How to Read a Slave Narrative
An Online Professional Development
Seminar
WELCOME
We will begin
promptly on the
hour.
GOALS
 To deepen your understanding of slave narratives
 To offer strategies for their presentation in classroom discussion
FROM THE FORUM
Challenges, Issues, Questions
 How to make slave narratives accessible to students
 How to make slave narratives something more than just another
story about oppressed people
 How to use narratives to channel students’ strong reaction to the
subject of slavery into illuminating and productive discussion
 What common elements do slave narratives share?
 How slave narratives influenced and were influenced by the slavery
debate
William L. Andrews
E. Maynard Adams
Professor of English
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
African American Literature
Southern Literature
The Literary Career of Charles W. Chesnutt
(1980)
To Tell a Free Story: The First Century of Afro-American
Autobiography, 1760-1865
(1986)
Co-editor of The Norton Anthology of
African American Literature
(1997)
Co-editor of The Oxford Companion
to African American Literature
(1997)
General Editor of The Literature of the American South:
A Norton Anthology (1997)
Series editor of North American Slave Narratives,
Beginnings to 1920
From “How to Read a Slave Narrative” by William L. Andrews
in Freedom’s Story from the National Humanities Center
Key Questions
 What does the title page of a slave narrative tell us?
 What is the significance of the prefaces and introductions found in many
slave narratives?
 How do slave narratives begin?
 What is the plot of most pre-Civil War slave narratives?
 What is the turning-point in a slave narrative? Is it when the slave resolves
to escape or when he or she arrives in the North?
 How do most slave narratives end? How do they portray life in the North?
What does the title page of a slave narrative tell us?
"Northerners know nothing at all
about Slavery. They think it is
perpetual bondage only. They
have no conception of the depth of
degradation involved in that word,
SLAVERY; if they had, they would
never cease their efforts until
so horrible a system was
overthrown."
A WOMAN OF NORTH CAROLINA
"Rise up, ye women that are
at ease! Hear my voice, ye
careless daughters!
Give ear unto my speech."
ISAIAH xxxii. 9.
What does the title page of a slave narrative tell us?
What does the title page of a slave narrative tell us?
By a principle essential to christianity, a PERSON is
eternally differenced from a THING; so that the idea
of a HUMAN BEING, necessarily excludes the idea of
PROPERTY IN THAT BEING.
COLERIDGE.
What is the significance of the prefaces and introductions found in
many slave narratives?
Mr. DOUGLASS has very properly chosen to write his own Narrative, in
his own style, and according to the best of his ability, rather than to employ some
one else. It is, therefore, entirely his own production; and, considering how long
and dark was the career he had to run as a slave,--how few have been his
opportunities to improve his mind since he broke his iron fetters--it is, in my
judgment, highly creditable to his head and heart. . . . I am confident that it is
essentially true in all its statements; that nothing has been set down in malice,
nothing exaggerated, nothing drawn from the imagination; that it comes short of the
reality, rather than overstates a single fact in regard to SLAVERY AS IT IS.
--William Lloyd Garrison, Preface, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
What is the significance of the prefaces and introductions found
in many slave narratives?
It is not without a feeling of pride, dear reader, that I present you with this
book. The son of a self-emancipated bond-woman, I feel joy in introducing to you
my brother, who has rent his own bonds, and who, in his every relation--as a public
man, as a husband and as a father--is such as does honor to the land which gave
him birth. I shall place this book in the hands of the only child spared me, bidding
him to strive and emulate its noble example. You may do likewise. It is an American
book, for Americans, in the fullest sense of the idea. It shows that the worst of our
institutions, in its worst aspect, cannot keep down energy, truthfulness, and earnest
struggle for the right. It proves the justice and practicability of Immediate
Emancipation.
--James M’Cune Smith, Introduction
My Bondage and My Freedom
What is the significance of the prefaces and introductions found
in many slave narratives?
