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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
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| Jun 3 2008, 12:38 PM EDT | rrodrigo | 690 words added |
| Jun 3 2008, 12:37 PM EDT | rrodrigo |
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Texts by Harriet Jacobs
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Resources about Harriet Jacobs
1. International Information Programs, “Outline of American Literature” revised edition. Chapter 4, The Romantic Period, 1820-1960, Fiction. Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896). Dec 2006http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/oal/lit4.htmHarriet Jacobs was a slave born in North Carolina. Her mistress taught her to read and write. After her mistress died, she was sold to another white master who she resisted to have sexual relations with. She ended up with a white lover whom she had two children. Due to her compulsive owners treatment, she ran away. Jacobs spent about seven years hiding in her grandmother’s attic, only peeking through holes she drilled to see what her children were doing. Surprisingly, she was hiding in her master’s hometown only after starting a rumor that she had run off to the North. Eventually, she ran off to the North where she meant Amy Post. Post suggested that she write her autobiography. Harriet published Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl under the name Linda Brent in 1861. This book condemns the sexual exploitation of black slave women.
The purpose of this website is to provide information on American literature. I’ve learned about a piece of history in just reading from this website. This site lists a number of novelists of the American history. The summation on Harriet Jacobs’s background tells me that her life situation helped her write about the experience she had as a slave. This site is credible because it delivers information about current U.S. foreign policy about the American life and culture. It provides information related to conventional accounts of past history. This in turn helps us as a society abstract the ideas to help us in our decision making and views about different issues. A couple of examples would be human right issues and democracy. - NatalieT
2. “People and Event: Harriet Jacobs.” 22 June 2007. < http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2923.html >.
This informational page off of the PBS official website gives biographical information about Harriet Jacobs, an African American slave who lived during the nineteenth century, in addition to some historical information about the time period in general. Of all her insufferable trials as a slave, the most shocking seem to be the many sexual advances made by her masters, of which she refused and later wrote. The article states, “It was not Harriet Jacob's nature to give up without a fight. Born into slavery, Harriet Jacobs would thwart repeated sexual advancements made by her master for years, then run away to the North. She would later publish an account of her anguished life in her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” This became her self-defining piece for the rest of American, as well as piece that provided one of the first in-depth, realistic, unapologetic, non-propagandizing depictions of what slave life was actually like. The article goes on to mention her post-war efforts in regards to slavery, stating that “Harriet was actively involved with the abolition movement before the launch of the Civil War. During the war she used her celebrity to raise money for black refugees. After the war she worked to improve the conditions of the recently-freed slaves.” I found this reference very credible, reliable, and informative. It helped me get a good start on the life of Harriet Jacobs, and the times in which she lived.
3. Grun, Bernard. "Timeline of Events." http://xroads.virginia.edu. 14 Feb. 2004. University of Virginia. 23 June 2007 <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/JACOBS/hj-timeline.htm>.
The main purpose of this website is to offer information on the life and works of Harriet Jacobs. It also has a timeline of the major events in her life. She is an important person to know about because she herself was a slave. Her writings are a first hand experience about slavery. This makes her writings critical to an understanding of the literary period. This resource is helpful in reading and interpreting the author, texts, and themes because it offers links to other websites for more information. This is a credible website because the author is clearly indicated. The source is from a reputable site, the University of Virginia.
