Tobin 1

Perspectives of Slavery

Mitchell Tobin

14 December 2012

United States History

Instructor Joanne Jahnke

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Slave_dance_to_banjo,_1780s.jpg

Tobin 2

Slavery is at its core is the state of one bound in servitude as the property of a slaveholder

or hold. Slavery takes shape in many ways. Modern slavery is typically Human Trafficking and

debt enslavement, which take place in Russia and Southern Asia. Modern slavery however, is

met with much alarm; there are organizations, such as Amnesty International, that actively work

to assist those enslaved. However, in older times, slavery was not always so forthrightly fought

against. Slaves had little to no representation given to them, they work and died knowing nothing

but brutal torment and ridicule for many centuries. One of the most vicious forms of slavery

occurred in the United States, then a recently formed country. Slavery in the United States had

two forms. The first was indentured servitude in which someone willing sold themselves off in

return for money and land at the end of the contract. The other, was far more brutal and far less

accommodating. Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs present two different perspectives and

from the two, it is possible to outline and give form to how these two lived their lives as slaves in

what was supposedly the freest country in the West. Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs had

similarities as slaves and differences because of gender and upbringing.

Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass had many similarities and differences in both their

lives. Firstly, is the relationship between them and their families. Harriet Jacobs lived a fairly

atypical slave life from birth. She was separated from the harsh realities of slavery. She knew her

parents and family and lived with them. She had friends among the White community and the

slave community. She had a caring grandmother who took care of her and her children while

Harriet was in slavery and after she escaped. Harriet Jacobs was born in South Carolina where

she knew her father, mother, grandmother, and also a brother (Jacobs, 11). Her father worked as

a carpenter while paying his own to manage his own affairs separating Jacobs from the everyday

slave life. Jacobs writes in her dairy “I was so fondly shielded that I never dreamed I was a piece

Tobin 3

of merchandise, trusted to them for safe keeping, and liable to be demanded of them at any

moment” (Jacobs, 11). Explicitly showing how well cared for Jacobs was, whether slave or not

Jacobs still was born into a family that loved and cared for their children and did everything they

could in order to maintain a typical semblance of what could be a free family.

Gender in the life of Harriet Jacobs encompassed everything she did after the death of her

mistress. When willed to her mistress niece, Jacobs was in actuality given to the niece’s father,

Dr. Flint. This had most probably, the largest impact on Jacobs’ life in that this is when she first

started to realize that slavery is a terrible thing, especially for women. Under the care of Dr.

Flint, Harriet was tormented mentally daily. She writes “But now I entered on my fifteenth

year—a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl. My master began to whisper foul words in my ear.

Young as I was, I could not remain ignorant of their import.” (Jacobs 44). While Jacobs does not

go into specifics, it is clear that Dr. Flint has nefarious plans with which she describes her master

as “a crafty man, and he resorted to many means to accomplish his purposes,” which points to

his attempting to dominate the female slaves in his care. Harriet Jacobs’ accuses him as a person

who “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,” which is made clearly expresses the inappropriate deeds committed

by Dr. Flint (Jacobs 44). Granted while this may not expressly state what Dr. Flint was saying,

when Jacobs states in her diary “I saw a man forty years my senior,” Dr. Flint in this case,

“violating the most sacred commandments of nature” (Jacobs 44-45). This most sacred of

commandments is referring to sanctity of sexuality. To put it bluntly, he is raping Harriet Jacobs.

However, this is just one small aspect of the impact that Harriet Jacobs’ gender played on her

life. Mrs. Flint and the other slaves also assisted in the ostracizing of Harriet Jacobs. According

Tobin 4

to Jacobs, “my presence was intolerable to Mrs. Flint” (Jacobs 51). This excludes Harriet from

being able to seek any console from Mr. Flint’s wife. On the other hand, Harriet rarely describes

the poor treatment of male slaves, but Frederick Douglass does.

On the other hand, Frederick Douglass was not so lucky. Frederick Douglass lived a

fairly typical slave life from birth. He barely knew his mother and did not know his father at all.

Granted, he did live with his grandparents and aunt, he still witnessed various forms of brutality

early on and was shortly thereafter separated from his family and learned to live without

assistance leading up to his escape. Douglass was born in Tuckahoe Maryland without even

knowing his exact age. Of his family, Douglass knew his mother; however they were estranged

and rarely ever saw each other. Of his father, Douglass knew he was a white man, and potentially

his master. In his journal Douglass explicitly states “before the child has reached its twelfth

month, its mother is take from it, and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off and

placed under the care of an old woman, too old for labor” (Douglass, 2). Gender however, did

not come to take a key role in the life of Douglass until January of 1833.

Douglass had lived a typical slave life until he was sent to Baltimore where he learned to

read. However, once back in the South, Douglass experienced firsthand the horrors associated

with slavery that affected men. In 1833 Douglass was sent to Mr. Covey as a field hand for what

he calls as “the first time in my life,” which is not atypical for a slave since they did all sorts of

work (Douglass 51). However, Mr. Covey did not run a very typical sort of farm. He was what

was known as a slave breaker. Douglass writes, “I had been at my new home but one week

before Mr. Covey gave me a very severe whipping, cutting my back, causing the blood to run,

and raising ridges on my flesh as large as my little finger,” (Douglass 51). Now, as a man

Douglass was faced with many issues regarding this. The biggest was his sense of dignity and

Tobin 5

pride. All men have a rigid pride, whether it is about their work or about themselves once

trampled upon, men become different. In Douglass’ case at this point, he experienced numerous

beatings and whippings. He was constantly tormented by Mr. Covey which is expressed when

Douglass writes “His work went on in his absence almost as well as in his presence… This he

did by surprising us… Such was his cunning, that we used to call him, among ourselves, ‘the

snake’” (Douglass 53). Douglass then continues on describing more and more of Mr. Covey’s

actions towards him and the other slaves and his brutal treatment. However, for Douglass in

particular, he slowly became a broken man. What is meant is that he became desolate, hopeless,

uncaring, essentially he entered a supreme state of depression. Depression is a very powerful tool

and causing people to become something different. For Douglass according to his narrative “I

used to speak to myself; goaded almost to madness at one moment, and at the next reconciling

myself to my wretched lot” (Douglass 57). Douglass faced a very different sort of slavery than

Harriet Jacobs.

In their times as slaves both Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass faced two very

different forms of slavery. For Harriet Jacobs it was sexual form from Mr. Flint. She was

constantly being molested and harassed. When she attempted to seek assistance from the other

slaves, they practically ignored her since they had or were afraid of experiencing the same sort of

things. She could not approach Mrs. Flint because of Mrs. Flint’s intolerance of her presence.

Nor could she approach her grandmother because of her embarrassment and because of Mr.

Flint’s threats. Frederick Douglass however, faced a domineering spiritual and mental form. He

was worked and beaten to the point of nearly going insane from torture and torment. He for the

most part was depressed and had lost his pride as a man.

Tobin 6

Overall, Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass experienced two very different forms of

slavery. They faced many similarities in their early years, in that they relatives of a sort.

However, in their teenage and later years they faced two very different, yet equally horrific

forms of slavery. Slavery in general is a very horrific way to live, and during the pre-Civil War

United States, slavery in all forms existed in the most horrific ways possible.

Tobin 7

List of Works Consulted

Douglass, Frederick. “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave.”

Jacobs, Harriet. “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.”