<p>Harriet A. Jacobs is an important figure in American history as one of the first women slaves to publish a first person narrative of her experiences. "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" expresses the unspoken life of the slave through Jacobs' own experiences in North Carolina under the hands of a ruthless owner who was cruel and abusive to her. Jacobs describes not only her experiences as a slave, but her multiple attempts to escape until finally making safe passage North, where she would eventually become an abolitionist speaker and reformer.</p>

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself

Biographies & Memoirs

Harriet A. Jacobs

Community & Culture

Harvard University Press

Anna EPREFACE BY THE AUTHOR. READER, be assured this narrative is no fiction. I am aware that some of my adventures may seem in credible; but they are, nevertheless, strictly true. I have not exaggerated the wrongs inflicted by Sla very ;on the contrary, my descriptions fall far short of the facts. I have concealed the names of places, and given persons fictitious names. I had no motive for secrecy on my own account, but I deemed it kind and considerate towards others to pursue this course. I wish I were more competent to the task I have undertaken. But I trust my readers will excuse deficiencies in consideration of circumstances. I was born and reared in Slavery; and I remained in a Slave State twenty-seven years. Since I have been at the North, it has been necessary for me to work diligently for my own support, and the education of my children. This has not left me much leisure to make up for the loss of early opportunities to im prove myself; and it has compelled me to write these pages at irregular intervals, whenever I could snatch an hour from household duties.(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the aged text. Read books online for free at www.forgottenbooks.org

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself (Classic Reprint)

Children's Books

Forgotten Books

Published in 1861, "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" was one of the first personal narratives by a slave and one of the few written by a woman. Jacobs (1813-97) was a slave in North Carolina and suffered terribly, along with her family, at the hands of a ruthless owner. She made several failed attempts to escape before successfully making her way North, though it took years of hiding and slow progress. Eventually, she was reunited with her children. For all biography and history collections. "Slavery is terrible for men, but it is far more terrible for women," Harriet Jacobs wrote in 1861. At that time she was an escaped slave living in the north, but the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 meant that she could no longer consider being in the northern states a guarantee of freedom or safety. Her book is an eloquent recital of the suffering that is slavery. Families broken apart; promises of freedom made but never kept; whippings, beatings, and burnings; masters selling their own children - all are recounted with precise detail and a blazing indignation. Harriet Jacobs' master started pursuing her when she was fifteen; in disgust she continually refused and avoided him. Her first attempt at revenge and escape failed: she became the lover of a local unmarried white man and had several children, but even then her master refused to sell her. Finally, in desperation, she ran away and hid in an uninsulated garret, three feet high at its tallest point with almost no air or light. She stayed there for seven years, enduring cold, heat, and a crippling lack of movement, always hoping to catch a glimpse of her children through a crack in the walls as they walked by on the road below her. At last she had a chance to escape to the North. Her story is a remarkable testimony to her strength and courage, and an unrelenting attack upon the institution of slavery.

Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl

JACOBS

Harriet Jacobs

Lydia Maria Child

Monty

Karl Simrock

Aberdeen Press

Adam EVE

Francine L. Jacobs

l. maria child

Carolyn L. Karcher

Hans Murray

Carla Fonte Sánchez

Carme Manuel Cuenca

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is a slave narrative that was one of the first autobiographical narratives about the struggle for freedom by female slaves and an account of the sexual harassment and abuse they endured. The book is an in-depth chronological account of Jacobs's life as a slave, and the decisions and choices she made to gain freedom for herself and her children. It addresses the struggles and sexual abuse that young women slaves faced on the plantations, their struggles with rape, the pressure to have sex at an early age, the selling of their children, and the treatment of female slaves by their mistresses.

Classic Slave Narratives - The Voices of Women: 4 Books in 1 | Narrative of Sojourner Truth, Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl, History of Mary Prince, Story of Mattie Jackson

Literature & Fiction

SOJOURNER TRUTH

Mary Prince

Olive, Gilbert

Mattie J. Jackson

Dr. L.S. Thompson

United States

Independently published

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