19th Century Slave Narratives: When Literacy doesn't necessarily equal Freedom.

        Once the slaves had escaped from the South, however, literacy took on another meaning for them: no longer the means to an end, it became a symbol of their new-found freedom; a declaration of their independence. It was the significance of the words ‘written by himself’ on the title page:

“The ability to utter his name, and more significantly to utter it in the mysterious characters on a page where it will continue to sound in silence so long as readers continue to construe the characters is what Douglass’ Narrative is about, for in that lettered utterance is an assertion of identity, and in identity is freedom – freedom from slavery, freedom from ignorance, freedom from non-being, freedom even from time.” 

Literacy was a skill that they could use to aid those still left in bondage through published Narratives, and to further the abolitionist cause; but also, with such a document they had tangible proof of how far they had come, how far removed they were from their former life.

        Despite the authorship of these two particular texts being now beyond question, there is still some doubt (as there was at the time) of the actual reliability of the texts. As there was still an amount of pro-slavery feeling at the time, even in the north, many people wished to claim that much of what was detailed in slave narratives was, in fact, fiction – the gentleman who questioned Douglass’ ability to write such a work declared “the whole lot to be a falsehood, from beginning to end.” One has to consider to what extent these critics are right. This is not to say that the brutality described in most narratives did not happen, as there is no doubt in my mind that it did. However, even if the ex-slave wrote the story himself, to be published he had to have an editor. Many more narratives that were published were written based on statements, as the narrator cannot write. The abolitionists had such a large input into how the narrative was written; it is possible they put more emphasis on the brutality, as their main goal was to highlight the cruel plight faced by slaves. There is also the issue that the narrative, to be kept ‘truthful’ in the eyes of everyone, must be based completely on facts, keeping the bias of memory to a minimum. However, once the slave narrative started to become a more creative process, there was more of an issue maintaining truth: As most narratives follow a very strict pattern, there was only so much room for manoeuvre within the blueprint, and as much as they were writing for a cause, “they were readers and self conscious producers of narratives that were intended as literary works of art – as autobiographical acts performed as much in the service of literary posterity as on behalf of a contemporary mass of enslaved Afro-Americans.”

        Whilst Douglass’ manuscript mostly follows this set pattern, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl broke the narrow boundaries completely, with the issues that she highlighted, and the particular brand of cruelty she showed the world. In the first instance, it was quite rare for a female ex-slave to publish her story – despite escaping to the predominantly anti-slavery North, she still had to face the same gender bias (African-American women were “strongly encouraged to adopt the attributes of piety, purity, domesticity and submissiveness that characterized the nineteenth century ideal of ‘true womanhood.’”) At the time there was still “a bias against women speaking in public or even publishing their idea in antislavery publications,” so Jacobs faced a huge amount of opposition to write her story. Then, when it came to her finding a publisher, she was told that for her work to be published, she would need Harriet Beecher Stowe, Nathaniel Parker Willis, or Lydia Maria Child to write the preface and act as editor – only one of these prominent figures would be able to vouch for the truth in her words, as she was not likely to be believed. The fact that Jacobs does bring up issues regarding sexual exploitation and oppression is only one reason why it stands out from other Narratives – although these themes did raise much opposition to the text, which L. Maria Child anticipated in her preface:

“I am well aware that many will accuse me of indecorum for presenting these pages to the public… This peculiar phase of slavery has generally been kept veiled; but the public ought to be made acquainted with its monstrous features, and I willingly take the responsibility of presenting them with the veil withdrawn.”

However, it was also the focus on traditionally ‘female’ themes that set Incidents apart, as it refused to follow the rule of concentrating first on the cruelty, then on the excitement of the escape. Jacobs preferred to show the domestic and familial nature of slavery, with the bond between her and her children taking precedent throughout: she showed, in direct contrast to Douglass (who spoke of receiving the news of his mother’s death with “much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger,”) that children can grow up in a happy and loved environment, knowing their mother. The sacrifices she made for her children, especially staying in the tiny attic room so that she could remain near them and watch over them, was in effect a message to the pro-slavery contingent who were still of the opinion that Negro slaves were inferior – and yet, here was one who could write, and showed such strong feelings for her children, completely reversing the popular assumption that slaves were no better than cattle.

        Yet despite the projection of domesticity, the main uproar at the time regarding Incidents was that it was “the only slave narrative that takes as its subject the sexual exploitation of female slaves – thus centreing on sexual oppression as well as on oppression of race and condition.” People were not accustomed to reading or hearing about matters such as these, and Jacobs was well aware of the fact: when she eventually made her escape and mentioned some of the events of her former life to a Mr. Durham, he replied “Your straightforward answers do you credit, but don’t answer every body so openly. It might give some heartless people a pretext for treating you with contempt.” That she could be regarded with contempt was something that stayed in her mind, and when she eventually decided to publish her narrative she tried to distance herself from it somewhat – “the most obvious act of separation comes from her decision to adopt the pseudonym of ‘Linda Brent’ as a way of obscuring her relationship to the experiences described.” Not only is she protecting those who aided her in her escape, and the reputations of her children, but she is able to protect herself from public judgement. She is also able to provide more details for the narrative, where Douglass could not give any details of his escape in case he implicated others.

