Black Abolitionists in America - Essay Example

Black Abolitionists Word Count 194 Slavery was one of the most inhuman and barbaric practices of the 18th Century. People, mainly Africans, were captured and sold as slaves. While enslaved, they were abused physically and emotionally by their heartless masters in an attempt to control and dehumanize them. Slaves were reduced to the level of animals with no regard for their anguish and used for whatever purpose their masters deemed fit. This institution of slavery was influenced by racisms. Anti-slavery movements were formed by black abolitionist to end slavery. They did this through writing novels and giving speeches; their main aim being kindling sympathy among white people to join them in the fight against slavery so that they would free their colleagues who were still held in bondage. Harriet viewed black abolitionists in the New York City as those who were attempting to create identities for themselves1. There was runaway racism and blacks faced rejection and discrimination in the city they moved to as slaves. According to Harriet, the abolitionists were fighting for equality, which was not the case as confirmed by Harriet’s text whose aim was majorly to inform and discourage. Harriet Jacob was one of the black abolitionists who fought slavery through her writing when she wrote the novel, Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl. Harrier wrote the book after escaping from her master. She was a black woman who was born and raised in servitude in North California. She remained a slave for twenty seven years. All her family members were slaves, starting from her grandmother. Her position as a woman slave contributed a lot to her writing since she felt like women were not only physically torture but also deprived of their virtue as women2. Women slaves were being sexually harassed and forced to helplessly watch their children suffer. Harriet chose to expose her story of enslavement, digression and sexual exploitation through her narrator Linda Brent in her novel, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, which she wrote after escaping. She hoped that by talking about her experiences, she would kindle a flame of compassion in people’s hearts for her sisters who were still in bondage. Most people did not take her seriously because they took the novel as a work of fiction. However, those who believed in her saw her work as a rear display of bravery, especially by a woman. Harriet Jacob’s target audiences were white women living in the North. According to her, exposing injustice against a fellow woman, especially on sexually exploitation, would spark a flare of sympathy among these white women3. Harriet hoped that in the long run, the Northern women would advise their husbands against taking in slaves, thus helping to stop the injustice. Harriet did this with the aim of protecting her sisters still in bondage because no one or no law would fight for slaves’ rights. In her book, Harriet argues that slavery is an injustice ploy against blacks and black women were victims of the malpractices. Slavery took advantage of women by exploiting their sexuality and ruined their dreams and hopes of a good life. Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl narrated by Linda Brent brings out these inhuman practices. For instance, she was showing the world how masters render their women slaves powerless and strip them the right to make decision, even decisions concerning their own children4. Instead, masters owned them and treated them like objects. Slaves were humiliated and lived by the rules of their masters. Harriet points out that no human being should be subjected to such cruel practices. She also addresses social and political issues like church and slavery. She focused on the impact of the fugitive law on runaways and brought out the moral conflict between racism and social prejudice in social, economic and political institutions. The text assumes that the slave girl- Linda Brent- had betrayed an unspoken contract of slaves in the eyes of the slaves by escaping and telling the world about her digression. Harriet does not depict any sense of biasness in her story. She narrates her real life experience as a slave girl, thus bringing out clearly what she and others went through. Harriet develops succinct feelings about this institution of slavery; hence giving the reader an opportunity to judge her reasons as she fights to survive and free herself. Some of her actions work for her situation, for example, she used her sexuality to escape her fate by getting two children with a white man5. She talks about mistresses being as bad as their male counterparts; the only difference is that they do not subject women to sexual abuse. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl makes us understand the institution of slavery better since it gives details of ugly inhuman practices that went on at that time. Admittedly, the nightmares that slaves went through during their fight for freedom should never be repeated. Harriet narrated the history of slaves and marked the begging of hope for the slaves, and eventually leading to the end of that cruel and unforgettable error. Undeniably, the narrated experiences of Harriet and others led to establishment of human rights acts. Harriet Jacobs wrote her story in 1850s, a period when slavery was a highly explosive issue in the US. During this time, there were arguments by Americans as to whether slavery should be allowed in new territories such as California. It appeared as if slavery was on the rise since laws such as fugitive slave act were enacted to facilitate the recapture of runaway slaves, and Harriet was one of them. The conflict between proponents and opponents of anti-slavery also intensified. These conflicting events influenced her writing because she was being motivated by hope of gaining complete freedom. She finally published the book in 1861 when the Civil War began. Her work gave a new perspective on historical events such as The Nat Turner insurrection. The text is consistent with our knowledge of the Civil War that began in 1861, and was organized to free slaves and end slavery of colored people, which is exactly what Harriet was fighting for throughout the text6. In conclusion, black abolitionists like Harriet Jacobs fought the institution of slavery after escaping from their masters and eventually succeeded. Their writings like her novel, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, kindled sympathy among both white and black people. In most cases, the mission of abolitionists may have been misunderstood, but their main goal was to do away with slavery. Bibliography Harriet, Jacobs and Maria, Lydia. The Deeper Wrong, or, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. (London: W. Tweedie, 1862), Accessed November 2, 2014 http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/53362083.html Read More