Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

by Jacobs, Harriet

• ISBN13: 9780486419312
• ISBN10: 0486419312
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-11-09
• Publisher: Dover Publications

Summary

This autobiographical account by a former slave is one of the few extant narratives written by a woman. Written and published in 1861, it delivers a powerful portrayal of the brutality of slave life. Jacobs speaks frankly of her master's abuse and her eventual escape, in a tale of dauntless spirit and faith.

Table of Contents

Childhood	8	(3)
The New Master and Mistress	11	(5)
The Slaves' New Year's Day	16	(1)
The Slave Who Dared to Feel Like a Man	17	(9)
The Trials of Girlhood	26	(2)
The Jealous Mistress	28	(5)
The Lover	33	(6)
What Slaves Are Taught to Think of the North	39	(2)
Sketches of Neighboring Slaveholders	41	(6)
A Perilous Passage in the Slave Girl's Life	47	(4)
The New Tie to Life	51	(4)
Fear of Insurrection	55	(4)
The Church and Slavery	59	(6)
Another Link to Life	65	(3)
Continued Persecutions	68	(5)
Scenes at the Plantation	73	(7)
The Flight	80	(3)
Months of Peril	83	(5)
The Children Sold	88	(4)
New Perils	92	(3)
The Loophole of Retreat	95	(3)
Christmas Festivities	98	(2)
Still in Prison	100	(3)
The Candidate for Congress	103	(2)
Competition in Cunning	105	(4)
Important Era in My Brother's Life	109	(4)
New Destination for the Children	113	(5)
Aunt Nancy	118	(4)
Preparations for Escape	122	(7)
Northward Bound	129	(3)
Incidents in Philadelphia	132	(3)
The Meeting of Mother and Daughter	135	(3)
A Home Found	138	(2)
The Old Enemy Again	140	(3)
Prejudice Against Color	143	(2)
The Hairbreadth Escape	145	(4)
A Visit to England	149	(2)
Renewed Invitations to go South	151	(2)
The Confession	153	(1)
The Fugitive Slave Law	154	(5)
Free at Last	159	(6)
Appendix	165