1- In addition to what Fredrick Douglass has provided to his readers about Slavery from his position as a slave. Harriet Jacobs “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” also speaks out in her essays about Slavery and how she and the other female slaves were treated with cruelty and how they were able to continue living with all the sufferings around them. Harriet Jacobs started her writing slightly different from Frederick Douglass did, she described how happy she was as a kid having her educated and skilled parents beside her. After a few years, things changed and went downhill after her mother’s death. She faced her biggest fear and probably every female slave fear which is to be sexually abused by her master. Like any other slave, Jacobs was looking forward to escaping to become free. Fortunately, she was able to hide in the ”loophole of retreat” for 7 years. It didn’t get her anywhere but at least she wasn’t harassed or abused by her master. At this moment, Jacobs wasn’t doing this for herself, she was doing the best she can to make this world a better place for her children. Both Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs had the same issue that they wanted to convey to all people( slavery) and both used their own way to express their feelings, thoughts, and show facts in order to defend their main issue and make the abolitionist movement as strong as they can to eliminate slavery for good.
2- unfortunately, after more than two centuries of abolishing slavery, many people worldwide still face new and varied forms of slavery. Common forms of forced labor are found in industries that are unregulated or that use labor intensively, such as agriculture and fisheries. Most importantly, forced marriage, this type of marriage occurs when the individual does not enter into marriage with free and full consent. This kind of slavery, in my opinion, is similar to what female slaves in the 1800s suffered (sexual abuse) but, today they use their own tricks to make it look like an official marriage. Another important modern form of slavery is child labor. This kind of slavery occur under different circumstances like poverty, lack of education, and most of the time it occurs due to accumulation of debt by their parents.
Ali, Thanks for sharing your thoughts about Harriet Jacobs and for connecting her autobiography to contemporary examples of slavery – forced marriage, child labor, and unregulated industries. There is a lot to think about here.