terrible for men, but it is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wronged, and sufferings, and …show more content…
She highlights her problems and struggles, which is quite unique compared to other slave stories because she gives first-hand information from her experiences. These experiences helped make her argument more effective as she motivated women in the North to join the fight for the movement. Women had a significant role in changing the minds of their husbands’ opinions about the abolitionist movement. Since women at the time did not have a voice that would help influence and change society opinions, Jacobs was able to tell her story without offending the white audience and appeal to the female audience who would, in turn, sympathize for these slaves. With such sympathy for the white women, they would convince their husbands’ to rethink about slavery and its wrong. Overall I found this book very persuasive by all