Summary of Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 When I was six years old, my mother died. I was sent to spend a week with my grandmother. I was now old enough to begin to think about the future, and I asked myself what they would do with me. I felt sure I would never find another mistress as kind as the one who was gone.
#2 My mistress, who was a kindly woman, had taught me the precepts of God’s Word. But when she died, her will was read, and we learned that she had bequeathed me to her sister’s daughter, a child of five years old. I was heartbroken.
#3 I was now the property of Dr. Flint, and I was brought to his house. I was met with cold looks, cold words, and cold treatment. I was glad when the night came, because I could moan and cry alone.
#4 I was often threatened with punishment if I stopped at my grandmother’s house, but she helped me feed myself by giving me food when I went to visit her. When her mistress died, Dr. Flint was appointed executor, and he told the faithful old servant that she should be sold.

Sujets

• General
• General officer
• Sociology
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Social Science

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 31 juillet 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798822563025
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

When I was six years old, my mother died. I was sent to spend a week with my grandmother. I was now old enough to begin to think about the future, and I asked myself what they would do with me. I felt sure I would never find another mistress as kind as the one who was gone.

#2

My mistress, who was a kindly woman, had taught me the precepts of God’s Word. But when she died, her will was read, and we learned that she had bequeathed me to her sister’s daughter, a child of five years old. I was heartbroken.

#3

I was now the property of Dr. Flint, and I was brought to his house. I was met with cold looks, cold words, and cold treatment. I was glad when the night came, because I could moan and cry alone.

#4

I was often threatened with punishment if I stopped at my grandmother’s house, but she helped me feed myself by giving me food when I went to visit her. When her mistress died, Dr. Flint was appointed executor, and he told the faithful old servant that she should be sold.

#5

My grandmother, who was a slave, was sold at an auction. She was bought by a woman who wanted to free her, but couldn’t read or write. So she gave her her freedom.

#6

Dr. Flint was an epicure. He would never send a dinner to his table without fear and trembling, because if there was a dish he did not like, he would either order the cook to be whipped or force her to eat it.

#7

The slave system is extremely cruel. It is easy to find out who is the most humane slave master within forty miles of you. On hiring day, the slaves are sold. If they are unwilling to go with their new masters, they are whipped or locked up in jail.

#8

I had been in Dr. Flint’s family for two years, and during that time I had learned many things. I had learned how to be patient and keep my spirits up, even when things seemed hopeless. But I longed for a home like my grandmother’s, with all the necessities of life.

#9

I had lived fourteen years in slavery, and I had felt, seen, and heard enough to read the characters and motives of those around me. I had not been conquered by my mistress’s meanness.

#10

I once heard my mistress’s father say that his daughter’s attachment to me was because she was afraid of him. I was very depressed, and did not know what to think. I wondered if I was being sold away from my friends.

#11

My grandmother, who was still convinced that her son was doing the right thing, went to visit him in jail. She pleaded with him to forgive her for the suffering he was causing her. But Benjamin was determined to stay there until he died or was sold.

#12

My grandmother continued to send Benjamin food and clothes, and eventually he was released. However, he was sold to a slave trader, who gave him a price that was double what she had been able to get.

#13

When Benjamin arrived in Baltimore, he was taken sick and had to stay there for three weeks. When he recovered, he went to New York. There, he met with his sister, who was now a free woman. He told her how close he came to dying in sight of free land, and how he prayed that he might live to breathe free air.

#14

The author’s mother bought his brother, Benjamin, from the slave traders. When they got to New York, they saw each other, and his brother was free. His mother was shocked, but they were happy nonetheless.

#15

Slavery was a terrible system that corrupted the pure principles my grandmother had instilled in me. I was forced to live with the man who had been my master for fifteen years, and he tried to corrupt my mind with unclean images.

#16

Slavery is a system that brings shadows of sin and sorrow to everyone, even the little children who are accustomed to wait on their masters and their families. The child will learn, before she is twelve years old, why her mistress hates such and such a one among the slaves.

#17

I once saw two beautiful children playing together. One was a fair white child, and the other was her slave sister. The white child grew up to be a beautiful woman, while her slave sister was still beautiful in her youth but never got to experience the joys of adulthood.

#18

I would rather be a half-starved pauper in Ireland than a most pampered slave in America. I would rather work on a cotton plantation until I die than live with an unprincipled master and a jealous mistress.

#19

I had been working as a servant for the doctor and his wife for six years when I was sent to sleep in the same room as their youngest daughter. The next morning, I was ordered to take my station as nurse the following night. A kind Providence intervened on my behalf, and the wife found out that I was innocent.

#20

I was now sleeping in a room adjacent to my mistress’s. I was an object of her special care, though not of her special comfort, for she spent many a sleepless night to watch over me. I began to fear for my life.

#21

The secrets of slavery are similar to those of the Inquisition. The masters were too scrupulous to sell me, but they were not scrupulous about committing a much greater wrong against the young girl placed under their care.

#22

The slave system not only deadened the moral sense of white women, but it also killed it. I have heard southern ladies say of Mr. Such-and-such a man, He not only thinks it no disgrace to be the father of those little niggers, but he is not ashamed to call himself their master.

#23

I loved a man who was a free born black carpenter. I was afraid to tell him that I was a slave, as I knew that would make him refuse to marry me.

#24