Harriet Jacobs' Search for Home

Title

Harriet Jacobs' Search for Home

Authors

Amy LewisFollow

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Description

In her autobiographical narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861), Harriet Jacobs describes her enslavement in Edenton, North Carolina, her escape from slavery, and her life as a fugitive slave in the North. At the end of her book, Jacobs writes: "The dream of my life is not yet realized. I do not sit with my children in a home of my own. I still long for a hearthstone of my own, however humble" (Jacobs/Yellin 259). Throughout her narrative, Jacobs makes it clear that she could only find a home when she was free from enslavement, but even after she escaped to the North, Jacobs faced many obstacles in her search for a place where she could live with her two children. This map traces Jacobs' search for a home, both while she was enslaved and after her enslavement.

Publication Date

2017

Keywords

Harriet Jacobs, slavery, fugitive slave, antebellum

Disciplines

Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority | United States History | Women's History | Women's Studies

Comments

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial 4.0 International. All noncommercial users are welcome to copy, share, and adapt the work with proper attribution.

Harriet Jacobs' Search for Home

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