Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl': a Life Full of Distress
“Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” is reviewed in this essay as this book confirms viciousness of slavery, the mental and sexual abuse inherent in slavery, and how slavery obliterates the moral principles of slaveholders. It was believed that when the American people opened their eyes to the evil and immoral acts of slavery, only then will their humanity be restored. The autobiography, 'Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” by Harriet Jacobs was a slave narrative about the life of female slaves and the troubles they endured. With the assimilation of both these books, brought the abolitionist movement to a head, and awareness to be spread across the nation on how American slaves were truly treated.
In the autobiography, 'Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”, Linda Brent is born into slavery. After her mother passes, she is sent to go work for her mother’s previous owner where she learns to be literate. After her owner dies, she is passed to a new family, where she is mistreated. The father, Dr. Flint, attempts to rape her after a couple years of her aging. Linda gets into a relationship with a white neighbor, Mr. Sands, in order to protect herself from the doctor. Thereafter, they conceive two children of opposite race, Benny and Ellen. Flint sends Linda, and her children, to his son’s plantation where they can be worked in the fields. She then decides to run and hide in a neighbor’s attic. Dr. Flint sells her children to a slaveowner who is an acquaintance of Mr. Sands. Mr. Sands sends the two children to Aunt Martha, and Linda moves into her attic; because this attic is so small, she becomes unable to move. After seven years stuck in an attic where she is immobile, Linda escapes to the north on a boat. Thereafter, she is reunited with her children, but is still being hunted by her previous owner, Dr. Flint. Linda kept her distance from Flint until he dies, but his daughter, Emily, and her husband, Mr. Dodge chose to carry on looking for her fathers’ slave. Linda then gets offered by an acquaintance to be bought and freed.
Majority of slaveowners in the south were Christian. Christians claimed that their slaves were only property to them, not humans. This claim gave them the right to do barbaric, inhumane things to their slaves without consequence from their God. Although this is what they believed, it was immoral of their religion. Religion was one of the only things that black slaves possessed during this time; it brought them together and allowed them to have something to believe in. Because most slaves were illiterate, they were only exposed to the speaking of the gospel and not a physical connection.
The mental and physical distress that the slaves had to tolerate is beyond any borders. When slaves were to do anything against their owners wishes, they would be lashed across the back several times; this caused excruciating pain and led to large scars on the back. Many times, woman slaves would be raped and abused by slaveowners. Jacobs describes, in detail, the battles of sexual maltreatment that female slaves had to endure from the men they resided with on the plantations. Furthermore, if these women slaves conceived a child from these events, they would have the responsibility of taking care of it, up to when it was sold off.
