Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl*** - Essay Example

The narrative spans from the unprecedented life of women’s struggle and sexual abuse, and how to women, the struggle was much harsher that that meted upon men. Through this, Harriet provokes an emotional response and sympathy upon every reader in her view, and the way she brings out slavery as the worst form of human bondage (Jacobs 29). This research paper serves to analyze the significant personal history in slavery and suffering by an African woman, and the firsthand account of the atrocities accompanying.

First, female, especially female slaves had the least formal power hence becoming the most vulnerable group of Americans (Jacobs 27). At this era of slavery, women were runaways, living their children alone. The act of motherhood was not in place in slavery era. According to Jacobs, family bondage took leading toll leading to disintegration and separation. For example, the cases of a woman in Marion County, who decided to terminate the life of her small three kids rather than see them elope with a slave trader.

Jacobs describes the condition of women in Antebellum as deplorable. At St. Louis for instance, a trader took away a crying baby from its mother only for the purpose of slavery exchange. The black women lived these ordeals in the era of slavery. Women claimed no right, and any prerogative bestowed on human nature seemed to slip away from them. This is what Jacobs tries to highlight as she was born a slave. Furthermore, Jacobs portrays women as being the primary target of slavery. Little girls, for instance, as young as seven years, got sold away from their mothers.

Girls took care of young ones while still at tender age. For instance, Mary Bell, as a toddler, worked as a house help by taking care of three children, while she was merely at seven year old. Through this, Jacobs portrays the insignificant role women found lived. They got no chance to participate in any political or economic activity. Moreover, Jacobs portrays the state as not giving any sign of human dignity upon women. Until 1854, when the state of Georgia enacted a law to regulate the separation of children from their mothers, slavery had reduced women as servitudes.

Jacobs also shows that the life of women as punctuated by unfinished childhood and brutal separation. This mostly happened to African American girls (Jacobs 21). The only thing women could cling to be hope that one-day freedom would come upon them. Mothers dreamt of freedom that would impose lesser losses upon their daughters. On contrary, men seemed to enjoy more or less enslavement as seen on women. For instance, in Antebellum south, majority of women worked in plantations as compared to men.

Plantation owners operated this way. Unlike men, black women also multi-tasked in working in sugarcane, tobacco, clearing land and digging ditches, while still managing the bulk work of housework and domestic chores. Any analyst would question the conditions women found themselves in, but Jacobs tells this from firsthand experience. It is undoubtedly that Black women suffered during this period. Jacobs also portrays women living in dual burden of racism and sexism. The role of women, as Jacobs puts it, contrasted sharply with the traditional role of American women.

For example, girls at tender age stated at tender age as compared to the counterpart boys. Girls joined this slavery lifestyle at the age of seven years. As Harriet points out, even the traditional fieldwork that only