Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave & Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Author: Frederick Douglass
Publisher: Modern Library
ISBN: 0307796876
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 466

Book Description
Introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah Commentary by Jean Fagan Yellin and Margaret Fuller This Modern Library edition combines two of the most important African American slave narratives—crucial works that each illuminate and inform the other. Frederick Douglass’s Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and Douglass’s own triumph over it. Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1861 she published Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, now recognized as the most comprehensive antebellum slave narrative written by a woman. Jacobs’s account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves, and it remains essential reading. Includes a Modern Library Reading Group Guide

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl & Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Author: Harriet Jacobs
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780857066961
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
The ordeals of two famous African Americans This special Leonaur edition combines the account of Harriet Ann Jacobs with that of Frederick Douglass. They were contemporaries and African Americans of note who shared a common background of slavery and, after their liberation, knew each other and worked for a common cause. The first account, a justifiably well known and highly regarded work, is that of Harriet Jacobs since this volume belongs in the Leonaur Women & Conflict series. Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery in North Carolina in 1813. Sold on as a child she suffered years of sexual abuse from her owner until in 1835 she escaped-leaving two children she'd had by a lover behind her. After hiding in a swamp she returned to her grandmother's shack where she occupied the crawl-space under its eaves. There she lived for seven years before escaping to Pennsylvania in 1842 and then moving on to New York, where she worked as a nursemaid. Jacobs published her book under the pseudonym of Linda Brent. She became a famous abolitionist, reformer and speaker on human rights. Frederick Douglass was just five years Jacobs' junior. He was born a slave in Maryland and he too suffered physical cruelty at the hands of his owners. In 1838 he escaped, boarding a train wearing a sailors uniform. Douglass became a social reformer of international fame principally because of his skill as an orator which propelled him to the status of statesman and diplomat as driven by his convictions regarding the fundamental equality of all human beings, he continued his campaigns for the rights of women generally, suffrage and emancipation. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

Author: Frederick Douglass
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Abolitionists
Languages : en
Pages : 164

Book Description

NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS

Author: FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Publisher: PURE SNOW PUBLISHING
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 157

Book Description
- This book contains custom design elements for each chapter. This classic of American literature, a dramatic autobiography of the early life of an American slave, was first published in 1845, when its author had just achieved his freedom. Its shocking first-hand account of the horrors of slavery became an international best seller. His eloquence led Frederick Douglass to become the first great African-American leader in the United States. • Douglass rose through determination, brilliance and eloquence to shape the American Nation. • He was an abolitionist, human rights and women’s rights activist, orator, author, journalist, publisher and social reformer • His personal relationship with Abraham Lincoln helped persuade the President to make emancipation a cause of the Civil War.

Harriet Jacobs’s "Incidents In the Life of a Slave Girl" and Frederick Douglass’ "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass's, an American Slave"

Author: Markus Bulgrin
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3638866467
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 28

Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,3, University of Heidelberg (Anglistisches Seminar), course: PSII: Captivity Narratives, language: English, abstract: Besides the virtual extermination of the native Indian population it is the brutal and dreadful treatment of Afro-American slaves in the 19th century which depicts some of the darkest and saddest chapters in the history of the United States. Still today the vestiges of slavery can be felt. Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845) and Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) are two autobiographies, written by two former slaves, who succeeded in escaping slavery and all its inexpressible cruelties. They are considered two of the most influential, and groundbreaking works of the Antebellum Period, which bear witness to slavery in the United States. These two narratives “that have become twin classics in African American literature course” (cf. Boesenberg 1999: 121), shall be compared, discussed and analysed in this paper. However, Boesenberg’s classification of the texts as “twin classics” could be misread and give rise to misinterpretation, as it may not be the most fitting term. Twins are widely thought of being almost the same. One might argue that this is not entirely true for Jacobs’s and Douglass’s narratives. The aim of this paper will be to point out some crucial similarities and differences between Douglass’s and Jacobs’s autobiographies. The first part of the paper briefly introduces some important similarities of the two narratives. In a second part focus will be given to distinctive features of these texts: family ties, gender difference, sexual exploitation, and manhood and womanhood. In a third part the motif of literacy and its meaning for the author’s liberation will be discussed. The conclusion summarizes the preceded chapters and critically disputes Boesenberg’s statement of the twin classics.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Author: Harriet A. Jacobs
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674035836
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 500

Book Description
John Jacobs' short slave narrative, "A True Tale of Slavery", published in London in 1861, adds a brother's perspective to Harriet Jacobs' autobiography. This book is the enlarged edition of the most significant and celebrated slave narrative that completes the Jacobs family saga.

