Compare And Contrast Jacobs And Frederick Douglass

Slavery has existed in America since the country was first founded. Slavery died down and then it began to become heavy in the south during the 17th century. The invention of the cotton gin made white men in the south determined to have slaves help build their economy up. They knew that cotton would help them, so slavery began once again. There were millions of Africans sold into slavery. Many of the African Americans were treated cruelly by their owners. Many were beat to death or wiped. The woman were sexaully assulted and families were tore apart. Two influential people who freed themselves from the bitter south became inspirational. Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass became the voices of the south. There were many key differences and similarities to both of their slave experiences.

Frederick Douglass was born in February 1818.

He was born from a white father and a black mother. His mother was was a slave named Harriet Bailey. Douglass was raised on a plantation until he was 10 and then he was sent to work for his master's brother. He returned to his original plantation in 1833. Douglass learned how to read and write from his slave owners wife. Once the wife learned it was illegal for slaves to have knowledge she stopped the lessons, however Douglass was already on the road to success. After two years had passed he ran away to Baltimore and posed as a free sailor. He went on to mary Anna Murray, a free black woman, who helped him escape. They moved to Massachusetts and he worked a variety of jobs. His first speech was delivered in 1839 about antislavery. After his speech he started traveling and speaking to many people. He spoke out about antislavery. He started traveling on the anti slavery lecture circuit. On the circuit he started spreading his slavery experience. He soon founded the North Star newspaper which later became Frederick Douglass’

Paper.
Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery in North Carolina 1813. Her mother died when she was 6 and from there she was sold to Margaret Horniblow. Margaret taught Jacobs to read and write. Horniblow soon passed away, so Jacobs was inherited by Horniblow’s three year old niece, Mary Norcom. Mary’s father, Dr. James Norcom, sexually abused and harassed her. Because of the sexaul assult, Norcoms wife treated Jacobs cruelly. After she spent her time at the plantation she went on to finding a white lawyer whom she fell in love with. She carried two children with the lawyer however, the children were taken from her. She hid in a shed outside of the children's plantation for seven years because she was not able to come in contact with them. After seven years she fled to New York in 1842. She then began to spread her slavery experience to others.
Douglass’ and Jacobs’ experiences as a slave were different due to their belief about education. Jacobs believed that education was important and Douglas believed education was a curse. In Douglass’ book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he stated, “ As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing” (Bedford 1034). By learning about slavery he was introduced to so many horrible things, however he was never given a solution. He felt poorly because there were so many slaves that were blind to education. Douglass wanted to get rid of his knowledge of slavery but once he knew about it there was no way he could get rid of the knowledge. Jacobs believed differently than Douglass. In the autobiography, Incidents of the Life of a Slave Girl, Jacobs writes, “While I was with her, she taught me to read and spell; and for this privilege, which so rarely falls to the lot of a slave, I bless her memory ” (Bedford 922). Douglass believed education was a curse whereas Jacobs believed it was a blessing. In the quote, she refers to education as a privilege. She also stated that she was blessed to have had the opportunity to learn. Reading Jacob's autobiography, one might see how happy she was to become free. She would not have had that happiness if it wasn't for her ability to write letters and read the letters she received from people trying to free her. Education was a key difference between Douglass and Jacobs, however gender was a key similarity between Douglass and Jacobs.
During slavery everyone had their different roles. Woman were sold for domestic purposes such as: caring for the master's children, cooking, and cleaning. The men were sold for labor. There were also woman in the fields but most of them were in the house and in the fields. Between genders they were both treated harshly. In Harriet Jacobs’ autobiography she states, “I found the door ajar, and I stood a moment gazing at the hateful man who claimed a right to rule me, body and soul” (Bedford 923). Jacobs was sexaully assult for years by her master. Most woman where consiered sexaul slaves to the white men that owned them. The majority of children that were given birth during this time was due to rape. In Douglass’ book he writes, “I have known him to cut and slash the women's heads so horribly” (Bedford 1018). The woman were beat just as the men were beat. Frederick writes, “ We were all ranked together at the valuation. Men and woman, old and young, married and single, were all ranked with the horses, sheep, and swine” (Bedford 1036). The different genders did have different roles but at the end of the day they were both treated poorly.
The main similarity to Harriet Jacobs’ slave experience and Frederick Douglass’ experience was the treatment they received. Plantation owners treated the slaves cruelly. In Harriet’s autobiography she did say she was treated better than most however, she was still treated poorly. When she gave birth to her two children they were taken from her. She spent seven years in a dusty old shed looking through a peephole hoping to get a glimpse of her children. She was sexaully assulted for years and due to this harassment the wife was upset at Harriet. Her master's wife treated her cruelly due to her husband's actions. Douglass also received harsh treatment. When he was born he was taken from his mother and sold to a different plantation. The older woman on the plantation who were not physically able to work in the house or in the field took care of the littles one. As Frederick grew up he soon left the care of the grandmother and entered the fields. In his narrative he recalls his memory of his Aunt Hester getting beat and he stated, “it was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass” (Bedford 1018). After he witnessed this occurrence he knew that his master took pleasure in beating them. He describes his master as, “ a cruel man, hardened by a long life of slaveholding” (Bedford 1018). He describes the living conditions they were given. There were no beds given to any slave except for one coarse blanket. There was not a lot of time available for them to sleep either. Douglass describes the work day as ,”when their day’s work in the field is done, the most of them having their washing, mending, and cooking to do, and having few or none of the ordinary facilities for doing either of these, very many of their sleeping hours are consumed in preparing for the field the coming day” (Bedford 1020). From Douglass’ and Jacobs’ experience the slaves were beaten, raped, sleep deprived, and overworked.
Throughout slavery, many African Americans were put through hard times. Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs both experienced the troubles of slavery. Between the two experiences there were many similarities and many differences. Education was the key point of difference between the two experiences. Gender and the treatment they both received was the major similarities in the two experiences. They both fought their way to freedom and spread the knowledge they learned to others.