Slavery and the Life of Harriet Jacobs Essay -- Slavery Essays

Slavery and the Life of Harriet Jacobs It is well known that slavery was a horrible event in the history of the United States. However, what isn't as well known is the actual severity of slavery. The experiences of slave women presented by Angela Davis and the theories of black women presented by Patricia Hill Collins are evident in the life of Harriet Jacobs and show the severity of slavery for black women. The history of slave women offered by Davis suggests that "compulsory labor overshadowed every other aspect of women's existence" (Davis 5). This is quite apparent through examination of the life of Harriet Jacobs. All slaves were forced to do hard labor and were subject to cruel remarks by whites, in this sense they were genderless, except women endured much more foul treatment. Harriet Jacobs was forced to listen to the sexual berating from her master, Dr. Flint, as well as receive jealous scorn from her mistress, Mrs. Flint. Yet worse than the verbal abuse was the physical, sexual abuse imposed on slave women. "Naming or not naming the father of a child, taking as a wife a woman who had children by unnamed fathers, [and] giving a newborn child the name of a father" were all considered by Herbert Gutman to be "everyday choices" in slave communities (Davis 15). Not being able to name a father must have made slave women feel great pain from being a "genderless" tool and great isolat ion by forcing them to take care of bastard children on their own. However, the worst comes when the child is old enough to work and, in most cases, is auctioned off. By auctioning off a slave woman's children slave masters not only dehumanized slave women but gave additional pain to slave women by taking their loved children away. Slave... ...brother. These past three points all serve as examples of the severity of slavery for women. The U.S. slave system has placed African American women at a disadvantage for hundreds of years. It's atrocious to think this kind of thing could ever be allowed to happen. Even worse is to the reality that it wouldn't be that way if people truly believed in equality. Women were owned in every aspect, not merely free labor. Their minds, bodies, and souls were pushed to the limits and Harriet Jacobs is an example of this being true. Works Cited Collins, Patricia. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York, NY: Routledge, 2000 Davis, Angela. The Legacy Of Slavery: Standards For A New Womanhood. Jacobs, Harriet, and Yellin, Jean. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press

Are More Violent Than Ever Essay

In our current time today, there have been many issues concerning our behavior in the society. Philosophers for ages have been studying why man behaves so at he is. Still, no singular theory for human behavior has been developed. It is important for a society to be in a peaceful and orderly manner. If societies have citizens with improper behavior then it may lead to chaos in the community. Having orderly manner is one key factor in making up a community. If the balance between these factors is disturbed then it could lead to trouble. One of the alarming issues in our youth today is the growing number of violence in our youth today. One important public health problem that needs to be resolved immediately is youth violence. This problem usually leads to death and fatalities. In a 2003 study, 5,570 young people that were from the ages of 10 to 24 were murdered. An average of 15 young murders is committed each day. Most of the victims were killed from the use of firearms such as guns. 750,000 young people between the ages of 10 to 24 were rushed to hospitals and clinics because of the injuries they have sustained by violence. (â€Å"Youth Violence, Facts Sheet†) There have been many reports of school shooting, youth accessing fire arms, youth violent acts in the community. Most of the teens are expected to be in schools and sadly, school violence today is increasing also. In 2004, a nationwide survey was conducted in high schools. The survey showed that 17% students confirmed they brought a dangerous weapon inside their school premises. Around 6% of the teenagers who were interview that were attending school stated that they intentionally missed a school days because they felt threatened inside their school grounds. The survey also showed that bullying is growing to a serious problem in schools today. In the survey, 30% of students in 6th and 10th grade were said to be a bully, a target of a bully or both. The survey also stated that 33% of the students were said to be involved in a physical fight in their school. The institution that the children should be being educated is now also evident of violence. It is a fact that violence in teenagers are increasing. (â€Å"Youth Violence, Facts Sheet†; Prevention â€Å"National Center for Injury Prevention and Control†; Prevention â€Å"Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States†) There are some factors that cause violence in our teens today. One of which is television and media. Violence on Television happens in most of its programs and 5 times more in cartoons which are viewed by children. Studies have revealed that violence on television and media affects the behavior and attitudes of its viewers, especially the children who watch it. A study shows that a minimum of 8,000 murders and 100,000 other acts of violence on television and media has been witnessed by a child at the age of 12. There is much violence in the media, such as in music, cartoons, wrestling shows or movies, which corrupts the children attuned to it and makes them recognize violence and thus, increases violent behavior. Sadly, children spend most of their time watching television and playing violent video games than studying and being in their classrooms. (Prevention â€Å"Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States†) Another cause of violence in our youth is violence at home. Teenagers who are experience violence in there home, whether it is done to them or to other family members, would also become violent. A young person’s home have a huge effect on him. Violence in homes are caused by multiple factors such as past violent encounters in the violent family member’s home and also by poverty or being in the underclass which causes dysfunctional ties within the family. The poor monitoring of a child in a low parent environment would likely turn that child to violence. The child would practice violent acts outside his home, just following what he observes inside the house. (Mercy J; â€Å"Teen Violence†)

