Introduction
The abolitionist movement has a rich history, starting in the 19th century, full of slave narratives that describe the suffering from the immoral practices of slavery in the United States. Clint Smith’s historical travelogue captures critical moments in African American communities as they endured racial inferiority and oppression. His focus on the Whitney plantation located in Louisiana brings several issues aligning with the crime against humanity demonstrated in the slave narrative titled “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” Both texts focus on sexual abuse and family separation, reminding the audience about systemic violence, physical harassment, and emotional anxiety faced by enslaved women.
Background Information
The lens selected for this paper is the female’s perspective burdened by sexual violence and the mark of being born as an enslaved person. This woman is Jacobs (4), who wrote her autobiography upon joining an abolitionist movement to protect enslaved people’s rights, which seems fictional to the audience because of her vivid description of her family being treated like merchandise. Smith also narrated the stories of people who escaped slavery, like Jacobs, but he acknowledged that most enslaved populations could not share their stories as they were left to suffer (65). Hence, slave narratives, such as the one composed by Jacobs, are the only historical legacy that current generations can consider to make critical conclusions.
Sexual Violence Toward Enslaved Girls
The focal point drawing the texts of Jacobs and Smith closer together is sexual violence. Once Jacobs lost her parents, she became the slave of Dr. Flint, who commanded her to obey all his will, even the most indecent ones (Jacobs 9). The beauty which was usually praised in white women became the greatest curse for the enslaved woman, and every time, she trembled upon her master’s footfall (Jacobs 10). When enslaved girls reached their maturity, they were frequently abused by their owners.
For example, the Whitney plantation owner forced a young girl to bathe and get ready for their night at the cabin every day, and in the morning, he asked about her feelings (Smith 69). Sometimes, the extent of outrage reached the degree that white sailors trapped slave ships full of women and young girls during the journey. These findings correlate in both texts, which justify that enslaved women suffered the most violence and were victims of men regardless of their relationship. Men believed they could rape any African American woman without being punished.
Mental Manipulation and Control
However, slaveholding violence expanded from physical torture to mental manipulation, especially in the relationships between the master and his enslaved woman. Jacobs, who lived as a prominent example of these interactions, stated that Dr. Flint’s foul images invaded her pure mind, polluting it and destroying the moral principles her grandmother had cultivated (17). Although she refused to hide behind the master’s plea of compulsion, this mindset was grown and fed by him.
Smith demonstrated how enslaved people could be manipulated and terrorized through their desires and fears (69). Dr. Flint, who knew the vulnerability of this small enslaved girl, repeatedly asserted his power over her, making her believe she was impure and corrupt. He also cut Jacobs from all relationships, forcing her to keep their affairs secret (Jacobs 8). Eventually, she becomes easily pliable, making her easy to manipulate and control. All victims of this abuse traced their guilt back to themselves, but not men, as their abusers gained influence over their well-being and critical thinking.
The Children’s Fate
The children born as a result of sexual abuse of enslaved women were never appropriately treated by their fathers. As a child, Jacobs narrated how frequently black women gave birth to fair children, but “it was a crime for a slave to tell who was the father of her child” (9). However, physical appearance always pointed to the evident crime against the woman’s rights, and still, everyone was concerned about the crime she might have committed if she revealed her secret. Smith provided an example of a Louisiana woman with 15 children by different fathers (68). In most cases, these children were further enslaved and sold by their biological fathers (Smith 71).
Meanwhile, southern women were aware of all offenses made toward enslaved women, but they continued to marry men who already had many children born as enslaved people (Jacobs 15). The reason for that might be that any mistreatment of a white person by an African American was not a crime at all (Smith 69). The fact that children were born and continued to be engaged in slavery indicates that the effects of sexual violence extended beyond women’s lives.
Even though white men and owners usually objectified their slaves, women with black skin were seen as undesirable. Even the mere fact that a woman having nine children in eleven years was sold with the master’s babies at her breast justified that white men never wanted them near their families (Smith 76). However, Jacobs’ story differed from this narrative as Dr. Flint built a cottage to protect her from his jealous wife (Jacobs 18).
Moreover, when he discovered her pregnancy from another educated and eloquent gentleman, he never intended to sell her (Jacobs 20). Instead, he offered to capture her and her newborn children in infinite slavery, which was even more traumatizing. Even Mr. Sands, the father of her two children, did not want to see Jacobs as his wife and was unwilling to free their children (Jacobs 30). This plot was pervasive in all slave narratives since women were continuously raped, and their persecutors were never penalized (Smith 77). Therefore, the point for desecrating female dignity did not connect to the men’s sexual desire but was linked to their power and authority issues.
The most striking point underlined in the two texts by distinct authors is their admiration and respect for enslaved women forced to endure unjust fates. Smith mentioned the Field of Angels in the Whitney Museum, dedicated to the victims of slavery (81). At the courtyard’s center, he saw “a statue of a woman down on one knee” (Smith 81). She had a bare chest and large wings, but her whole body imitated the steel protection and sorrow for the limp body of the small child.
This statue reminds the audience of Jacobs, who was holding her baby in her hands and praying for his death when he became ill, as there was no salvation from slavery except for death (Jacobs 22). Mothers could not bear the sufferings of their children, and they thought death was better than slavery. The image of a woman in the Whitney plantation reflected the reality of many enslaved women who gave birth to slave children and wanted to save them from their worst enemy – slavery.
Conclusion
To conclude, sexual violence followed enslaved women throughout their lives, causing them much suffering and pain. When girls were born as enslaved people, their beauty turned into a seductive weapon of their male owners against themselves. Harriet Jacobs, a prominent abolitionist, was one of these girls who escaped slavery and left an enduring legacy for modern authors like Clint Smith. Their texts analyzed all the harassment and insults experienced by enslaved women by their masters. The consequences of this issue grew into disrupted family dynamics, forcing African American females to give birth to many children from different white men who were eventually left as helpless victims of continuous slavery.
Works Cited
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Edited by L. Maria Child, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1861.
Smith, Clint. “An Open Book, Up Under the Sky: The Whitney Plantation.” How the Word Is Passed, Hachette Book Group, 2021, pp. 56-84.