Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Harriet Jacobs give an account of her life as a slave and how he eventually gained her freedom in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Jacobs had many experiences that were not only typical of an average slave but also experiences that were unique. Based on her account, she seemed to have more experiences that were unique.

One of the rarest aspects of Jacobs' life as a slave was that she was able to read and write. Generally, slave owners did not want their slaves to know how to read and write. The thought process was that there would be a smaller chance of a revolt if their slaves were illiterate. Jacobs' first mistress was one of the exceptions. This leads to another unique aspect of Jacobs' enslavement; she had a mistress that treated her slaves well. While not all slave owners were horrible, few treated their slaves with kindness. Many slave owners tried not to abuse their slaves too bad to discourage rebellion, so that the slaves would work harder, and so that their slaves lived longer because of the ban of the importing of slaves (though slavery was still legal). Many slave families were separated when they were sold. Jacobs knowing her biological grandmother was a unique occurrence. While many owners attempted to pursue escaped slaves, it is doubtful that owners went as far as "Dr. Flint". Dr. Flint hunted Jacobs for so long that it drove him into debt. Slave owners were generally business men and it is not a wise business decision to go so far to capture a runaway slave.

While there were many unique aspects of Jacobs' enslavement, there were also aspects that were common. After Jacobs' first mistress died, she was willed to one of the mistress' relatives. Slaves were considered property and like all property, their ownership could be transferred to another owner. Jacobs was regularly sexually harassed by her master. This was a relatively common occurrence with owners. Many owners did not regard some of their slaves with respect so sexual harassment happened often. Slaves having kids was very common. Some slave owners even encouraged it because it was a source of acquiring slaves for free. Slave parents typically would do anything for their children and Jacobs was no exception. Jacobs escapes from her master and risks her well-being so that the cruel Dr. Flint would sell her kids away.

While there were plenty of common aspects, the aspects that were unique were unique had a greater impact on her life. Her ability to read and write made her smart enough to plan out how she was going to escape and to go through with her plan. Dr. Flint and his daughter, Emily, hunting her for years directed her life. Everything thing she did, from hiding in her grandmother's house to going to California, was to escape those two. If they did not hunt her for so long, Jacobs would not have to have hidden for so long which is a big part of why Jacobs' story became so famous.

Incidents