THE author of the following autobiography is personally known to me, and
her conversation and manners inspire me with confidence. During the last
seventeen years, she has lived the greater part of the time with a distinguished
family in New York, and has so deported herself as to be highly esteemed by
them. This fact is sufficient, without further credentials of her character. I
believe those who know her will not be disposed to doubt her veracity, though
some incidents in her story are more romantic than fiction.
Lydia Maria Child,
Introduction by the Editor,
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
How do slave narratives begin?
I was born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, and about twelve miles from
Easton, in Talbot county, Maryland. I have no accurate knowledge of my age,
never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of
the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the
wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I
do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday. They
seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvest-time, cherry-time, springtime, or fall-time. A want of information concerning my own was a source of
unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their
ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege. I was
not allowed to make any inquiries of my master concerning it. He deemed all
such inquiries on the part of a slave improper and impertinent, and evidence of
a restless spirit.
Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
How do slave narratives begin?
READER, be assured this narrative is no fiction. I am aware that some of
my adventures may seem incredible; but they are, nevertheless, strictly true. I
have not exaggerated the wrongs inflicted by Slavery; on the contrary, my
descriptions fall far short of the facts. I have concealed the names of places,
and given persons fictitious names. I had no motive for secrecy on my own
account, but I deemed it kind and considerate towards others to pursue this
course.
I wish I were more competent to the task I have undertaken. But I trust
my readers will excuse deficiencies in consideration of circumstances. I was
born and reared in Slavery; and I remained in a Slave State twenty-seven
years. Since I have been at the North, it has been necessary for me to work
diligently for my own support, and the education of my children. This has not
left me much leisure to make up for the loss of early opportunities to improve
myself; and it has compelled me to write these pages at irregular intervals,
whenever I could snatch an hour from household duties.
Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
What is the plot of most pre-Civil War slave narratives?
During the first three or four months, my speeches were almost exclusively made up of
narrations of my own personal experience as a slave. "Let us have the facts," said the people. So
also said Friend George Foster, who always wished to pin me down to my simple narrative. "Give
us the facts," said Collins, "we will take care of the philosophy." Just here arose some
embarrassment. It was impossible for me to repeat the same old story month after month, and to
keep up my interest in it. It was new to the people, it is true, but it was an old story to me; and to
go through with it night after night, was a task altogether too mechanical for my nature. "Tell your
story, Frederick," would whisper my then revered friend, William Lloyd Garrison, as I stepped
upon the platform. I could not always obey, for I was now reading and thinking. New views of the
subject were presented to my mind. It did not entirely satisfy me to narrate wrongs; I felt like
denouncing them. I could not always curb my moral indignation for the perpetrators of
slaveholding villainy, long enough for a circumstantial statement of the facts which I felt almost
everybody must know. Besides, I was growing, and needed room. "People won't believe you ever
was a slave, Frederick, if you keep on this way," said Friend Foster. "Be yourself," said Collins,
"and tell your story." It was said to me, "Better have a little of the plantation manner of speech
than not; 'tis not best that you seem too learned.“
Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom
What is the plot of most pre-Civil War slave narratives?
Every where I found the same manifestations of that cruel prejudice, which so
discourages the feelings, and represses the energies of the colored people. We reached
Rockaway [Long Island] before dark, and put up at the Pavilion—a large hotel, beautifully
situated by the sea-side—a great resort of the fashionable world. Thirty or forty nurses were
there, of a great variety of nations. Some of the ladies had colored waiting-maids and
coachmen, but I was the only nurse tinged with the blood of Africa. When the tea bell rang, I
took little Mary and followed the other nurses. Supper was served in a long hall. A young
man, who had the ordering of things, took the circuit of the table two or three times, and
finally pointed me to a seat at the lower end of it. As there was but one chair, I sat down and
took the child in my lap. Whereupon the young man came to me and said, in the blandest
manner possible, "Will you please to seat the little girl in the chair, and stand behind it and
feed her? After they have done, you will be shown to the kitchen, where you will have a good
supper.“
This was the climax! I found it hard to preserve my self-control, when I looked
round, and saw women who were nurses, as I was, and only one shade lighter in complexion,
eyeing me with a defiant look, as if my presence were a contamination. However, I said
nothing. I quietly took the child in my arms, went to our room, and refused to go to the table
again.
Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
What is the turning point in most slave narratives?
Is it when the slave resolves to escape, or when he or she arrives
in the North?
This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It
rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense
of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me
again with a determination to be free. The gratification afforded by the triumph
was a full compensation for whatever else might follow, even death itself. He
only can understand the deep satisfaction which I experienced, who has
himself repelled by force the bloody arm of slavery. I felt as I never felt before.
It was a glorious resurrection, from the tomb of slavery, to the heaven of
freedom. My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took
its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form,
the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact. I did not hesitate to
let it be known of me, that the white man who expected to succeed in
whipping, must also succeed in killing me.
From this time I was never again what might be called fairly whipped,
though I remained a slave four years afterwards. I had several fights, but was
never whipped.
Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
What is the turning point in most slave narratives?
Is it when the slave resolves to escape, or when he or she arrives
in the North?
After dinner Mr. Durham went with me in quest of the friends I had spoken of. They went from
my native town, and I anticipated much pleasure in looking on familiar faces. They were not at home,
and we retraced our steps through streets delightfully clean. On the way, Mr. Durham observed that I
had spoken to him of a daughter I expected to meet; that he was surprised, for I looked so young he
had taken me for a single woman. He was approaching a subject on which I was extremely sensitive.
He would ask about my husband next, I thought, and if I answered him truly, what would he think of
me? I told him I had two children, one in New York the other at the south. He asked some further
questions, and I frankly told him some of the most important events of my life. It was painful for me to
do it; but I would not deceive him. If he was desirous of being my friend, I thought he ought to know
how far I was worthy of it. "Excuse me, if I have tried your feelings," said he. "I did not question you
from idle curiosity. I wanted to understand your situation, in order to know whether I could be of any
service to you, or your little girl. Your straight-forward 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 word contempt burned me like coals of fire. I replied, "God alone knows how I have
suffered; and He, I trust, will forgive me. If I am permitted to have my children, I intend to be a
good
mother, and to live in such a manner that people cannot treat me with contempt.“
Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
How do slave narratives end?
I had not long been a reader of the "Liberator," before I got a pretty correct
idea of the principles, measures and spirit of the anti-slavery reform. I took right
hold of the cause. I could do but little; but what I could, I did with a joyful heart, and
never felt happier than when in an anti-slavery meeting. I seldom had much to say
at the meetings, because what I wanted to say was said so much better by others.
But, while attending an anti-slavery convention at Nantucket, on the 11th of August,
1841, I felt strongly moved to speak, and was at the same time much urged to do
so by Mr. William C. Coffin, a gentleman who had heard me speak in the colored
people's meeting at New Bedford. It was a severe cross, and I took it up reluctantly.
The truth was, I felt myself a slave, and the idea of speaking to white people
weighed me down. I spoke but a few moments, when I felt a degree of freedom,
and said what I desired with considerable ease. From that time until now, I have
been engaged in pleading the cause of my brethren--with what success, and with
what devotion, I leave those acquainted with my labors to decide.
Douglass, NARRATIVE
How do slave narratives end?
