Cleveland State Student Fall 2015

Dr. Conerly (section 2)

HIS 215: History of African-Americans to 1877
LINDA BRENT SLAVE NARRATIVE

Living as a slave for the majority of her life, Linda Brent had a variety of
different experiences that shaped her views toward enslavement. Beginning her life as a
unknowing slave, Brent was able to have a childhood experience that many others in
enslavement were not able to and one that would cause her to have empathy for her
owners and hope for her freedom in a legal manner. Brents experience, like many
others, was filled with death, sexual harassment, and a deepening hatred for the
institution of slavery. Throughout her slave experience, Brent shifted between the three
personality views of assimilated, reluctant, and rebellious in response to her
enslavement, and the changes that occurred over that time.
To age six, Brent was an unknowing slave. She was raised by a father, a slave
determined to purchase his family, who was respected in the community for his trade
and intelligence and she didnt know until the death of her mother that she was
enslaved. With that death, Brent developed an assimilated view of slavery under a kind
master. For then next 6 years, Brent was glad to do her masters bidding because she
was cared for the same as any free-born white child. Under the guidance of this master,
Brent was taught the Word of God and was hopeful of freedom when her master
passed. With this death, Brent was disheartened and given to her sisters daughter, the
Flint family. That would begin to bring out her rebellious and independent traits.
During her servitude with the Flint family, Brent developed a reluctant view point
from witnessing the cruel actions of Dr. Flint and other slave owners as well as the
rebellious actions done by other slaves including her family members. As she grows
older and witnesses first had the extreme differences between the slaves and the
whites, she watches as mothers are torn apart from their children and sold to different

households. This causes her to become fully transitioned into the reluctant point of view
due to her strong empathy towards enslaved mothers that would later affect her with her
own child. It was not uncommon for slave children to be separated from their parents
during this time period and this caused an immediate shift into a reluctant or rebellious
perspective of slavery. Masters would use this separation as a way to further control
over the slaves and would deepen the slaves feelings of being domesticated animals.
Many slaves compared themselves to animals because they took care of the animals
and witnessed that like their livestock, they had no control over their children, often ate
the same food as the animals, and often worked as hard as dogs.
Brent was treated as a favorite pet and was never beaten even when she
refused to engage in sexual intercourse with Dr. Flint. As she developed into more of a
mature woman, she also began to develop a rebellious view point due to the actions of
Mr and Mrs Flint. At age 15 she becomes subject to the eye of Dr. Flint and the jealous
rage of his wife. With her strong will and wit, Brent is able to turn down the various
coercive actions of Dr. Flint, and thus is acting in a rebellious manner. Although she is
fearful of Mrs. Flint, she pities her because she understands that black or white, no
woman is able to fight the sexual exploitation of enslaved black women. Over this period
she began to form her beliefs on the true freedom of Black woman in servitude, and
determined that their rights, free or enslaved, were always limited, and began to reject
this preexisting slave status.
The acts of fear to reduce the rebellious perspective in slaves achieved its goal
and caused the majority of slaves to have a reluctant view of slavery. Brent talks about
how the southern slave owners would lie to their slaves about the Free States and

would attempt to keep their slaves ignorant of the North. The owners would act brutally
towards their slaves and yet would insist to the slaves that they cannot fend for
themselves and in fact need their masters. Due to this brutality, slaves would fear the
consequences of fleeing or defying their masters and would develop an assimilated or
reluctant world view because they were too physically or emotionally hurt to retaliate.
In an act of defiance, Brent enters into a relationship with a white lawyer, Mr.
Sands, in the hopes that being a single gentleman, if she agrees to be his mistress he
will buy her. After Brent became pregnant, she told Dr. Flint in the hopes that he might
sell her. She also does this to show she will not obey all of his commands. The birth of
her son is a large change in Brents life. She begins to form a protective love and fear
the separation from him. Her priorities change from rebelling against her master to the
safety of her child. After the birth of her second child, Brent is forced into a reluctant
perspective of slavery because Dr. Flint begins to use her children to punish and control
her.
Not long after Nat Turners Rebellion, Brents defiant and rebellious attitude
returns as she plans to enact the true definition of a rebellious slave. She plans to
permanently run away with the hope of ending the hardships shes forced to endure as
a mother of two and the realization that her daughter will be forced to follow in her
footsteps. This section of her life greatly exemplifies the different personality types of
slaves and how they can change based on the situation that the slave is in. Due to
propaganda war, rebellions, and fear instilled by the slave owners more slaves tended
to be in the reluctant slave type but as more communities and anti-slavery groups
developed more slaves became rebellious and some achieved their freedom.