Up from Slavery

1. Up from Slavery

2. The Slave Narratives • The characteristics: • First hand accounts • Written or recorded by slaves • Tales of journeys from enslavement in the south to freedom in the north • Detailed records of the physical and mental oppression

3. Slave Narratives • The majority of the narratives were written during the Civil War. • Anti-slavery newspapers and journals published the narratives. • The narratives are historical documents that chronicle the perils of slavery. • Some of the narratives are autobiographical tales that are still in existence.

4. Slave Narratives Cont. • The slave narratives mark the beginning of the African American Literary Movement in the US.

5. Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) • One of the best-known author’s of the slave narratives. • His autobiography was published in 1845 and titled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. • Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland.

6. Douglass cont. • He was never sure of exact age. • He didn’t receive any formal education, but he did teach himself to read and write. • The people that he worked for were instrumental in helping him learn. • At 21 years old he escaped to Massachusettes.

7. Douglass Cont. • While in Massachusetts, Douglass got married and began speaking out against slavery. • His speeches supported abolitionist principles. • He went to England to escape possible persecution for being a fugitive. • In England he won support for the anti-slavery movement and some friends purchased his freedom.

8. Douglass continued again! • In 1847 when Douglass founded a newspaper called The North Star. • The name was chosen because escaped slaves used the North Star as a guide to freedom in the north. • In 1855 Douglass published a revised version of his autobiography called My Bondage my Freedom.

9. His narratives were widely read and beneficial to the abolitionist cause. • After the Civil War he advocated for education as a means to rehabilitate scarred people. • He is admired today for the eloquence of his writing style.

10. Harriet A. Jacobs (1813-1897) • Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery in Edenton, NC. • She was an orphan by the age of six. • She was trained to be a house servant by her mistress. • She was taught how to read and write. • When her mistress died she was willed to niece of her mistress.

11. Jacob’s Cont. • Her life was difficult when she moved into the home of James Norcom. • He subjected her to abuse and repeated harassment. • When she would refuse his advances, he sent her to the field to do hard labor as a plantation slave. • She was separated from her young children for about seven years.

12. Jacobs Cont. • She escaped and found shelter with friends. • In her grandmother’s house in Edenton, she hid for seven years in the crawl space. • She watched her children grow from a distance because Norcom sold them and they were living with her grandmother. • In 1842, Jacobs escaped to New York where she was reunited with her children.

13. In 1852 she finally gained her freedom after living as a fugitive for ten years. • She began writing her story in 1853 and published it herself in 1861. • She used the pen name Linda Brent. • She worked tirelessly to relieve the suffering and poverty of other slaves.

14. Review • Study notes on Frederick Douglass • Harriet Jacobs • Review vocabulary on pg. 415 (also include diction and purpose) • Review vocabulary on pg. 425 (also include style and dialect) • Review questions on Equiano (sheet and vocabulary) • Test will be on Friday 2-22-13