(Portions of Harriet Jacobs’s “Incidents in the Life of a ...)
Portions of Harriet Jacobs’s “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” first appeared serially in 1861 in the New York Tribune; however publication ceased before the completion of the narrative due to its being deemed as too shocking for the average newspaper reader of the day. Harriet Jacobs wrote under the pseudonym of Linda Brent because, as an escaped slave, having her identity revealed would have jeopardized her freedom under the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. One of the first of the slave narratives, Jacobs’s work was a passionate appeal to white women living in the Northern United States to enlighten themselves as to the evils of slavery. Jacobs describes her life from a young age living as a slave in North Carolina. Her formative years are relatively idyllic and it is not until her mother dies and her mistress bequeaths her to a relative that she begins to discover the true horror of her position. What follows is a harrowing narrative of sexual abuse and fight for survival. While the work was almost immediately overshadowed by the start of the American Civil War it has since found its place as one of the most important of all the slave narratives distinguishing itself as one of the first from the female perspective. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.
Harriet Ann Jacobs was an African-American abolitionist and autobiographer who crafted her own experiences into an eloquent and uncompromising slave narrative.
Background
Harriet Ann Jacobs was born on 11 February in 1813 in Edenton, North Carolina. Her mother, Delilah Horniblow, was a slave to Margaret Horniblow in the town of Edenton, North Carolina, just as Delilah's mother, Molly, had been for much of her life. In the early 1800s, slaves could not be officially married without the permission of their masters, so the marriage of Delilah to the carpenter Daniel Jacobs, a slave on a neighboring plantation owned by Dr. Andrew Knox, is not recorded. Nevertheless, Daniel and Delilah had two children together. Harriet was just six years old when her mother died. There must have been no thought of sending her to live with her father; he was, after all, the property of another master. So Harriet went to live in the home of her late mother's (and therefore her own) master. Margaret Horniblow was a kind master - so kind that Harriet did not realize until her mother died that she herself had been born into slavery.
In 1825 twelve-year-old Harriet's life took a turn for the worse. Margaret Horniblow died and left Harriet and her brother to her niece, Mary Norcom. Because Mary was a child and still lived at home, this essentially made Harriet the property of Mary's father, Dr. James Norcom. Harriet and her brother became house slaves for the doctor. Harriet's grandmother, the Molly, was more fortunate. When her owner, Elizabeth Horniblow, died, Molly, along with her son Mark, was sold to Hannah Pritchard, an aunt of the Horniblows. Just four months later, Mrs. Pritchard gave Molly her freedom. In a short time, Jacobs's grandmother had earned enough from her cooking to buy the freedom of her son. Fortunately for Jacobs and her brother, the two free relatives moved into a house not far from that of the Norcoms. Jacobs could sometimes visit her grandmother, and the family remained in contact.
Education
For a few years Harriet stayed with Horniblows who taught her to sew, read, and spell.
Career
Harriet’s suffering became her motivation and platform for fighting slavery, advancing education and civil rights for the freed slaves. Her own experience in slavery included great personal afflictions ranging from the sexual harassment she suffered from her masters to the seven years she spent hiding in a crawl space, to remain in eyesight and earshot of her own children. Her autobiography was popular with abolitionists and played a major role in garnering support for the opposition to slavery – especially from England. Her work did not end with the emancipation of slaves. She fought for and obtained educational institutions for the freed and established substantial improvements in their working and living conditions in many locations. Included among her accomplishments are:
Her book, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” was well received, especially in England and played a major role in the fight against slavery
Jacobs played an important role in feeding and supporting runaway slaves and poor, freed Blacks in the Washington DC area
Harriet seemed to be constantly fighting for additional relief, supplies and other benefits for runaway slaves and the poor freed Black men and women. She also helped promote the welfare of poor Blacks in the Boston area.
Jacob’s daughter (Louisa Matilda) and a friend (Sarah Virginia Lawton) spent their lives developing education for the emancipated.
She was also among the earliest community organizers for African Americans, focused on the building of churches, hospitals, schools, and homes for newly freed slaves. Jacobs recognized that educating people of color was the primary method by which they could improve their lives
She fought for black patient rights in hospitals.
She served as an inspiration to the community of recently freed slaves.
(Portions of Harriet Jacobs’s “Incidents in the Life of a ...)
1861
Politics
Jacobs played an important role in feeding and supporting runaway slaves and poor, freed Blacks in the Washington DC area. She was also among the earliest community organizers for African Americans, focused on the building of churches, hospitals, schools, and homes for newly freed slaves.
Views
An abolitionist speaker and reformer.
Quotations:
"Cruelty is contagious in uncivilized communities.
“I would rather drudge out my life on a cotton plantation, till the grave opened to give me rest, than to live with an unprincipled master and a jealous mistress.”
"Death is better than slavery.”
"There are no bonds so strong as those which are formed by suffering together.”
“My master had power and law on his side; I had a determined will. There is might in each.”
Membership
Anti-Slavery Society
Connections
Jacobs was married to Samuel Sawyer. They had two children, son Joseph and daughter Louisa.