Puritan Depravity and Distrust in Hawthornes Young...

Puritan Depravity and Distrust in Young Goodman Brown Puritan doctrine taught that all men are totally depraved and require constant self-examination to see that they are sinners and unworthy of Gods Grace. Because man had broken the Covenant of Works when Adam had eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, God offered a new covenant to Abrahams people which held that election to Heaven was merely a possibility. In the Puritan religion, believers dutifully recognized the negative aspects of their humanity rather than the gifts they possessed. This shadow of distrust would have a direct influence on early American New England and on many of its historians and writers, one of which was Nathaniel Hawthorne. The influence of†¦show more content†¦Hawthorne sets Young Goodman Brown into a context of Puritan rigidity and self-doubt to allow his contemporary readers to see the consequences of such a system of belief. Hawthornes tale places the newly wed Puritan Brown upon the road to what may or may not be a true conversion experience. The conversion experience - a sudden realization brought about by divine intervention, a vision, or perhaps a dream - easily translates into the dream allegory of Hawthornes work and allows the author to use Puritan doctrine and the history of Salem to argue the merits and consequences of such a belief. Major issues and themes of Puritanism must have been researched and delicately placed into Hawthornes discussion of not only past consequences of Puritan zeal but also on the contemporary religious issue of his own time, the Second Great Awakening. Much like the nighttime witches Sabbath that awaits Goodman Brown, the tent revivals of the 1820s and 1830s could be seen by the questioning Hawthorne as another attempt by the church to sway its membership towards total obedience and faith. The importance placed on this event by Goodman Brown shows the importance plac ed on the conversion experienceShow MoreRelated Young Goodman Brown VS. Paul Essay1045 Words   |  5 Pages Young Goodman Brown vs. Paul nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;After studying the short stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† and Willa Cather’s â€Å"Paul’s Case†, I began to see many similarities within the two stories. Both of the main characters in each story have characteristics that could be looked at as being alike, but after analyzing each character I started to find that although alike in some aspects, these two characters are very different from one another. At first I noticedRead MoreEssay on Women in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown1724 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Young Goodman Brown† and Women  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   What are the attitudes of the young Puritan husband Goodman Brown toward women, of the author toward women, of   other characters in the story toward women? This essay intends to answer that question.    Randall Stewart in â€Å"Hawthorne’s Female Characters† states that there are three types of female characters in Hawthorne’s writings: (1) â€Å"the wholesome New England girl, bright, sensible and self-reliant;† (2) â€Å"the frail, sylph-like creature, easilyRead More Alienation and Moral Dilemma as Portrayed by Nathaniel Hawthorne1869 Words   |  8 PagesSalem, Massachusetts in 1804 during Puritan times. He created many stories that reflect his life experiences growing up as a Puritan. He writes stories that end with a moral that was learned through the struggles of the characters. These characters are almost always faced with a dilemma where they must choose what is right versus what is wrong. Another common theme in his writing is alienation. These concepts can be found in the stories â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil,† and â€Å"The