[Title Here, up to 12 Words, on One to Two Lines]
Slavery was always a very defined and argumentative topic in the old days. African-Americans were noticeably mistreated due to racism. Slavery was what these people were bound to. Many blacks stood up for themselves, formed groups and different movements such as the Abolitionists Movement. One thing is true, African-Americans always looked up to a brighter future, they saw themselves as equal and free people.
Harriet Jacobs, born February 11, 1813, to two slaves, Elijah and Delilah Jacobs lived in North Carolina. When Harriet was just 11 years old, her mother passed away. She was forced to live with her mother’s mistress. Harriet stayed with this woman until 1825. During that time, she learned how to read, write and sew. After Harriet’s mother died, she and her brother John were passed along to a physician named Dr. James Norcom, who is responsible for Harriet’s slavery distress and her life as a slave girl. During the time she lived in the Norcom plantation, Dr. Norcom would make Harriet very uncomfortable in her own home and soon he would become even more friendly with her to the point where Norcom’s wife began to notice.
“For years, my master had done his utmost to pollute my mind with foul images, and destroy the pure principles inculcated by my grandmother, and the good mistress of my childhood” (Jacobs, “Incidents in the life of a slave girl”).
Harriet Jacobs tried many ways to escape Dr. James Norcom by trying many different approaches such asking him to be given permission to marry a free black man at which he violently refused. He would physically abuse Harriet and because of all the cruel things and enslaved life she had, Harriet urged to flee from the hell on earth. She became friends with a white man named Samuel, who lived just across the plantation, he was a lawyer and not married. Soon Harriet was pregnant with his child, but Norcom continued to harass Harriet even after she gave birth to the lawyer’s child. “As female, slave women were inherently vulnerable to all forms of sexual coercion” (Davis, 1981). In 1835, after seven years of dealing with Norcom’s assault, she ran away and stayed with her other fellow friends. Dr. Norcom ran newspaper advertisements, and not having a clue where Harriet might have run away, sent out letters and poster, searching for Harriet since the day she escaped up to his death in 1850. To whoever found her, he promised to grant with one hundred dollars. These rewards were very common during the time of slavery. Advertisements such as these included a brief description of the runaway slaves, their character, clothing, as well as identifying marks. In 1842, Harriet made a decision to escape to absolute freedom. She sailed to Philadelphia and from there to New York, where her brother John stayed after he had escaped. There, she became involved in the abolitionists associated with Frederic Douglas paper – the North Star. Harriet moved with the antislavery movement alongside the North Star during her stay in New York. After a few years passed by, she decided to go to Massachusetts to avoid Dr. Norcom and after a friend had purchased her, Harriet Jacobs became free. She lived a very distressed life. After she became free, her close friend advised her to write an autobiography with detailed information about her life, the abuse and the cruel behavior that she faced. In 1861, Harriet Jacobs decided to publish her autobiography with a topic never touched before, “Incidents in the life of a slave girl”. This was the first time an enslaved woman openly discussed the sexual harassment and abuse that women faced as slaves.
“I had not lived fourteen years in slavery for nothing. I had felt, seen, and heard enough, to read the characters, and question the motives, of those around me. The war of my life had begun; and though one of God’s most powerless creatures, I resolved never to be conquered” (Jacobs, “Incidents in the life of a slave girl”).
Harriet Ann Jacobs was one of the well-known writers, but was not the only one. From the 1820s up to the Civil War, anti-slavery narratives and publications were widely published and spread throughout the entire country and gained much popularity.
Slave owners who had their slaves run away were ready to give big sums of money in order to get back their “servants”. Dr. James Norcom had been just one of the many who published slave advertisements with rewards. Another great example was Harriet Tubman’s advertisement in the 1800s. She was a slave herself and helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom. Tubman was searched for everywhere since she was the cause of many other black slaves breaking free. Her advertisement was almost like Jacob’s. It included her personal features, character and even mentioned that she looked helpless but carried a weapon. Tubman had many ads posted and in each one added, more and more detailed information would be let out. (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/b2/8e/22/b28e22bbcb885d8cf0b3b93ecd0aa83d.jpg) After helping five slaves escape from the Underground Railroad, Harriet was searched for with a reward of $40,000 to whoever would find her.
“Negro slave 5 feet tall. Scar on her neck and a deep scar on her forehead. Plain woman of short stature, upper front teeth missing, with habit of abruptly falling asleep. Leaves at night. Doesn’t know how to read. Looks harmless but she carries a pistol” (Wanted dead or alive for stealing slaves Harriet “Moses” Tubman $40,000 Reward).
Slave-masters wanted her caught since they lost a thousand slaves because of her. She was poor and financially in crisis, but was rich in helping others. She was mistreated like her other fellow friends. She was a slave, but in her heart, she was a free and independent woman. The hegemony over the blacks, racism and disrespect due to color was greatly depicted by how the Americans sold and enslaved African-Americans and the harassment, abuse and cruel behavior the owners had towards them. Each slave had their own horrific story to tell. White supremacy was definitely the ideology that dominated at that time period. The political, social and economic rule was in the hands of the whites, which at the same time, ruled over the blacks. African-Americans fought for their liberty as a race and through history’s time, they gained it because of their steadfast character aim.
References
Jacobs, H. A. (1861). Incidents in the life of a slave girl. Thayer & Eldridge.
Davis, A. Y. (1981). The Legacy of Slavery: Standards for a New Womanhood.
Wanted dead or alive for stealing slaves Harriet “Moses” Tubman $40,000 Reward [Advertisement]. (n.d.).
