Analysis Of A Mother's Anguish By Harriet Jacobs

Slavery, during the 1800s, was physically hard for African American fathers, but not as hard as it was emotionally, on mothers. I recently read the primary sources of “Soloman Northup”, “A Mother’s Anguish”, and “Incidents in the life of a slave girl.” These abolitionists argue against slavery by demonstrating the strong, independent role of enslaved women through sacrifice, bravery and their love for family. The role of a sacrificial mother, is first shown in the article “A Mother’s Anguish.” A mother of two little children decided it was better for her children to die quickly than to suffer a long period of torture, “[she] thought of the toil, and stripes and misery her children must endure, she thought she would rather see them both dead.”The …show more content…
The race of people did not affect her grandmother’s decision making skills: “[the author] had been told that she was once chased a white gentlemen with a loaded pistol, because he insulted one of her daughters.” The mother sacrificed the risks they may occur after this outlashing. She stood up for what she believed in and did not care about the consequences. Many other enslaved men, women and children could of read this and made this a reason to stand up for what they believe in. This elder woman creates a respectful role model to others and shows a great reading to learn from. The author mentions her grandmother many times and shows how different she was from other women who were scared of their masters. These selfless women would risk their own lives and well-being for the safety of …show more content…
During the time, enslaved woman were treated inhumanly, however, they were still mothers and wanted to care for their families. After hearing her children were about to be sold to a cruel master, “[a] mother couldn’t sleep when her children were going to be carried off,” show the heartbreaking ruling of her children’s futures. The enslaved woman could not bare the thought of her children being sold because of her unbreakable love for them. Mothers would do anything to be reunited with their child or to at least know their child would be safe. Eliza from “twelve years a slave” told her masters “how she loved her boy. A great many times she repeated her former promises-how very faithful and obedient she would be.” She would rather labor all day and night for the rest of her life, if her master could just buy her son. Even though slaves’ rights were limited, a mother’s love was never