LITR 4232: American Renaissance

Sample Student Research Project, spring 2006

Amanda Hanne

April 19, 2006

Gender in Slave Narratives

            “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday,” wrote Frederick Douglass in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (Lauter 1889).  There are not very many accounts of slave writings, but the few that are around, hold very high standards for slaves to be literate. Two slave narratives that are very popular, but they do not hold the same prominence is Frederick Douglass’ Narrative and Harriet Ann Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Even though Jacobs’ story of her life is just as fascinating as Douglass’ many people believe that Jacobs’ story is less important. In these narratives there are many gender differences and likeness that help guide these stories, even if one is more prominent than the other.

            Slave narratives are representative literature that has been around for many years. These narratives, even though they have been around, did not have as broad of an impact on society until the Civil War. These slave narratives showed how slaves were treated and why the majority of them had never become literate. “Slave narratives show that slaves suffered physically, emotionally, and spiritually under slavery; that slaves yearned for freedom and resisted slavery in every possible way” (Morgan). Through the work of Douglass and Jacobs there are examples of many differences in how women were treated compared to how the men were treated as slaves. “Douglass and Jacobs offered firsthand accounts of slave life and its bloody brutality” (Stipe). Douglass wrote his narrative in 1845, many years before Jacobs wrote hers in 1861. “Of over one hundred thirty existing slave narratives, only sixteen were written by women, and most of those women were free northerners” (Johnson). Male narratives were more popular during the time of slaves, because most people did not want to hear about how masters would sexually assault and abuse the women on the plantations. People also would not like to hear about the children of slave women were usually the white master’s children. When people first read Jacobs’ Incidents they thought that it was a work of fiction and was written by a white abolitionist, Lydia Maria Child. Later they saw that Child was just helping Jacobs in editing her story.

            Women slaves were treated not as humans, but more like animals. Both men and women slaves were treated to not become literate, but it was easier for a man slave to become free with being literate then it was for a woman. Though both male and female slaves strived to become literate and have a prominent theme of literacy in their narratives, it was mostly for the men to become literate. Literacy and language created a wide barrier between men and women slaves. “The drive to become literate appears to be gender-based; unlike the narratives written by men, women’s narratives do not emphasize this factor. While male narrators accentuate the role of literacy, females stress the importance of relationships” (Morgan). Douglass as shown in his narrative cares about being literate and how that helped him become free. Douglass talks about while out running errands for his master that he would trick the boys of the neighborhood into teaching him how to read. He would also go down to the ship docks and learn how to read there. His mistress had also taught him how to read, but was forbidden to tutor him any longer by his master. “If you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would be forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master,” said Douglass’ master (Lauter 1903). Douglass then learned that it was good to be literate and it helped him assert his freedom from his masters that wanted to keep him ignorant and a slave. Even though Douglass helped his life becoming literate, it did not help Jacobs. Jacobs knew even being literate would not help her and her family escape from being slaves and to become free. Jacobs was a literate person and in the end it did help her to be able to write her life story. “Male and female writers both strove for literacy. Nonetheless, being literate never saved women slaves from the burdens of slavery, racism, or sexism and they knew it” (Morgan).

            Women in turn turned to relationships to help them get through to being free. Women’s children, grandparents and even parents helped women make it through rough times. In the Incidents of a Slave Girl Jacobs narrator, Linda Brent, found her way to freedom by running away from the plantation and living in her grandmother’s attic to stay close to her children. Even though Brent was not free yet, this point in her life helped her through getting to New York and later being free with her children. Brent achieved her goal of being free for her children and not for herself, which is a big difference between Douglass who wanted to be free for himself. There is also great understanding of the feminine culture during that time to tell their stories in terms of relationships (Morgan). “While male slaves stressed their individuality, like Douglass, their ability to stand alone and assume adult male responsibility for themselves, women slaves generally saw themselves as part of their communities” (Morgan). Women slaves did not have anything else to fall back on besides their family and what they should do to become free. “Even today, as psychologists such as Carol Gilligan and Jean Baker Miller have noted, women, more than men, trend to come to make choices based on their understanding and experiences of relationships (Morgan).

            Another difference between Douglass’ and Jacobs’ writings was that there was a different reason for why these two people wanted to be free. On one hand we have Douglass who would like to be free for himself, to be able to read freely and to be able to not being ridiculed by his master. Jacobs on the other hand had wanted to be emancipated because of her sexuality and threat of her sexuality to the father of her mistress (Stipe). In the end, Jacobs escape from her master left her isolated from society for many years while staying in her grandmothers’ attic. Jacobs and Douglass are different in how they approach becoming free, yet in their narratives they help other slaves to see how to become free or how they can relate to the other slaves and how they became free. The goal of the slave is to become free and as seen in both stories, these two slaves do become free when they leave for the North. “Eventually she [Jacobs] put her story down on paper, and she, like Douglass, did so in an effort to help end slavery” (Stipe). Eventually, after becoming free Jacobs and Douglass fought for the “rights and needs” for the slaves and blacks for the rest of their lives (Stipe).

