Female Slavery

In The Life of a Female Slave, Harriet Jacobs uses her personal experiences to inform the public about the hardships she faced as a female slave. This slave narrative was produced under the pseudonym Linda Brent to protect her identity. Jacobs faced repeated sexual harassment from her master and scrutiny from his jealous wife. Her master, Dr. Flint, was a man of great stature and treated her as well as his own children until she turned fifteen. On numerous occasions he whispered dirty things to her, as well as filled her head with foul images. Although, Jacobs did meet another white man who was genuinely interested in her. But, the issues she had with loneliness led Harriet to be impregnated by the white man, Mr. Sands, who she felt loved …show more content…
It was necessary to communicate these struggles because the violation of her virtues was something that female slaves often experienced, but would not speak of. Harriet’s story portrays a more accurate account of the treatment of female slaves. At fifteen years old, Harriet “...saw a man forty years my senior daily violating the most sacred commandments of nature. He told me me I was his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things.” Sadly enough, slaves were constantly reminded that they are property rather than human beings during the antebellum of the Civil War. Jacobs searched for refuge from this terror, however, she was met with dissatisfaction from the wife of Dr. Flint. Jacobs went on to state, “The mistress, who ought to protect the helpless …show more content…
The horrors of slavery and the desire for relief represents the similarities and differences in Henry “Box” Brown’s A Family Torn Apart by Slavery and David Walker’s An Appeal for Revolution. Brown’s slave narrative begins with his childhood, where he and his sister are sold away from their parents. In his later life, he was able to marry and have children with the love of his life: a slave named Nancy. However, Nancy and the children were sold away until one owner vowed to keep them together. This one religious and saintly slave owner turned out to be ruthless and cruel in the worst way possible. He blackmailed Brown into paying him fifty dollars, hiring a house for them, and taking care of all their needs. Eventually, they were sold anyways and marched through the city where Brown saw them for the last time. With his heartbroken, he infamously mailed himself out of slavery. David Walker’s message is for slaves to revolt against the treacherous white people who claim to be Christians. His writings are outlined in religious sentiment, where he uses God and the Bible to condemn their actions. Born to a free woman and slave man, Walker was free and therefore eligible to write for important agencies such as Freedom’s Journal and the black newspaper. In these, he advocates for a push to free slaves who suffer greatly. These courageous men express many similarities between each other and embody the cause and effect found in the pre-Civil War