Harriet’s Intellectual Advantage

Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery in North Carolina. Her parents died at a young age resulting in her forming a strong bond with her grandmother, who had been freed from slavery. Harriet was owned by a young girl, whose father continually sexually harassed her. Jacobs escaped and was in hiding for many years, eventually ending up in New York (Encyclopædia Britannica). Because she was literate, she published a book on her life; Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

Harriet learned how to read at a young age and was one of few slaves that knew how to write. Being able to write as a slave was extremely rare. “As a slave, she owns—because of her ability to write—a weapon used by the slave culture to maintain oppression” (Wardrop, 210). Keeping slaves intellectually inferior was a form of social control slave owners used to keep their dominance over slaves. Slave owners dehumanized their slaves, viewing them as nothing more than chattel. Having a slave that was literate is intimidating to a slave owner because it makes the slave more human.

The fact that Harriet obtains this “weapon” aids to her success. Wardrop adds that “Linda makes use of writing as an instrument of agency and power toward liberation.” She was able to write letters to Dr. Flint, throwing him off as to where she was hiding. Someone who cannot read or write is isolated in the fact that the only way to communicate to others is through talking.

Reading and writing also keeps Harriet in touch with her family. She is able to hear from her brother, William, who advises her not to come to see him in prison (Jacobs, 86). Without this letter, she could have impulsively come out of hiding to see her family, and been caught. Being able to read saved her life.

Throughout the story of her life, Harriet shares of her resistance towards Dr. Flint’s abuse, hiding for years, and becoming free. Harriet’s ability to write was rare for a female slave; and she gives the U.S. an account on slavery from a female perspective. The incidents of Harriet’s life are still beneficial today, as a reminder of the United States cruel and abusive past. If she had not learned to write, her story would be silenced and unknown today.


"Harriet A. Jacobs." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 01 Nov. 2009 .

Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Dover Publications, 2001.

Wardrop, Daneen. “ ‘I Stuck the Gimlet in and Waited for Evening’: Writing and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” Texas Studies in Literature & Language; Fall2007, Vol. 49 Issue 3, p209-229, 21 Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, San Jose, CA. 1 Nov. 2009 < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=5&hid=3&sid=ad2f3edb-db32-4c59-9ba3-154cd2b11f03%40sessionmgr11>