            Becoming free was a big part in the lives of slaves, yet in the stories of these slaves being able to put religion in their stories helped them gather a greater audience. In both slave narratives there are many examples of religion coming into play. In these slave narratives there are examples of Christianity being practiced by slaveholders, in turn this makes the slaves become influenced by Christian beliefs. Stephen Butterfield, in Black Autobiography in America states that “Most slave narratives are strongly Christian,” and the narratives’ authors “praise God, prayer, good works, and the anti-slavery cause” (Johnson). As seen in Douglass’ narrative one of his first books that he learned to read from was the Bible. In Jacobs’ story, the narrator Brent talks about unchristian practices and talks about an issue that concerned women not so much as the men. This issue was if a minister had a child by a white woman not his wife, he would be dismissed from his position in the church, but “if she is colored, it does not hinder his continuing to be their good shepherd” (Lauter). This was an example on how Jacobs’ feels about Christian beliefs and if she really is a Christian woman. “The narratives of Douglass and Jacobs, I might add, seem touched by the hand of the God in whom they both believed, for, given the privations of the authors, the existence of these texts is quite miraculous, and the two books are full of the intensity and courage – and spirituality – not merely of slaves, but of survivors” (Stipe).

            Violence was a great battle for slaves as shown in their narratives. Douglass accounts in his story “I have often been awakened at the dawn of day by the most heartrending shrieks of an old aunt of mine, whom he [master] used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood. No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose” (Lauter 1891). Male slaves depict confrontations with their masters or their slave owners in violent terms. In Frederick Douglass’ narrative he describes violent confrontations with Mr. Covey one of his masters. Yet in Jacobs’ story her violence is brought out by verbal blows. Even though Jacobs does not have many violent scenes in her story there is still violence going on as far as sexuality and abuse to Brent from her mistress’ father.

In Jacobs’ life she was more apt to stress then Douglass was. She carried on with her life up in the attic of her grandmother’s house while trying to figure out a way to become free. On the other hand, Douglass just traveled and made his way up to the north on his own. When arriving in the north both men and women had different roles to where the women really could not make a living unless, they were seamstresses, laundresses or cooks. Men slaves were able to get other jobs. “Male slaves might earn a living lecturing on the abolitionist lecture circuit and writing slave narratives” (Morgan). Jacobs made her living by being a child’s nurse and after work she would write her narrative. Many people wanted to help Jacobs edit her story, but Jacobs did not feel right in letting other people help her in her work. The man that she worked for in the north was a liberal white writer and she never asked his help in editing her story. “Jacobs did ask for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s help, but Jacob’s dealings with Stowe convinced her that Stowe would co-opt her story and ‘use’ her but never allow her to tell her own story” (Morgan). Stowe a white abolitionist writer wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin a story that also brought the slave issue into light. Like every other male slave that was literate, Frederick Douglass became a lecturer and wrote a few slave narratives. Douglass later traveled all around to give speeches on his narratives and what his life was like as a slave.

            With many differences and likenesses between Harriet Ann Jacobs’ and Frederick Douglass’ writings there has been great applaud for what these two authors stood for. These two writers stood for a wonderful cause and really tried to help everyone that they could. Slave or a white person Jacobs and Douglass both showed great appreciation to be able to present their writings for everyone to see. “The slave narratives of male and female writers together, given the emphasis on literacy and control in the former and on relationships and interdependence in the latter, offer insight on balancing individualism and community” (Morgan). Douglas and Jacobs show differences on literacy, relationships, religion and violence. In the end, both authors have better qualities for their differences. “For according to Southern laws, a slave, being property, can hold no property,” writes Harriet Ann Jacobs (Lauter 2032).

Works Cited

Douglass, Frederick. “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.” Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006. 1889 – 1945.

Jacobs, Harriet Ann. “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006. 2031 – 2054.

Johnson, Yvonne. “Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” The Voices of African American Women 1999. Literature Resource Center – Author Resource Pages. University of Houston Clear Lake, Webster, TX 17 April 2006.

Morgan, Winifred. “Gender-Related Difference in the Slave Narratives of Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass.” American Studies 1994 Literature Resource Center – Author Resource Pages. University of Houston Clear Lake, Webster, TX 17 April 2006.

Stipe, Stormy. “Their Stories End with Freedom.” Biblio 1999 Literature Resource Center – Author Resource Pages. University of Houston Clear Lake, Webster, TX 17 April 2006.