Literary Works Of The Civil War Era: Analytical Essay

Harriet Tubman once said, “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember you have within you the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” Harriet is talking about how your dreams are powerful and can change the world so go for it! During the Civil War Era, there was an outbreak of slavery treatment famous authors that were slaves and express their experiences through literature and became influential members. The struggles that African Americans went through impacted their culture throughout history. Literature pinpoints the main force that slaves overcome such as racism and discrimination. Literary works of the Civil War Era such as Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, Anti I A Woman by Sojourner Truth, and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, reflected the historical events of the time period.

Friedrick Douglass was a slave at Maryland like most slaves they didn’t have an education or resources to get any. Early on he realized that the only way he can become a freeman or become an equal is to get an education since slaves didn’t have any schooling he taught himself to read and write. As his progress increased his goal was to be a freeman he became very determined to make it happen. After Douglass ran away at the age 20 he was speaking at antislavery assemblies that was the boost of his career becoming one of the most influential people of the civil war era he wanted to express his story and send messages to others through writing the only freedom he can grant himself. One of his most famous writings is The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave during the time he wrote his narrative the Civil War was taking place. His story was so difficult for people to process because they couldn’t believe that his life of this can ever happen as if it was made up. Slave narratives helped a lot of African Americans finding themselves in a white America ton of white people were mad that colored people were finding their own identity. He was well known for his writing to be very frank and always tell a message to give his readers “to never turn away from the hard truths and to never stop believing in a better future.

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Sojourner Truth had an extremely harsh life and made its goal to fight for colored women’s rights to vote and freedom. She can also be known as an abolitionist and always fight for what you believe in. When she escaped from her slave owners she asked God for guidance and a new name he told her to spread his word he gave her a new name Sojourner meaning spreading his word. Truth beloved that God intended her to spread his word to become a preacher and is well known for that. After finding guidance from god she joined The Northampton Association of Education and Industry with a bunch of other abolitionists who made her feel equal she traveled north and met with more people who had the exact same mindset as she did to fight for colored women rights to vote. Sojourner visited 22 states and was able to speak to a public audience talking about her personally experienced as a slave, she always showed great determination and confidence when speaking. Women were important members of the movement. She noticed that women were not allowed to vote or government employees. She's also fought for rights for both races and African American freedom. At Ohio after giving her most well-known speech she overheard men talking saying that men are more superior than women, so she started to speak to the crowd, “ That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place, and ain't I a woman? … I have plowed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me—and ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man (when I could get it), and bear the lash as well—and ain't I a woman? I have borne five children and seen most all sold off into slavery and when I cried out with a mother's grief, none but Jesus heard—and ain't I a woman?”

Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery and she didn’t even know it until the age of 6 as many slaves they weren’t allowed to read but Harriet was taught to read by her slave owner. She is also known as an abolitionist. She wrote a narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in 1861 discussing the sexual abuse she went through when she was a slave by her slave owner not just her but it was a common thing to happen to female slaves. She often refers to her life as “war” because she was constainting fighting for her and her sons' freedom. The central theme of her narrative was the social and sexual treatment from female slaves she vouch for females to stand up and have a voice when situations like this happens. Although the impact of Jacobs's book on the abolitionist cause was limited because of the lateness of its publication, appearing on the brink of the war that would fulfill the hopes of the movement, the value of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl goes far beyond the politics of its period. The book provides crucial insights into the unique difficulties that female slaves faced in the antebellum South, a contribution that is particularly valuable, as few enslaved women left any written record of their lives. Jacobs's story fits easily into the freedom narrative subgenre of African American literature, and as such its serves also as a political document that indicts the American justice system for its complicity in the many deprivations and abuses associated with chattel slavery. In addition, the narrative serves as a historical document that contains numerous references to actual historic landmarks, events, and persons. It has become a staple of courses in literature, gender studies, and history.

Literary works of the Civil War Era such as Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, Anti I A Woman by Sojourner Truth, and Incident of a girl by,Harriet Jacobs reflected the historical events of the time period. Impacted the world on how the world and the authors see the world with how it relates to history.

Works Cited

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