        Jacobs, by breaking the conventional mould of objective, fact based slave narratives preferred by the abolitionist, achieved a kind of literary freedom that most found impossible to obtain. For those, especially, who dictated their narrative to a white author, the basic facts of their life and trials may have remained the same but the way in which it was portrayed was not. For most other writers, also, they show themselves “more or less content to remain slaves to a prescribed, conventional and imposed form… They were captives to the abolitionist intentions.” So when the fugitives had fled the South, fled the chains and daily whippings, were they actually any more free? Or had they merely exchanged one kind of slavery for another?

        Although it may have been a less harsh reality to live in, without the physical brutality and actual chains, there were still boundaries and limitations surrounding them. Harriet Jacobs, although she achieved this literary freedom from the constraints of the abolitionists, was still hemmed in by the morality of the time. She could not write under her own name for fear of a public backlash, so the whole truth that she wished to achieve with her narrative is tainted slightly. With the opposite problem, Frederick Douglass won the public over with his first narrative, with its strong abolitionist influence and message of the young, intelligent slave who refused to be broken, and escaped against the odds. However, this first manuscript was largely dictated by antislavery guidelines, and when Douglass revised and extended it in later years (My Bondage and My Freedom, 1855; Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, 1881, 1892) he faced some criticism from this abolitionist quarter. With the general rule of the many publishers, that to publish a manuscript a slave had to have the backing of a an abolitionist editor, it was hard to escape their wishes in regard to the narrative, and “in one sense the narrative lives of the ex-slaves were as much possessed by the abolitionists as their actual lives had been by the slaveholders.” 

        The former slaves also had to contend with the ever-present racism, which although did not manifest itself in such a brutal and inhumane way as in the South, still very much existed. We hear in Incidents of a Slave Girl, after Linda’s escape when she is working as nurse to the ‘Bruce family, of the journey on a steamboat when she is refused service at the dining table, whereas all the white nurses are properly waited on (page 138).  Later on in her life, Jacobs felt compelled to flee to Massachusetts to escape increased terrorism against blacks; racism was obviously still much of a problem many years later. Also, when Frederick Douglass tried to find work as a ‘calker’ after his escape, he found that “such was the strength of prejudice against colour, among the white calkers, that they refused to work with me and of course I could get no employment.” They may have escaped bondage, but they were still caught in a society of prejudice.

        The most important instance I find of them changing from slavery in the South, to slavery in the North, is that both had to have their ‘freedom’ purchased for them by other parties – Douglass by a British couple, and Jacobs by ‘Mrs Bruce’. Due to the passing of Fugitive Slave Bill, the North and South became almost the same regarding slavery – you may escape from one to the other, but you still remain hunted, and legally a slave until your freedom is bought. Jacobs at least shows some incredulity that even to be free, she must be sold from one party to another: “So I was sold at last! A human being sold in the free city of New York!” Even though she was not bought for her services, but rather just to remain free for the rest of her life, it seems that this freedom is somewhat tainted: ownership does not tie her to Mrs. Bruce, however she still professes that “Love, duty, gratitude also bind me to her side. It is a privilege to serve her who pities my oppressed people,” Even though she is free, she still considers herself to ‘serve’, despite it being under wholly different circumstances.

        There is no doubt that literacy played an important part in the whole process of the escapes of Douglass and Jacobs: it planted the seed of hope of a better life, helped them to achieve that better life, and then enabled them to help others left behind by raising the profile of the cruelty of slavery, and proving that intelligence is not dependant on skin colour. However, it was also a means for the abolitionists to entrap them with narratives of a copybook structure. The racism they faced, was aided in some circles by their ability to read and write, but in others the prejudice ran too deep to combat. They technically achieved freedom, but at the price of being indebted to someone. Douglass wrote that literacy was his “pathway to freedom.” It may have been a pathway, but it led not to freedom but the rocky road of a complicated future.

Bibliography.

• Davis, C. and Gates, Jr, H. L. (eds). 1985. The Slave’s Narrative. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Douglass, F. 1986. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. New York: Penguin.
• Gross, S. and Hardy, J. 1966. Images of the Negro in American Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Jacobs, H. 2001. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Edited by N. McKay and F. Smith Foster. New York: Norton.
• Lecater Bland Jr, S. 2000. Voices of the Fugitives: Runaway Slave Stories and their Fictions of Self-Creation. Connecticut: Praeger.
• Samuels, S. (ed). 1992. The Culture of Sentiment: Race, Gender and Sentimentality in 19th Century America. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Taves, A. 1987. ‘Spiritual Purity and Sexual Shame: Religious Themes in the Writings of Harriet Jacobs. Church History, March 1987.
• Wilson, E. 1962. Patriotic Gore. London: Deutsch Ltd.

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