Since I have been editing and publishing a journal devoted to the cause of liberty
and progress, I have had my mind more directed to the condition and circumstances of the
free colored people than when I was the agent of an abolition society. The result has been a
corresponding change in the disposition of my time and labors. I have felt it to be a part of my
mission--under a gracious Providence--to impress my sable brothers in this country with the
conviction that, notwithstanding the ten thousand discouragements and the powerful
hinderances, which beset their existence in this country--notwithstanding the blood-written
history of Africa, and her children, from whom we have descended, or the clouds and
darkness, (whose stillness and gloom are made only more awful by wrathful thunder and
lightning,) now overshadowing them--progress is yet possible, and bright skies shall yet shine
upon their pathway; and that "Ethiopia shall yet reach forth her hand unto God.“
Believing that one of the best means of emancipating the slaves of the south is to
improve and elevate the character of the free colored people of the north I shall labor in the
future, as I have labored in the past, to promote the moral, social, religions, and intellectual
elevation of the free colored people; never forgetting my own humble origin, nor refusing,
while Heaven lends me ability, to use my voice, my pen, or my vote, to advocate the great
and primary work of the universal and unconditional emancipation of my entire race.
Douglass, MY BONDAGE AND MY FREEDOM
How do slave narratives end?
Reader, my story ends with freedom; not in the usual way, with marriage. I
and my children are now free! We are as free from the power of slaveholders as
are the white people of the north; and though that, according to my ideas, is not
saying a great deal, it is a vast improvement in my condition. The dream of my life
is not yet realized. I do not sit with my children in a home of my own. I still long for
a hearthstone of my own, however humble. I wish it for my children's sake far more
than for my own. But God so orders circumstances as to keep me with my friend
Mrs. Bruce. Love, duty, gratitude, also bind me to her side. It is a privilege to serve
her who pities my oppressed people, and who has bestowed the inestimable boon
of freedom on me and my children.
It has been painful to me, in many ways, to recall the dreary years I passed in
bondage. I would gladly forget them if I could. Yet the retrospection is not
altogether without solace; for with those gloomy recollections come tender
memories of my good old grandmother, like light, fleecy clouds floating over a dark
and troubled sea.
Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Narrative (1845):
My Bondage, My Freedom (1855):
“but at this moment--from whence came the
spirit I don't know--I resolved to fight . . .”
“Whence came the daring spirit necessary
to grapple with a man who, eight-and-forty
hours before, could, with his slightest word
have made me tremble like a leaf in a
storm, I do not know; at any rate, I was
resolved to fight, and, what was better still,
I was actually hard at it.”
“He asked me if I meant to persist in my
resistance. . . .”
“’Are you going to resist, you scoundrel?’
said he. To which, I returned a polite "yes
sir; steadily gazing my interrogator in the
eye, to meet the first approach or dawning
of the blow, which I expected my answer
would call forth.”
“just as he was leaning over to get the stick, I
seized him with both hands by his collar, and
brought him by a sudden snatch to the
ground.”
“just as he leaned over to get the stick, I
seized him with both hands by the collar,
and, with a vigorous and sudden snatch, I
brought my assailant harmlessly, his full
length, on the not over clean ground--for
we were now in the cow yard. He had
selected the place for the fight, and it was
but right that he should have all the
advantages of his own selection.”
Discussion Questions
To what degree is Frederick’s resistance to Covey
offensive or defensive?
How does Douglass depict his resistance to Covey in
1845 and in 1855?
Are there differences?
Narrative (1845):
My Bondage, My Freedom (1855):
“By this time, Bill came. Covey called
upon him for assistance. Bill wanted to
know what he could do. Covey said,
"Take hold of him, take hold of him!" Bill
said his master hired him out to work,
and not to help to whip me; so he left
Covey and myself to fight our own battle
out.”
“By this time, Bill, the hired man,
came home. . . . Holding me, Covey
called upon Bill for assistance. The
scene here, had something comic
about it. "Bill," who knew precisely
what Covey wished him to do,
affected ignorance, and pretended he
did not know what to do. "What shall I
do, Mr. Covey," said Bill. "Take hold
of him--take hold of him!" said Covey.
With a toss of his head, peculiar to
Bill, he said, "indeed, Mr. Covey, I
want to go to work." "This is your
work," said Covey; "take hold of him."
