Slavery from the Inside

Harriet came into the world with three strikes against her. First: her mother was a black slave. Second: Harriet was a girl. And the third strike was that she was beautiful. Slave mothers hoped that their daughters would be unattractive because that would increase their chances of having a better life in the plantation system. Unfortunately Harriet Jacobs was beautiful, and in her early teens she began to experience the accompanying problems as she became the desire of her predatory master.

Incidents in the Live of a Slave Girl, written in 1861 by Harriet Jacobs, provides readers with a first-hand account of life on a North Carolina plantation in the 19th century.

Of particular  interest in her account is that she has witnessed how the institution of slavery affects not only the  slaves, but corrupts the plantation owner, his wife, his children, and the neighboring poor whites. Once it becomes acceptable for a person to own another human being, the poison of immorality and corruption permeates the plantation way of life. The owner feels justified in raping young slave girls because they are his chattel. The owner's wife becomes jealous and angry because everyday she sees the children her husband fathered with a slave. Slave children and the owner's children are raised together, but then have to go in different directions when they becomes teenagers. The neighboring poor whites are disturbed the slaves frequently have better accommodations than they have, and therefore take advantage of every situation in which they can inflict violence. The immorality suffuses the whole system.

At first I was doubtful that this book was written by a fugitive slave because the vocabulary and style are Victorian English, but as I continued to read, I sensed an authentic voice and understood why it was written in that style. By accident Harriet learned to read and write at a young age, and her writing imitates what she read  -- the Bible and Victorian literature.

Once the reader becomes involved in the life of this slave girl, the vocabulary and style no longer matter. Along with Harriet we begin to experience the brutality of the day-to-day life of a slave and are amazed that she has the strength and courage to escape to the North where she wrote this book.