Characteristics of Slave Narratives

• What are slave narratives?

  Personal accounts written by formerly enslaved people that describe the realities of slavery
• When did slavery exist in the U.S?

  From the 1700s until the mid-1800s.
• What factors influenced the experience of slavery?


  Location, type of work, age, and gender
• How were enslaved people often treated?

  They were often treated like property
• What was the main purpose of slave narratives?


  To expose the brutal conditions of slavery and challenge the false, positive portrayals promoted by slaveholders
• When were the most well-known slave narratives written?


  From the 1830s to the 1860s
• What did slaves narratives help readers understand?


  The lives, dreams, and struggles of enslaved people in America
• What did formally enslaved people write about in their narratives?


  They wrote about their experiences of slavery, often describing it as degrading and demonizing.
• Who is the author of “Incidents in the life of a slave girl”

  Harriet Ann Jacobs
• What did the quote from the enslaved woman in Jacob’s book reveal about slavery?


  It revealed that slavery was not just perpetual bondage, but a deeply degrading and demoralizing system that was hard for outsiders to understand
• How did the narratives contribute to the abolitionist movement?


  They exposed the harsh realities of slavery to the public, especially Northerners, helping to rally support for the abolition of slavery
• Who were some prominent figures who shared their experiences of slavery in public?

  •  Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and William Wells Brown.
• Why were slave narratives risky to publish?

  They exposed the brutal truths of slavery, which could anger slaveholders and others who supported the system
• How were slave narratives received when published in the 19th century?


  They were immediately popular and widely read, despite the risks involved in publishing them.