Bill replied, with spirit, "My master
hired me here, to work, and not to
help you whip Frederick." It was now
my turn to speak. "Bill," said I, "don't
put your hands on me." To which he
replied, "MY GOD! Frederick, I aint
goin' to tech ye," and Bill walked off,
leaving Covey and myself to settle
our matters as best we might.”
Discussion Questions
To what degree is Frederick’s resistance to Covey
offensive or defensive?
How does Douglass depict his resistance to Covey in
1845 and in 1855?
Are there differences?
Narrative (1845):
My Bondage, My Freedom (1855):
“Mr. Covey was a poor man; he was just
commencing in life; he was only able to
buy one slave; and, shocking as is the
fact, he bought her, as he said, for a
breeder. This woman was named
Caroline. . . . She was a large, ablebodied woman, about twenty years old.
She had already given birth to one child,
which proved her to be just what he
wanted. After buying her, he hired a
married man of Mr. Samuel Harrison, to
live with him one year; and him he used
to fasten up with her every night! The
result was, that, at the end of the year,
the miserable woman gave birth to
twins.”
“In the beginning, he [Covey] was only able--as he
said--"to buy one slave;" and, scandalous and
shocking as is the fact, he boasted that he bought
her simply "as a breeder." But the worst is not told
in this naked statement. This young woman
(Caroline was her name) was virtually compelled
by Mr. Covey to abandon herself to the object for
which he had purchased her; and the result was,
the birth of twins at the end of the year. At this
addition to his human stock, both Edward Covey
and his wife, Susan, were extatic with joy. No one
dreamed of reproaching the woman, or of finding
fault with the hired man--Bill Smith--the father of
the children, for Mr. Covey himself had locked the
two up together every night, thus inviting the
result. . . . .
Discussion Questions
Compare the portrayal of Caroline in the Narrative and in My
Bondage, My Freedom.
What is similar in both portrayals and what differences
appear?
Why would Douglass change the portrait in 1855?
But, my present advantage was threatened
when I saw Caroline (the slave-woman of Covey)
coming to the cow yard to milk, for she was a
powerful woman, and could have mastered me
very easily, exhausted as I now was. As soon as
she came into the yard, Covey attempted to rally
her to his aid. Strangely--and, I may add,
fortunately--Caroline was in no humor to take a
hand in any such sport. We were all in open
rebellion, that morning. Caroline answered the
command of her master to "take hold of me,"
precisely as Bill had answered, but in her, it was at
greater peril so to answer; she was the slave of
Covey, and he could do what he pleased with her.
It was not so with Bill, and Bill knew it. . . .
Narrative (1845):
My Bondage, My Freedom (1855):
“This battle with Mr. Covey was the turningpoint in my career as a slave. It rekindled the
few expiring embers of freedom, and revived
within me a sense of my own manhood. It
recalled the departed self-confidence, and
inspired me again with a determination to be
free. The gratification afforded by the triumph
was a full compensation for whatever else
might follow, even death itself. He only can
understand the deep satisfaction which I
experienced, who has himself repelled by
force the bloody arm of slavery. I felt as I
never felt before. It was a glorious
resurrection, from the tomb of slavery, to the
heaven of freedom. My long-crushed spirit
rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took
its place; and I now resolved that, however
long I might remain a slave in form, the day
had passed forever when I could be a slave in
fact. I did not hesitate to let it be known of me,
that the white man who expected to succeed
in whipping, must also succeed in killing me.”
“Well, my dear reader, this battle with
Mr. Covey,--undignified as it was, and
as I fear my narration of it is--was the
turning point in my "life as a slave." It
rekindled in my breast the
smouldering embers of liberty; it
brought up my Baltimore dreams,
and revived a sense of my own
manhood. I was a changed being
after that fight. I was nothing before; I
WAS A MAN NOW. It recalled to life
my crushed self-respect and my selfconfidence, and inspired me with a
renewed determination to be A
FREEMAN. A man, without force, is
without the essential dignity of
humanity. Human nature is so
constituted, that it cannot honor a
helpless man, although it can pity
him; and even this it cannot do long,
if the signs of power do not arise.”
