Carolina QuotesThe secrets of slavery are concealed like those of the Inquisition. My master was, to my knowledge, the father of eleven slaves. But did the mothers dare to tell who was the father of their children? Did the other slaves dare to allude to it, except in whispers among themselves? No, indeed! They knew too well the terrible consequences.
Harriet Jacobs Carolinian
Source
p. 55
- work
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself (1861)
- year
- 1861
- locator
- p. 55
Cite this record
“The secrets of slavery are concealed like those of the Inqui…” Harriet Jacobs. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-AE0AD6F98E. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/ae0ad6f98e
More from Harriet Jacobs
I would ten thousand times rather that my children should be the half-starved paupers of Ireland than to be the most pampered among the slaves of America. I would rather drudge out my life on a cotton plantation, till the grave opened to give me rest, than to live with an unprincipled master and a jealous mistress. The felon's home in a penitentiary is preferable. He may repent, and turn from the error of his ways, and so find peace; but it is not so with a favorite slave. She is not allowed to have any pride of character. It is deemed a crime in her to wish to be virtuous.
O 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.
His strongest wish was to purchase his children; but, though he several times offered his hard earnings for that purpose, he never succeeded.