Women in Slavery

The notion of slavery, as unpleasant as it is, must nonetheless be examined to understand the hardships that were caused in the lives of enslaved African-Americans. Without a doubt, conditions that the slaves lived under could be easily described as intolerable and inhumane. As painful as the slave's treatment by the masters was, it proved to be more unbearable for the women who were enslaved. Why did the women suffer a grimmer fate as slaves? The answer lies in the readings, Harriet Jacob's Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl and Olaudah Equiano's Interesting Narrative which both imply that sexual abuse, jealous mistresses', and loss of children caused the female slaves to endure a more dreadful and hard life in captivity.

It is a difficult predicament to be in when one is held in captivity. The situation is that much worse if a child finds himself held as a slave. From a young age the child must endure the fact that he is owned and not free to live life on his own terms. A child slave is already denied his freedom and childhood in the sole fact that he is a slave. However, female child slaves had to endure yet another hardship that made life that much more difficult. Young African girls that were enslaved were sexually abused from an early age. Olaudah Equiano, in Interesting Narrative, tells of misfortunes that the female slaves met with at the hands of white men that he witnessed aboard a ship that belonged to his master, he writes: "I have even known them gratify their brutal passion with females not ten years old" (p. 483) Equiano claims that even very young slaves were savagely attacked in a sexual way. This fact shows how difficult the life of a female slave was. Because of such gruesome occurrences as the sexual attacks, it would certainly be safe to assume that the young slave girls were not only physically hurt but also emotionally distraught. They were prone to grow into young women who felt stripped of their dignity and carried the burden of shame.

Not only did young women get sexually abused at a young age, but also the abuse continued on as they matured. As the slaves got older they were forced to engage in sexual affairs with their married masters, as is seen in the case of Harriet Jacobs. This naturally caused the slaves to feel shameful, immoral, and wrongful in doing so. However, they did not have much of a choice in the matter. To make matters worse, the mistresses who were jealous that their husbands, the masters, were being unfaithful to them with the slaves. This commonly resulted in persecution of the slaves by the mistresses. Although the mistresses knew that the masters were committing wrongful acts in sexually abusing the slaves, they did not show any compassion. Instead, they were enraged. Harriet Jacobs explains the typical reaction of a mistress as she writes: "The mistress, who ought to protect the helpless victim, has no other feelings towards her but those of jealousy and rage". (p.969) The fact that the slaves were abused and then persecuted for an act that they were forced into engaging in left the women at a dead end. They