How to Read a Slave Narrative
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
(1861)
Narrative (1845):
“This battle with Mr. Covey was the
turning-point in my career as a
slave. It rekindled the few expiring
embers of freedom, and revived
within me a sense of my own
manhood. It recalled the departed
self-confidence, and inspired me
again with a determination to be
free.”
Discussion Questions
How is Harriet’s resistance to Flint similar to
and different from Fred’s resistance to
Covey?
Compare their feelings after their acts of
resistance.
Why should they feel so differently?
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
(1861):
“As for Dr. Flint, I had a feeling of
satisfaction and triumph in the thought of
telling him. From time to time he told me of
his intended arrangements, and I was
silent. At last, he came and told me the
cottage was completed, and ordered me to
go to it. I told him I would never enter it. He
said, "I have heard enough of such talk as
that. You shall go, if you are carried by
force; and you shall remain there." I
replied, "I will never go there. In a few
months I shall be a mother.“
He stood and looked at me in dumb
amazement, and left the house without a
word. I thought I should be happy in my
triumph over him. But now that the truth
was out, and my relatives would hear of it,
I felt wretched. Humble as were their
circumstances, they had pride in my good
character. Now, how could I look them in
the face? My self-respect was gone! I had
resolved that I would be virtuous, though I
was a slave. I had said, "Let the storm
beat! I will brave it till I die." And now, how
humiliated I felt!”
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
(1861)
Discussion Questions
Why does Jacobs pointedly state
to her reader that she chose a
sexual liaison with Mr. Sands
“with deliberate calculation”?
What does she risk by making
such a statement?
“And now, reader, I come to a period in my unhappy life,
which I would gladly forget if I could. The remembrance
fills me with sorrow and shame. It pains me to tell you of it;
but I have promised to tell you the truth, and I will do it
honestly, let it cost me what it may. I will not try to screen
myself behind the plea of compulsion from a master; for it
was not so. Neither can I plead ignorance or
thoughtlessness. For years, my master had done his
utmost to pollute my mind with foul images, and to destroy
the pure principles inculcated by my grandmother, and the
good mistress of my childhood. The influences of slavery
had had the same effect on me that they had on other
young girls; they had made me prematurely knowing,
concerning the evil ways of the world. I know what I did,
and I did it with deliberate calculation.
But, O, ye happy women, whose purity has been
sheltered from childhood, who have been free to choose
the objects of your affection, whose homes are protected
by law, do not judge the poor desolate slave girl too
severely! If slavery had been abolished, I, also, could have
married the man of my choice; I could have had a home
shielded by the laws; and I should have been spared the
painful task of confessing what I am now about to relate;
but all my prospects had been blighted by slavery. I
wanted to keep myself pure; and, under the most adverse
circumstances, I tried hard to preserve my self-respect; but
I was struggling alone in the powerful grasp of the demon
Slavery; and the monster proved too strong for me. I felt
as if I was forsaken by God and man; as if all my efforts
must be frustrated; and I became reckless in my despair.”
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861)
Discussion Questions
Why does Jacobs feel the need
to ask for “pity” and “pardon”
from her reader?
To what extent is her request for
pardon qualified by other
comments she makes in the
reading from Incidents?
“Pity me, and pardon me, O virtuous reader!
You never knew what it is to be a slave; to be
entirely unprotected by law or custom; to
have the laws reduce you to the condition of
a chattel, entirely subject to the will of
another. You never exhausted your ingenuity
in avoiding the snares, and eluding the power
of a hated tyrant; you never shuddered at the
sound of his footsteps, and trembled within
hearing of his voice. I know I did wrong. No
one can feel it more sensibly than I do. The
painful and humiliating memory will haunt me
to my dying day. Still, in looking back, calmly,
on the events of my life, I feel that the slave
woman ought not to be judged by the same
standard as others.”
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