Harriet Jacobs’s narrative adds a new element of American slavery, adding a woman’s perspective compared to Douglass’s perspective of the male point-of-view. Harriet Jacob stated, “When they told me my new-born babe was a girl, my heart was heavier than it had ever been before. Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women.” In my opinion both genders equally suffered immensely by slavery, yet it doesn’t matters who had it far worst- man or woman. I understand Jacobs’ point-of-view and she has every right to feel this way for she makes a strong case with her story. She talks about being violated by her master and dealing with the mistress who was jealous of her and hated such and such child slave because that was the offspring. Both Douglass and Jacobs narratives show that the wife or mistress of the master can be just as cruel as their male counterparts with the actions they partook with the slaves. Women slaves were seen as more valuable because they had the ability to bear children, therefore, adding more slaves in the hands of the slavemaster and thus accumulating more wealth. Harriot Jacobs wanted to escape many times and stated she could have done so but she didn’t escape because she was thinking about her children and couldn’t bear her leaving them behind to suffer the same fate she has had. This was most likely the case for many slave girls who were in the same shoes. For some slaves it could have been a hard decision to choose either leaving their children behind or freedom, in which some chose the latter. Many probably stayed because it was difficult for mothers to escape with their children. Harriot Jacob wanted freedom for her children and herself, sacrificing 7 years in the attic to see it through.
Slavery still exists today but under different circumstances. Some examples include human-trafficking, forced marriage, forced labor, child labor, prisoners, and more. I would say slavery not only happens for people but also animals when they are placed in cages, as is shown in the documentary Tiger King on Netflix; as well as the wild animals in cages in Wuhan China that caused the virus pandemic. I learned that slavery can be hidden in plain sight, people find ways to exploit the vulnerable, and also can be interpreted differently. Interpreted differently where some people believe that sports athletes are slaves to the team’s owner, or that workers are a slave to their bosses, or a child is a slave to their parents, or a person is a slave to time.
Jeremy, You raise many interesting and provocative questions here. I wonder about the kind of metaphoric slavery you refer to at the end of your post. If I say that a worker is a “slave” to his/her boss, but I know that the worker (unlike a slave) is free to quit his/her job or that highly paid athletes are “slaves” to their teams’ owners, am I cheapening our understanding of what slavery really is? Just a question…. (And thanks for raising the issue of whether animals can be enslaved as well!)