Narrative in the Life of an American Slave/Incidents of a Slave Girl

Author: Frederick Douglas
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781492174097
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 238

Book Description
In the month of August, 1841, I attended an anti-slavery convention in Nantucket, at which it was my happiness to become acquainted with FREDERICK DOUGLASS, the writer of the following Narrative. He was a stranger to nearly every member of that body; but, having recently made his escape from the southern prison-house of bondage, and feeling his curiosity excited to ascertain the principles and measures of the abolitionists,—of whom he had heard a somewhat vague description while he was a slave,—he was induced to give his attendance, on the occasion alluded to, though at that time a resident in New Bedford. Fortunate, most fortunate occurrence!—fortunate for the millions of his manacled brethren, yet panting for deliverance from their awful thraldom!—fortunate for the cause of negro emancipation, and of universal liberty!—fortunate for the land of his birth, which he has already done so much to save and bless!—fortunate for a large circle of friends and acquaintances, whose sympathy and affection he has strongly secured by the many sufferings he has endured, by his virtuous traits of character, by his ever-abiding remembrance of those who are in bonds, as being bound with them!—fortunate for the multitudes, in various parts of our republic, whose minds he has enlightened on the subject of slavery, and who have been melted to tears by his pathos, or roused to virtuous indignation by his stirring eloquence against the enslavers of men!—fortunate for himself, as it at once brought him into the field of public usefulness, "gave the world assurance of a MAN," quickened the slumbering energies of his soul, and consecrated him to the great work of breaking the rod of the oppressor, and letting the oppressed go free!

A Companion to American Literature

Author: Susan Belasco
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119653347
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 4743

Book Description
A comprehensive, chronological overview of American literature in three scholarly and authoritative volumes A Companion to American Literature traces the history and development of American literature from its early origins in Native American oral tradition to 21st century digital literature. This comprehensive three-volume set brings together contributions from a diverse international team of accomplished young scholars and established figures in the field. Contributors explore a broad range of topics in historical, cultural, political, geographic, and technological contexts, engaging the work of both well-known and non-canonical writers of every period. Volume One is an inclusive and geographically expansive examination of early American literature, applying a range of cultural and historical approaches and theoretical models to a dramatically expanded canon of texts. Volume Two covers American literature between 1820 and 1914, focusing on the development of print culture and the literary marketplace, the emergence of various literary movements, and the impact of social and historical events on writers and writings of the period. Spanning the 20th and early 21st centuries, Volume Three studies traditional areas of American literature as well as the literature from previously marginalized groups and contemporary writers often overlooked by scholars. This inclusive and comprehensive study of American literature: Examines the influences of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and disability on American literature Discusses the role of technology in book production and circulation, the rise of literacy, and changing reading practices and literary forms Explores a wide range of writings in multiple genres, including novels, short stories, dramas, and a variety of poetic forms, as well as autobiographies, essays, lectures, diaries, journals, letters, sermons, histories, and graphic narratives. Provides a thematic index that groups chapters by contexts and illustrates their links across different traditional chronological boundaries A Companion to American Literature is a valuable resource for students coming to the subject for the first time or preparing for field examinations, instructors in American literature courses, and scholars with more specialized interests in specific authors, genres, movements, or periods.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Author: Frederick Douglass
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780674601000
Category : Abolitionists
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
Written more than a century ago by Frederick Douglass, a former slave who went on to become a famous orator, U.S. minister, and a leader of his people, this masterpiece is one of the most eloquent indictments of slavery ever recorded. Douglass's shocking narrative takes the reader into the world of the South's antebellum plantations and reveals the daily terrors he suffered as a slave, shedding invaluable light on one of the most unjust periods in the history of America. Published for the first time as a Signet Classic. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

The Harriet Jacobs Family Papers

Author: Jean Fagan Yellin
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469625792
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1052

Book Description
Although millions of African American women were held in bondage over the 250 years that slavery was legal in the United States, Harriet Jacobs (1813-97) is the only one known to have left papers testifying to her life. Her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, holds a central place in the canon of American literature as the most important slave narrative by an African American woman. Born in Edenton, North Carolina, Jacobs escaped from her owner in her mid-twenties and hid in the cramped attic crawlspace of her grandmother's house for seven years before making her way north as a fugitive slave. In Rochester, New York, she became an active abolitionist, working with all of the major abolitionists, feminists, and literary figures of her day, including Frederick Douglass, Lydia Maria Child, Amy Post, William Lloyd Garrison, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Fanny Fern, William C. Nell, Charlotte Forten Grimke, and Nathan Parker Willis. Jean Fagan Yellin has devoted much of her professional life to illuminating the remarkable life of Harriet Jacobs. Over three decades of painstaking research, Yellin has discovered more than 900 primary source documents, approximately 300 of which are now collected in two volumes. These letters and papers written by, for, and about Jacobs and her activist brother and daughter provide for the thousands of readers of Incidents--from scholars to schoolchildren--access to the rich historical context of Jacobs's struggles against slavery, racism, and sexism beyond what she reveals in her pseudonymous narrative. Accompanied by a CD containing a searchable PDF file of the entire contents, this collection is a crucial launching point for future scholarship on Jacobs's life and times.