From: Chris McAtee
Date: 4/13/00
Time: 1:51:17 AM
Remote Name: 204.183.92.146
Primary Source Assignment, Week 12 Read and compare the following accounts of slavery in the ante-bellum South: Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Chapter VI Mary Norcott Bryan, A Grandmother's Recollections of Dixie, Letter I, Letter III, Letter, IV, Letter V, and Letter IX · Do you find it surprising that Harriet Jacobs was literate? What about Mary Norcott? Why? Why not? Ms. Jacobs said that her master was first upset when he learned she was teaching herself to write, but says he soon changed his mind when he realized her ability could be used to “advance his favorite scheme”. One can only assume this means that he meant to pass her notes indicating the details of their clandestine sexual encounters. This way the master could communicate his desires to the young Jacobs while attempting to avoid the suspicions of his wife. There was a time when some slaves were taught basic reading and writing skills, but as abolitionist thought and literature slowly seeped into the South, slave owners realized that educated slaves could be influenced by this influx of abolitionist “propaganda”. Owners knew that it would be in their best interest to deny the slaves access to materials that could provoke dissent or violence. As a white plantation mistress, it is much more likely for Mary Norcott to have received some degree of education, no matter how limited in scope it may have been. The women’s movement during this period was virtually nonexistent, so most women were confined to their expected domestic duties, except that in the South there were many women slaves to take care of all domestic concerns. This would have allowed white women much more free time in which they could educate themselves further. · Was gender more important than race in the lives of either (or both) of these women? How? Why? Why not? I would be inclined to disagree with the question posed. The contrast of these two readings is an example of the massive differences in the treatment of black and white women. Women of all colors were not always treated properly and with respect, but black women in particular had the least rights and did not have access to freedoms that white women possessed. During this period in the South, a white man might view a white woman as weak and naïve, believing she only should concern herself with the needs of her husband and family. But a black woman would be treated differently altogether; not as a woman, but as a piece of property that could be used at the master’s discretion for any thing he desired. The sexual exploitation of female slaves was not practiced by all slave owners, but was not an uncommon occurrence. Slave owners also had no qualms about using corporal punishment to keep female slaves in line, but would never be as willing to physically strike their wives in anger. Although Mary Norcott’s family seemed to be relatively compassionate people who did not mistreat their slaves, she still led the life of a privileged white plantation mistress. She may have suffered hardships at various points in her life, but none to compare with those of Harriet Jacobs and the countless other slave women who were raped, brutalized, threatened or coerced into sexual relations with their master. It is one of the cruelest and most dehumanizing acts, and these white men saw it fit to impose their desires on defenseless African women that they viewed only as property.