Essay about Fredrick Douglas And Harriet Jacobs - 1717 Words

During the 1800s, slaves received treatment comparable to that of livestock. They were mere possessions of white men stripped of almost every last bit of humanity in them. African-Americans were constricted to this state of mind by their owners vicious treatment, but also the practice of keeping them uneducated. Keeping the slaves illiterate hindered them from understanding the world around them. Slave owners knew this. The slaves who were able to read and write always rebelled more against their masters. Frederick Douglass, author of A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Jacobs, author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, were prime examples. Both slaves had been taught how read and write at a young†¦show more content†¦Douglass cousin told him the city was beautiful and Douglass knew it couldnt be any worse than the plantation. When Douglass meets his new owners, he described Hugh Aulds wife, Sophia Auld, as having a kindly face. Douglass learned what might have been one of his biggest lessons as a slave from these overseers. Sophia, the wife of Hugh Auld, had never owned a slave before, therefore she treated him almost as if he were a child of hers. She taught him the alphabet and some other minor words before Hugh took notice of what she was doing. Mr. Auld told his wife Â…it is unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read. (Douglass, p.78) Hugh goes on to say A nigger should know nothing but to obey his masterÂ… if you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever make him unfit to be a slave. (Douglass, p.78) Douglass overheard every word that hissed out of Hugh Aulds mouth. Sophia Auld had been lessoned in the ways of slave managing now. She discontinued her teaching to Frederick and began to treat him as the property they considered him to be. Douglass mind frame changed completely after hearing Aulds words. He realized that education was the key in orde r to obtain his freedom, Â…to wit, the white mans power to enslave the black man. (Douglass, p.78) Douglass continued to pursue his education on his own. He would tradeShow MoreRelatedFredrick Douglas and Harriet Jacobs1757 Words   |  8 Pagesthem from understanding the world around them. Slave owners knew this. The slaves who were able to read and write always rebelled more against their masters. Frederick Douglass, author of A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Jacobs, author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, were prime examples. Both slaves had been taught how read and write at a young age, and both gained their freedom by escaping to the northern states. What they had learned also helped themRead MoreHarriet Jacobs Vs. Douglas1263 Words   |  6 PagesTamera Buckner Ashley Morgan ENG 1013 D3 25 2/21/2016 Harriet Jacobs vs Fredrick Douglas Slavery was one of the most tragic memories known for in the black race. Slavery is the process at which an African American is purchased by a Caucasian who is used for exhausting labor work such as picking cotton, or tending to house work and being restricted from freedom. All of the slaves were used and abused physically, mentally, and emotionally. In some cases abuse was the death of many of those slavesRead MoreSlavery : A Prominent Source Of The American Economy907 Words   |  4 Pagesslavery and other citizens who were anti-slavery. Slave speeches such as Henry Brown, Harriet Jacobs, and also abolitionist such as William Lloyd Garrison and Fredrick Douglas; made it clear that the existence of slavery brands republicanism as a sham, humanity as a base pretense, and also Christianity as a lie. These three arguments were presented in Fredrick Douglass’s speech in Rochester, New York in July 1852. Fredrick Douglass was a slave who rose to become a voice for the African Am ericans in theRead MoreThe Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Jacobs1779 Words   |  8 Pagesbooks Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass, and stories from the anthology Spider Woman’s Web, recount the stories of individuals who succeeded in obtaining their right to human dignity. Their journey to freedom occurred while simultaneously having to fight prejudicial obstacles, laws, and punishments inflicted by discriminatory societies as well as individual people. Harriet Jacobs recounted her personal experiences under the pseudonym Linda Brent inRead MoreThe Rich Cultural Practices Of Africa966 Words   |  4 Pagesreceived the name Gustavas Vassa by his captive against his will. As he went from master to master, they named him whatever they chose, as if he was a pet, going from Olaudah to Jacob to Michael to Gustavus. When Equiano’s master told him he would be called Gustavus Vassa, he refused and told his master his name was Jacob, he recalls the scene from his childhood while he was on board a slave ship, â€Å"When I refused to answer to my new name, which at first I did, it gained me many a cuff; so at lengthRead MoreThe Path to Aboliton 1312 Words   |  5 Pagesof these accounts allowed African Americans to show the world their mastery of language and the ability to write their own history. One example of such a writer was Fredrick Douglass. He was one of the most famous leaders of the abolitionist movement. After he escaped slavery, he published his story, Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, which sold over 30,000 copies between 1845 and 1860. Douglass’s decent into the most brutal conditions of slavery were described in his work as well as hisRead MoreSlavery And The Slavery Of Slavery Essay1742 Words   |  7 Pagestime periods and regions; in 1739, you have the Stono Rebellion, people used laws to argue their cases of injustice, such as Emanuel Pieterson and Dorothy Angola, who fought for the freedom of their child and David Walker, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacob who used literature to speak against the institution of slavery. Another aspect was that freedom had a different definition in the north and in the south. Northern freedmen and women had often better opportunities and often we able to use educationRead MoreIncidents During The Life O f A Slave Girl By Harriet Jacobs1818 Words   |  8 PagesSlave Girl Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs is an Autobiography from the point of view of a southern slave. She has named herself Linda Brent in the book to keep her identity anonymous. The book takes place in between 1820-1840 in which slavery was still legal and common throughout the United States south. The book begins in an unnamed town in the south in which the protagonist was raised in as a slave. Harriet Jacobs wrote the book to shine light on how slaves were treatedRead MoreIn 1619, The First Group Of African Slaves Was Brought1675 Words   |  7 Pageshuman. This cruel treatment and fickle system eventually sparked a new movement called the abolitionist movement. Fighting for the rights of slaves as well as the eventual complete abolition of slavery, many abolitionist writers like Fredrick Douglas and Harriet Jacobs told powerful stories of their struggles in slavery and gave strong imagery of this cruel empire. While slavery was becoming a heated issue, women also started to demand equality with man and more rights. In a man’s world, women wereRead MoreCultural Analysis Of Cesar Jacobs s Cultural Analysis2073 Words   |  9 PagesRaul Rios Professor Peters English 2327 30 April 2016 Harriett Jacobs: Cultural Analysis Cultural analysis can be associated with a person’s race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or region. An easy way to examine a person’s cultural analysis is to simply pull up a text book and or a website about the person and find very good information about the person. Yet when it comes to famous writers of history, their cultural analysis can be determined through their marvelous and significant