Index Narratives Based on the Life of Frederick Douglass Personal Narratives of Harriet Jacobs Conclusion The word "freedom" in early American history had countless meanings, a depending on who was hearing it. For a white male in the 19th century, freedom meant prosperity through land ownership and wealth. However, for a slave in the antebellum period, freedom was indefinable and out of reach. In the cases of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, as their autobiographies attest, gaining freedom from their masters was only the beginning of their liberation as human beings in a rapidly changing society. Both of these outspoken and intelligent abolitionist writers paved the way for themselves, and thousands of other African Americans, through the power of their words. Freedom for a slave was not just physical, but psychological, and the transition from slavery to empowerment was defined by personal willpower and endurance. Frederick Douglass, in his account, details the horrors of Southern slavery and its violations on the human mind and body; Harriet Jacobs is able to fill in the gaps, as a slave, describing the sexual exploitation and emotional torment that women and families were forced to encounter during slavery. Slave narratives represent the clearest insight historians have into the everyday reality of slavery; both Douglass and Jacobs show through their personal accounts that the complex institution of slavery could be effectively combated through morality, literacy, passion, and transforming personal parodies in the hope that all people can experience the intricate and complex gift of freedom . In the words of Harriet Jacobs, “Reader, rest assured that this narrative is not fiction.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayFrederick Douglass' Life-Based NarrativesUncertain of his birth year, Frederick Douglass was born in Maryland in what historians believe to be 1818. It was not uncommon for a slave to be unsure of the exact date he was born; it was also likely that slaves had to consult their owners for this information, as families were often separated. Family separation was one of the countless hardships a slave had to endure during his time as a slave (which, in some cases, would last a lifetime). Frederick Douglass's biography details these horrors not only to invoke sympathy, but to reveal the ugly truths of slavery in the hope that change will be brought about. One of the most startlingly horrific scenes in his narrative depicts one of his cruel masters, Caption Anthony, whipping one of his slaves, an aunt of Frederick Douglass, in the dead of night. She often awoke to the sound of “heartrending cries” as the slave owner savagely beat the woman while she was naked and tied to a post. Douglass observes that "no words, no tears, no prayers, from his bloody victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose." These incidents would happen frequently, in addition to the daily stressors a slave would endure, including hunger, illness, exhaustion, and lack of proper clothing. Slave girls also had to fear the sexual exploitation of their bodies by their masters, a topic discussed by Harriet Jacobs in her personal narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Frederick Douglass's tale was designed not only to recount atrocitiesof his life. as a slave, but also to create discomfort among white people in society through the sheer crudeness of his story. The pre-war period was characterized by a strong presence of Christianity which influenced much of society and even reached slave communities. Frederick Douglass had an understanding of what it meant to be a Christian even though he was raised in slavery. In his early twenties, Douglass was a slave to a Baltimore resident named Thomas Auld. Douglass reports that his master attended Methodist services and "held out a faint hope that his conversion would lead him to emancipate his slaves" and "make him kinder and more humane," although he was "disappointed in both these respects." In the eyes of the oppressed, a pious man capable of treating his slaves with grave cruelty had a huge moral inconsistency; Frederick Douglass pointed out in his account that society seemed unable to recognize this discrepancy. The concepts included in the Declaration of Independence – liberty and natural rights – are equally rooted in the Christian religion, but somehow this does not cause the upper class to reject the immorality of slavery out of a religious inclination. Later in his biography, he addresses his criticism of religion, saying that “to be a friend of the one [Christianity] is to be an enemy of the other. I love the pure, peaceful and impartial Christianity of Christ: therefore I hate the corrupt, slave-holding, woman-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land." This hypocrisy is what inspired many of Douglass's arguments in his later career as an abolitionist and writer. Editor and history professor David W. Blight comments on his efforts, saying that if “the hearts and minds of the American people were the first to be persuaded of the evil of slavery, then the laws and political structure would change.” If Douglass could point out this contradiction to the general public, then perhaps his guilt could pave the way for structural change. Personal Narratives of Harriet Jacobs Like Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs also published a personal narrative that provided insight into the wide range of atrocities committed by slaves. experienced in their lives. Both authors developed a strong and cultured mind that would help them become free, not only in the physical sense, but spiritually and in every other sense of the word. A key difference between the lives of these two fugitive slaves turned reformers rests on a minor but significant detail: their gender. Editor Jennifer Fleischner, in her introduction to Jacobs's short story, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, comments that "although Harriet's story is an example of an individual's power to fight against persecution, it is also an example of he importance of a strong family network and a supportive community in the fight against oppression.” Harriet Jacobs effectively introduces a slave's quest for liberation by beginning her story with a reflection on the innocence of her adolescence slave; but I never knew it until six years of happy childhood had passed.” Her discovery that, to the entire white population, she and her entire family were considered property was incredibly disconcerting, and she began to experience things that only a slave would have endured. Harriet Jacobs gave birth to two mixed-race children with a free white man who her master forbade her to marry. One of these children was a girl. Jacobs said, in light of his daughter's birth, “slavery is terrible for men; but it is much more terrible for women." Even the joys of motherhood were inhibited by the crude institution of slavery. Jacobs has.