Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Jacobs

Incidents in the life of a slave girl is a memoir written by Harriet Jacobs in which she explains the hardships African Americans experienced under slavery. Slaves were defined as property and inferior to white men, this gave their owners the right under the law to treat them as they pleased, deny them of basic human rights, and deny their liberty. To protect their families, many slaves escaped to the Free States, but soon realized there was segregation between African Americans and White Americans as well as extradition laws that would send fugitive slave back to their owners in the south. Slavery was almost impossible to resist since slaves did not hold any rights, their lives were controlled by someone else and if slaves escaped to the Free

Slaves were to be obedient otherwise they would be punish or killed. Such was the case of Luke a friend of Jacobs whom according to her, one day offended his master, slave holder and planter Mr. Litch and was stripped off his clothes in a winter night whipped and tied to a tree for several hours. Since slaves had no rights the only way to avoid mistreatment was to be obedient at all times. At the young age of fifteen years old, Harriet Jacobs had to deal sexual harassment inflicted by her owner, Dr. Flint. “I was compelled to live under the same roof with him where I saw a man forty years my senior daily violating the most sacred commandment in nature”(26). Jacobs saw her morals and innocence corrupted by this men but since she was a slave she had to obey. Slaves could not defend themselves against cruel punishment and Harriet Jacobs, as many other slaves, could not avoid sexual harassment from their owners. Slaves could not resist because they lacked the right to defend

Harriet Jacobs’ memoir explained the life of a slave, as property, held no rights and after they escaped to the northern states, lots of them were still persecuted and were brought back to the south. Slaves were described by the laws as property therefore could not own property and many lost the opportunity to gain the freedom of their family members. Fugitives in the Free States were vulnerable of being claimed by their owners in the south. Slaves lacked basic human rights and could not defend themselves from punishment or sexual harassment from their owners. Fugitives in the northern states would encounter segregation and constant persecution from slave holders and kidnappers therefore African American could not resist