Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself, by Harriet Ann Jacobs, is a first-person narrative of Ms. Jacobs, who was a slave in the antebellum south.  Her story as a slave really begins when she reaches puberty, and her master makes it known he will control her sexuality (he already has children by eleven other slave women).

Ms. Jacobs, although a slave, works tirelessly to avoid victimization and works for the betterment of her life and the life of her children.  Her sacrifices are monumental. She hides in a crawlspace for seven years after running away from her master before heading north. 

Slave woman were victims of sexual exploitation and violence, of course, in many if not most case.  But Ms. Jacob’s shows how much agency some slaves had; they tirelessly worked to improve their lot, and the lot of those around them.  The were real, whole people in every sense.