Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs

Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass were both slaves who wrote narratives that greatly impacted the world around them. Their narratives were the first insights into the life of a slave for people to read. Their details were quite vivid and depicted the horrors of slavery. Frederick Douglass’s narrative was much longer than Harriet Jacobs and discussed the abuse he endured, his ambition for educating himself, and his struggle for freedom. Harriet Jacobs also goes into detail about the abuse she endured. However, hers could be argued to be on a more devastating level. Male slaves typically are not pursued by their masters for sexual relations. Harriet Jacobs had an owner who was absolutely relentless in his quest to have sex with her.
    Harriet Jacobs notes on the injustice of slavery when it comes to choosing who you want to marry. “If slavery had been abolished, I also, could have married the man of my choice; I could have had a home shielded by the laws; and I should have been spared the painful task of confessing what I am now about to relate; but all my prospects had been blighted by slavery.” Her perspective makes the reader realize how different their lives are and how unjust it is. Her struggle to do what is right ultimately is lost when she realizes that if she does not consent, she will be raped. She wanted some choice in the matter but later regrets her decisions. She begs the reader not to judge her too harshly and it is painful to read. There is something so special about her that you hate that she ever had to go through that struggle.
    Frederick Douglass also gives plenty of details that make you absolutely disgusted with slavery and ashamed that it was apart of our history as a nation. He mentions how children were fed like pigs Colonel Lloyd’s plantation. He says, “We were not regularly allowanced. Our food was coarse corn meal boiled. This was called mush. It was put into a large wooden tray or trough, and set down up on the ground. The children were then called, like so many pigs, and like so many pigs they would come and devour the mush…”  I believe that this would have been upsetting for anyone to read, but most for the parents in that time. Frederick Douglass shows how white people wanted to keep the slaves ignorant so that they would hold power. His quest for educating himself is admirable. I enjoyed reading both of their stories. There is something quite moving about reading about the first hand accounts of past slaves.