Slavery and the struggle to freedom

Posted by Winnie Melda on November 2nd, 2018

Introduction

            Slavery was terrible for both men and women, but women suffered in unique ways. Women and young girls did not have autonomy of their bodies since they were termed as sexual objects by their masters. They suffered from insults and torture and in some instances raped. They were forced to take care of the white master’s children and hindered from the freedom of marrying the men of their choice.  The children born to a slave woman would also be slaves despite the position of their father. According to Harriet Jacobs, slave girls did not have the option of being virtuous since their virtue was under constant assault. The slave mothers observed helplessly with bitter pain upon seeing how their children were beaten, sold, and go through similar experiences as them. The experiences of Harriet and Elizabeth provide a rich background on the life of slavery and the struggle for freedom. Mary is a representative of the whites who never supported slavery as will be evident in the essay.  

Synopsis of their lives

            Harriet Jacobs is known to be the first woman to write a slave narrative labeled as "Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl" in 1861. She was born and brought up in Edenton, North Carolina but died after gaining freedom in Washington. She was born into slavery and learned to sew from her mother who was an expert seamstress enslaved in the Burwell family. Her mother worked for thirty years as a slave to purchase her and her son’s freedom (Jacobs, Jacobs & Yellin, 2009). The story of Harriet Jacobs gives a chance to Historians to make judgments about the problem of how child slaves lived.

            Elizabeth Keckley served as a slave who became a successful seamstress and a civil activist in Washington DC. She was known as a personal modiste and confidante of Lincoln as the first lady. Keckley moved to Washington after buying her freedom and that of her son and created an independent business in the capital city. After the American civil war, she wrote and published the book,” Behind the Scenes,” that largely focused on slavery. The text was considered controversial for exposing the privacy about her relationship with Lincoln. She was a successful businesswoman and wanted to be part of the new mixed-race and educated middle-class visible among the leadership of the black community. She was born of a privileged slave mother who gave her the advantage of learning how to read and write though illegal for the slaves.

            Mary Lincoln was a daughter of a wealthy and prosperous family and hence did not have a need for employment. Due to her father’s close relationship with the political leader in Kentucky, Mary developed an interest in politics and political issues. She has an unusual level of education due to her ability to study widely and deeply in various subjects. Her maternal grandmother helped slaves to seek freedom through the “Underground Railroad” that influenced Mary to support the abolition of slavery.

Comparison and contrast regarding their perceptions about Slavery

            From the life of three women, the issue of slavery is evident and more profound to a large extent. Harriet Jacobs and Elizabeth Keckley had a taste of the life in slavery, but Mary Lincoln was not brought up in slavery. However, she was keen on championing the rights of the slaves that made her support the abolition of slavery. Families as well as the community are important aspects of life but were adversely affected by slavery. Slavery is dehumanizing and depriving that only seeks to limit its participants to brutality. However, despite some slaves living in depression and rejection, many survived due to the support they obtained from their families and the black community (Fields, 1990). The family members and neighbors who found themselves in the life of slavery used to support one another by showing love, compassion, material assistance, and escaping or hiding. They gained a sense of belonging and meaning to life despite them living in oppression.

            About the early life of Harriet and Elizabeth, the life of slavery was terrible. According to Jacobs, there were no good slave masters (Jacobs, 68). It tends to destroy the morality of slaveholders as evidence in her experiences with Dr. Flint who turned to an inhumane monster. The slave masters view their servants with less value than animals and objects without acknowledging their sense of humanity. The slaveholders that seemed good were capable of betraying their slaves when it was convenient to gain profit. She notes that “Cruelty is contagious in uncivilized communities,” (Jacobs, 73) that made most of the whites violent and have terrible treatment to slaves.  The slave girl lived in an “atmosphere of licentiousness and fear“(Jacobs, 79). Some slave masters had good intentions to free slave children, but when faced with a financial problem they would be tempted to sell them for profit. The slaves suffered from the influence of the slave system especially in their moral development. Most of the slaves who engaged in illegal and immoral acts had no choice, but to behave that way. Slaves had no reason to develop an ethical sense since they were not given any sense of ownership of themselves or control of their actions. The system of slavery appeared to dehumanize them.

            Elizabeth Keckly was born enslaved and thus experienced harsh treatment in slavery. Her experiences included beatings and sexual assault that made her get a son named George. Her life was a rare example of strong women who desired to purchase their freedom and then of their children. Her economic state could not enable her to acquire the freedom she longed for making her get a loan from her customers. She was determined to acquire freedom despite the challenges she encountered. She was also hardworking that enabled her to set up a dressmaking shop and got several customers among them the wives of influential politicians. About her childhood life in slavery, it is evident that many blacks feared the life of slavery. Her text contrasts the love she got from her immediate family and that at the hands of her owners and Keckley observes that, slave owners were the cause of much suffering. Her master, Colonel Burwell, never “liked to see any of his slaves wear a sorrowful face, and those who offended him that way were always punished. As Keckley states, “the sunny face of the slave is not always an indication of the sunshine in the heart. “ (Keckley, 29). It appears that slaves suffered at the hands of their masters, but were not supposed to show indirectly to their master. They ought to show the master that everything was okay despite their bitterness. The life of slavery was not devoid of discrimination and hatred. Mrs. Burwell encouraged a schoolmaster to abuse Keckley physically to make her subdue her pride and rebellious spirit (Keckley, 38). The abuse led to the rape of Keckley by a white man with whom she bore George. Keckley had no freedom over her child which was a similar case to many other slave women by then. As earlier stated, she had to buy both her freedom and that of her some by parting with a huge amount of money.

            A close examination of Mary Lincoln’s life reveals similar aspirations in the struggle for the freedom of slavery. She never underwent the life of slavery, but she identified with them. Mary was involved in politics that allowed her to fight against slavery. Her husband did not have the guts to advocate for the abolition of slavery as evident during his campaign. He did not take a stand on the 1883 law that prohibited the importation of slaves into Kentucky (Baker, 1989). Mary was fully in opposition to slavery due to her life in Illinois that highlighted the issue. She knew of the strategy of the Underground Railroad to help African-Americans freed from slavery in the South. The slaves suffered from Brutal physical punishment, psychological abuse, and hard labor without pay (Fields, 1990). The only option was to risk their lives and escape to freedom. The journey to freedom for most of the slaves was challenging but has to undergo it. The sufferings and harsh experiences of slaves were a major reason for Mary Lincoln to support the abolition of slavery during her husband’s campaign (Baker, 1989).

            In conclusion, slavery is a dehumanizing aspect that deprived people their autonomy. As evident in Harriet’s and Elizabeth’s lives, women suffered more than men in their quest for freedom. Not all whites supported slavery as evident in the life of Mary who championed for the abolition of slavery in America.

References

Baker J.H. (1989) Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography, Norton Publishers. ISBN 0393305864, 9780393305869

Fields, B. J. (1990). Slavery, race, and ideology in the United States of America: New Left Review, (181), 95

Jacobs H.A (1861) Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl, Thayer and Eldridge Publishers 

Jacobs, H. A., Jacobs, J. S., & Yellin, J. F. (2009) Incidents in the life of a slave girl: Written by Herself (Vol. 119). Harvard University Press

Keckley E. (1868) Behind the scenes, or, Thirty years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House. New York: G. W. Carleton & Co., Publishers, 1

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in college research paper services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for best essay services online.