Carolina QuotesO 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.
Harriet Jacobs Carolinian
Source
p. 86
- work
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself (1861)
- year
- 1861
- locator
- p. 86
Cite this record
“O virtuous reader! You never knew what it is to be a slave; …” Harriet Jacobs. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-0DEA15DD6E. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/0dea15dd6e
More from Harriet Jacobs
Notwithstanding my grandmother's long and faithful service to her owners, not one of her children escaped the auction block. These God-breathing machines are no more, in the sight of their masters, than the cotton they plant, or the horses they tend.
His strongest wish was to purchase his children; but, though he several times offered his hard earnings for that purpose, he never succeeded.
We were not allowed to visit him; but we had known the jailer for years, and he was a kind-hearted man.