Harriet Jacob's slavery account

Harriet Jacob`s slavery account
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Harriet Ann Jacob was born in 1813 in Edenton, North Carolina. She was the first born in a family of two children. She was born to Daniel Jacobs, her father, and Delilah Jacobs. Her father, a white slave, belonged to Dr. Andrew Knox while the mother belonged to John Horniblow, a bar owner. Her parents were referred to as mulattoes due to their complexion. At the beginning of the civil war, Harriet was the first woman to document her persecutions while she was a slave. She wrote of the unjust discrimination, humiliation and suffering she underwent while at the mercy of her masters. This paper will focus on analyzing as well as understanding the challenges that faced the slaves before the emergence of the civil war (Harriet, 1861).
At a young age, Harriet lived oblivious of the fact that she was born in a generation of slaves. Her maternal grandmother was the daughter of a farmer who was also a slave. Daniel Jacob was a carpenter who was popular due to his skills and talent. His services were demanded both locally and across the boundaries. His master however, only allowed him to work on far land on condition that he would maintain himself and send his mistress two hundred dollars per annum. Unfortunately at the age of six years, when Harriet`s mother died, she was forced to face the cruel world of slavery.
Although the life of a slave is marked with various challenges, they always sacrificed their all for their families. When Harriet was young, her father worked hard in the hope that he would save enough money to free his children from slavery. He however, died before he could achieve this and all the money he sent to his mistress was not enough to purchase his children`s freedom. Harriet`s grandmother was the daughter of a farmer who by the time of death had saved enough to save his wife and children from the bondage of slavery. However, on their way to their way to St Augustine, they were captured and sold to a different master.
Harriet`s grandmother worked for the owner of a big hotel. Due to her intelligence and hard work, she became a famous cook and baker of crackers. As the master did not want to lose her, they allowed her to run a separate profitable business from which the proceeds would help in financing her family`s needs. The grandmother had five children. She worked very hard so as to get enough money to purchase her children`s freedom. However, she once made a contract with her mistress and lost all the money she had saved to free her children.
Later on, her grandmother`s master died and all his property was to be divided amongst his wife and children. The master`s property included the hotel, land, slaves among other physical assets. The mistress decided to split her grandmother`s children among her four children. Since Harriet`s` grandmother`s children were five, the youngest was sold and the money obtained was subdivided amongst the heirs. This totally broke her grandmother who had served her master with diligence and faithfulness. She however, continued working in the hope that she would someday accumulate enough money to buy back her children. It was during this time that Delilah was donated to the mistress`s daughter.
After Delilah`s death, Harriet was taken up by her mother`s mistress with the promise that she would not allow her to suffer. Harriet lived happily with her new mistress who treated her like her own mother would. Unfortunately, when she was 12 years her mistress died and was buried in a local church grave. Harriet hoped that due to her good relations with her boss and the promise to her dying mother, she would be set free following her mistress`s death. However, to her surprise she was donated to her mistress`s niece who was only five years old. The rest of the slaves belonging to her mistress were auctioned and the proceeds were divided amongst her family members. This greatly affected Harriet who at this young age did not und...