Vivian Tu

Dr. Robin Tremblay-Mcgaw

C&I 11A- Text Analysis Paper #2

10 November 2017

Christianity to Freedom

Slavery was prominent in the seventeenth century. Although the majority of slaves were

male, among them were women who served to their masters needs whether she wanted to or not.

Harriet Jacobs was one of these African American woman who unfortunately had to experience

this. After enduring all of the pain and eventually obtaining freedom, Harriet Jacobs wrote about

her life in her book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Her story provides insight on the

suffering that she endured throughout her childhood and adulthood as an enslaved woman.

Christianity played a huge role in Jacobs life, as she relied on her faith in God, as her only

possession, to help her through her struggles in slavery. As a result, God can be defined as her

salvation and hope to live beyond her identity as a slave.

Jacobs developed her Christian views during her childhood. Throughout her life, Jacobs

held her grandmother, who was a devout Christian, in high regard. While Jacobs was raised in

her grandmothers care, she was able to learn about Christianity through her grandmothers

beliefs. After the death of her mother, father, mistress, and friend, she condemned God for taking

them away from her. Her grandmother, however, explains that, [no one] knows the ways of

God Perhaps they have been kindly taken from the evil days to come (769). Her

grandmother reassures Jacobs that God is not being cruel. Sickness and suffering can be more

painful than death. God is bringing their salvation through death, so that they do not have to go

through the miseries that the world will bring upon them. This way of thinking implies that God
does not kill people, but instead, gives salvation. To Jacobs understanding, Gods will is carried

out no matter what happens and his benevolent will should not be questioned.

Jacobs comes to understand that her thoughts on Christianity are not similar to how her

mistress, Mrs. Flint, thought of Christianity. Because of Jacobs beauty which resulted in Dr.

Flint , her mistress felt jealous of Jacobs and commanded her to swear to God, that she will only

tell the truth and anything other than the truth, is not acceptable. With a clear conscience, Jacobs

told the truth. Although the mistress told Jacobs that she will protect her in Gods name, Jacobs

knew that her mistress was only saying that so she does not feel threatened by Jacobs. Her

mistress, in fact, uses Christianity as a way to assert her power over Jacobs. Jacobs mentions

that, [her mistress] was a member of the church; but partaking of the Lords supper did not

seem to put her in a Christian frame of mind (771). The mistress is superficially Christian, but

her morals are not representative of that faith at all. Thus, Jacobs understands that the

Christianity, to her enslavers, were meant to show power over the slaves. This is different from

Jacobs, who tries to live the best way she could, which is to be devoted into Christianity. Jacobs

does not dare to use the Bible in a greedy manner, because she knows that God is always looking

over her.

Christianity, then, to the enslavers, was more of a tool than a religion. Richard Reggie

wrote an article on the Atlantic slave trade, and how they justified slavery through Christianity.

Reggie explains that ... Europeans turn their attention to Africa with some arguing that the

Transatlantic Slave Trade would enable Africans... to come into contact with Christianity and

'civilisation' in the Americas, albeit as slaves (Reggie). This is evident in the interaction

between Jacobs and her mistress. Although her mistress made her swore by the Bible, this was

the mistress rationale of asserting power over Jacobs, who thinks that she cannot read. However,
Jacobs knows how to read the Bible, which defeats the purpose of the mistress trying to civilize

Jacobs and coerce her to not get close to Dr. Flint. Reggie also mentions from the point of view

of the enslaved, who believed God was on the side of the oppressed and would send a Moses to

free them (Reggie). This is similar to how Jacobs viewed God. While God took away people,

she deemed it as Gods benevolence. While the enslaved are suffering from the brutal labor, they

believed that God would someday bring them salvation, like Moses did for the Hebrews.

Harriet Jacobs finally obtains her freedom, despite the many obstacles that laid in her

way. Her faith in God helped her move through her time as an enslaved woman and she was able

to reunite with her children. At the end of the book, she documents a note that her uncle Philips

friend wrote. In this note, he asks But what are eulogies to the black man, when the world has

faded from his vision? It does not require mans praise to obtain rest in Gods kingdom (788).

This note clearly defines Jacobs path to obtain freedom. She was set on her belief in God, and

she did not let anyone discourage her from believing that God will save her and her family

because God appreciates everyone and he will bring salvation to those who believe in him.
 Works Cited

Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. The Longman Anthology of World

Literature. Vol. E., edited by David Damrosch, David L. Pike, 2009, pp. 767-788.

Reggie, Richard. Religions - Christianity: Atlantic Slave Trade and Abolition. BBC, BBC, 29

January 2007,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/slavery_1.shtml.