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History can often seem to be a sordid image of disgraceful acts and squalid schemes. Certain horrendous deeds of our past can serve to enlighten however, when considered from the right perspective. The institution of slavery for example was wrong in every way, yet it produced incomparable figures of importance such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs.
Frederick Douglass was undoubtedly an instrumental part of the development of the United States. His life was an intense episode of struggle, innovation, apprehension, knowledge and nobility. Douglass was directly responsible for a great deal of societal progress in his nation. He should thus be recognized as an exemplary American.
Harriet Jacobs was also very important to the growth of the nation. She personifies the undying spirit of steadfastness, from which everyone can relate and even derive solace, in knowing that it is possible to sustain hope amongst the basest of conditions. Jacobs embodies womanhood as a daughter, sister and mother, and maintains
that image even under unfair, immoral and unjust circumstances.
Frederick Douglass came from a pitiable position in society and rose to a level of greatness with numerous priceless contributions. He started out in Tuckahoe with his grandparents, Betsy and Isaac Bailey in a meager log cabin that they did not own. Douglass had a very vague recollection of his mother aside from her appearance. He did not even know who his father was
"Slavery does away with fathers, as it does away with families. Slavery has no use for either fathers or families, and its laws do not recognize their existence in the social arrangements of the plantation" (Douglass, 51). Douglass was unfortunately born into the deprived conditions of slavery, where he could not even learn to read or write legally. He witnessed horrible atrocities during his life as a slave. He watched his own aunt Esther receive the worst beating she had ever gotten. She was tied up and savagely beaten bloody by their old master. "The whole scene, with all its attendants, was revolting and shocking, to the last degree; and when the
motives of this brutal castigation are considered, -- language has no power to convey a just sense of its awful
criminality" (Douglass, 88). The motives he speaks of were nothing more than sheer jealousy, of the fact that Esther was described as beautiful and charming, and another slave was courting her.
Frederick Douglass experienced certain brutal violence as well. He was sent to the "Negro-breaker" Edward Covey and had not been there three days before Covey gave him "a most brutal chastisement" which left him with sores the size of his finger on his back (Douglass, 08). He was treated worse than most animals but Frederick did not let that keep him down. Upon trying to beat him again, Covey was met with much resistance and could not get the better of Frederick. He was not beaten again after that and that induced in him a renewed sense of masculinity
…this battle with Mr. Covey -- undignified as it was, and as I fear my narration of it is -- was the turning point in my life as a slave. It rekindled in my breast the smouldering embers of liberty… and revived a sense of my own manhood. I was a changed being after that fight. I was nothing before; I WAS A MAN NOW. It recalled to life my crushed self-respect and my self-confidence,
and inspired me with a renewed determination to be A FREEMAN (Douglass, 46). Douglass arrived at this determination from his youth, when his mistress Mrs. Auld began to teach him to read. His master, however, forbade the instruction and unwittingly disclosed the nature of slavery and how subservience is perpetuated through slaves' ignorance. From that moment Frederick was determined to acquire the knowledge necessary to obtain his freedom, and that he did. He persisted by learning from his childhood playmates, books and even street signs. With an unwavering resolve Frederick attempted escape and was thwarted once before fleeing for good. He managed to convince his master to let him work in his free time, and upon saving enough money Frederick sought independence in New York via the Underground Railroad.
Frederick Douglass was destined for greatness and that fact is manifest in his writings. After gaining his freedom at long last, he embarked on a new enterprise as editor of a weekly newspaper
I already saw myself wielding my pen, as well as my voice, in the great work of renovating the public mind, and building up a public sentiment which should, at least, send slavery and oppression to the grave, and restore to liberty and the pursuit of happiness the
people with whom I had suffered, both as a slave and as a freeman (Douglass, ).
Douglass displayed heroics as a slave, but was also a heroic American, who in the fashion of heroic Americans fought against oppression and the malice of slavery.
The total callousness of slavery was only partially divulged in Frederick Douglass' experiences. In her book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs reveals yet another immoral aspect of the institution. For her, slavery was an ongoing unspeakable torment of unwanted sexual demands that she was forced to endure for the sake of her safety and her children's well being.
Jacob's life was a difficult one. From youth she was treated well, until her mistress' death left her to a new providence. Her mother, father and friend had also died leaving her feeling deserted. If that was not enough, she later had to endure the unwanted advances from her master Dr. Flint
He tried his utmost to corrupt the pure principles my grandmother had instilled. He peopled my young mind with unclean images, such as only a vile monster could think of. I turned from him with disgust
and hatred. But he was my master. I was compelled to live under the same roof with him"
(Jacobs, 44). This provides a very clear-cut example of how staggering it must have been for a black woman during slavery. At this instance Harriet Jacobs was only fifteen years old, and was already subjected to vile propositions, which she could not ignore. She did her best to avoid them however, by staying in constant sight of others, sleeping with her aunt, pretending she could not read his notes, etc. She told him of her love for another man, a free black man, and her desire to marry him. After a period though, she decided to gamble her own self-respect by having a child, with the hopes that she would be sold away from Dr. Flint's fiendish authority. Flint vowed to keep her as his slave however, and later even threatens to sell her child when she refuses his advances. When he found out that she was to have another child, he cut off all of Jacobs' hair. Before that he had thrown her down the stairs. Clearly Harriet Jacobs endured much agony as a woman slave. "Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they
have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own" (Jacobs, 11). She had to stand by and watch as her own child was hurled across the room by Dr. Flint. Her family was thrown into jail when she escaped into hiding in an attempt to lure her out. She lived in hiding in a cramped space for six years and eleven months, at a time falling ill, unconscious and crippled. Amidst all her plight, Harriet Jacobs was determined to fight for hers and her children's freedom. She would match wits against the nefarious Dr. Flint by writing letters to him as if from New York. She engaged in a battle for her children's freedom through pleas to Mr. Sand to keep his promise to free them.
Owing to friends and fate her freedom, Harriet Jacobs made her way to freedom when she landed in Philadelphia. After reuniting with her daughter she sought and found comfortable employment with a kind Mrs. Bruce. Thereafter she reunited with her son Benny and began her life as a free woman.
Slavery had determined Harriet Jacob's life to be one miserable affliction after another. She endured with an immeasurable and undying strength while proving
to possess the attributes of a weathered mother, unrelenting in her responsibility for her two children. As a woman, she could easily be presupposed to be weak and highly susceptible to the woes of slavery but Jacobs demonstrated the contrary at every turn.
These two powerful affairs provide direct illustration of the struggles endured for hundreds of years. They are also stories of triumph over injustice, that are representative of the nation and its history as a whole. A history that is incomplete without the contributions of people like Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass.
Andrews, William L. The Oxford Frederick Douglass Reader. New York Oxford University Press, 16.
Douglass, Frederick. My Bondage, My Freedom. Chicago Ebony Classics-Johnson Publishing Company, 170. http//etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DouMybo.html.
Garfield, Deborah M., and Rafia Zafar. Harriet Jacobs and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl New Critical Essays. New York Cambridge University Press, 16.
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself. 18. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http//docsouth.unc.edu/jacobs/jacobs.html#jac1.
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