Imagine if Harriet Jacobs never learned how to read and write? The world would never get to know her story. At that time, slaves were not allowed to get an education. Harriet Jacobs learned how to read and write from her mistress. In the Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl paragraph 6, it says, “As a child, I loved my mistress;…… While I was with her, she taught me to read and spell; and for this privilege, which so rarely falls to the lot of a slave, I bless her memory.” (Chapter 1 “Childhood”, Jacobs). She is grateful that she learned how to read and write because not a lot of people have that opportunity. Harriet Jacobs’ experience reminds me of the essay “Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglas because he also went through similar experiences. He started to learn how to read and write from his mistress. In “Learning to Read and Write” Douglas said, “My mistress, who had kindly commenced to instruct, …..(paragraph 1, Douglas) shows that his mistress started to educate him. Education was banned for slaves. It was seen as a danger, because it would make them powerful. If a slave was caught reading they would be punished. The theme of education is really important for both Jacobs and Douglas. Without education they wouldn’t be able to inform the people in the north about slavery and the things that slaves had to experience and would not be able to spread the message to end slavery.
https://www.academia.edu/18207255/Learning_to_Read_and_Write_by_Frederick_Douglass
Learning to Read and Write by Frederick Douglass. He talked about how he learned how to read and write as a slave.
This episode of the popular animation series, Meena, focuses on the importance of education for girl children in south Asia. In many households, girls are relegated to household work and are not allowed to study, but education is essential for all girl children. Education allows girls to not only fulfill their developmental capacity, but to assist their families in many ways.
When I was a kid, I used to watch this cartoon on TV. In my country Bangladesh, not all children have the opportunity to go to school and get proper education for many reasons like financial issues. This episode of Meena shows the importance of Education in life. Meena is a girl who loves school. She wants to learn and make her parents proud. Because Meena goes to school she was able to help her parents with her knowledge. This cartoon made me realize how lucky I am that I get to go to school and learn.
Hi Nazia! I really enjoyed this blog post because I am embarrassed to admit that I had not considered the role education plays in this book. Linda’s world is able to expand and open up more because of her ability to read and write. This advantage gives Linda the language to describe exactly how she feels and what she sees going on around her which is a powerful tool.
This is one of the reasons why I love slave narratives. Many slaves risked their lives by learning how to read and write which shows their courage and determination. Learning how to read and write was against the law in most southern states, but things did not change much after the abolition of slavery. People of color were allowed to get an education, but the education system was completely segregated and unequal. Also, it is so sad that education is not accessible to all children even today.
I’m really moved watching this video. It actually traces a part of my life that I deprive myself of telling. This also reveals some of the advantages enjoyed by enslaved women that Clint Smith talked about in his video I posted on my blog. By supporting the title of your blog I would just like to add that education is a transformative force that empowers individuals, shapes societies, and drives human progress. It is a fundamental right and a lifelong journey that opens doors of opportunity, enriches lives, and cultivates the skills and values necessary for personal fulfillment, active citizenship, and the betterment of society as a whole.
Hi Nazia, your post really made me think more about how this entire book and the distribution wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for education. Before reading your post I’m not sure if I would have considered education one of the main themes of the book but now it seems like the foundation of it. I also really appreciate your reference to your own childhood and experience you added in for us to learn about.
I agree with the view that if the mistress had not taught Harriet Jacobs to read that the story would have never been told. It indicates that in many ways Harriet Jacob was blessed far beyond the treatment of regular slaves. She was treated so well that she did not see her mistress as a slave owner but as someone to worship. Teaching a slave to read was against the law because the dominant society knew it would empower them and make it harder to keep them slaves. Education should be for everyone regardless of gender. This is relatable in the modern-day world when countries like Afghanistan ban girls from getting an education. These countries could use a mistress like the one Harriet Jacob had..
The beginning of Harriet’s narrative reminded me of how Frederick Douglass learned and practiced his spelling/writing by talking to the little white boys near his area and trading items for learning. When one of Douglass’s master found out that his wife was teaching him how to spell and write, he was enraged and expressed how dangerous it can be to slaveowners if the slaves were able to attain any level of education, when Douglass heard this he knew that education was the key to freedom. I believe that Harriet and Douglass are similar in this way, education plays a significant role in the transformation in a slave.
I enjoyed the video you linked, it was very insightful!
Greetings Nazia, your post reflects back to the many sacrifices slaves had in the past. While mostly focusing on education, writing and reading was difficult, and also illegal for slaves in many states. It is literally crazy on how much the education system has evolved from back then compared to today. Slaves and their children were allowed an education however it was a horrible and unfair system, compared to today where all colors of children are in the same classroom now.
This post alludes to the much harder path slaves, both freed and not, were forced to take if they wanted to be equal on the same level as the whites and otherwise. It wasn’t enough for them to (later) have the same rights as them, and even that was a long time away, it wasn’t enough for them to not have chains on their arms and legs if their minds were still changed, and the key kept out of reach. And so they needed to fight for that, key, for years, for decades, for centuries. And today many others still do.
Hey Nazia, I thoroughly enjoyed your post and video. Without learning how to read and write, the world would have been deprived of Harriet Jacobs’s powerful story. You emphasized that during slavery, education was denied to enslaved individuals, making Jacobs’s opportunity to learn from her mistress a rare privilege. This recognition underscores the significance of education as a tool for empowerment and self-expression.