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Drew Garrett
Charles Ross
African American Studies 325
November 4, 2014
The Life and Struggle of an American Slave
The pre-war slavery narratives went through a rigorous process of renaissance in the
late 1960s. This time period saw several thousands of these narratives being reprinted and an
equal number of fresh narratives being written. Scholars and philosophers published major
works that have had an influence on society even in more recent times. Two of the most
famous narratives of this period are Deborah Gray Whites Arnt I a Woman? and Frederick
Douglasss Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Today, almost all the books which
are published on the subject of American biographies, inevitably, have a few chapters on
slavery narratives. Furthermore, the two narratives mentioned above are used as a reference
by scholars across the globe in their writings about African American literature or history.
Therefore, it is logical to use these two works in order to analyze the lives and struggles of
the American slaves and draw a comparison about the lives of men and women who lived
during this period.
Deborah Gray Whites Arnt I a Woman? is only two decades old, yet, it raises very
poignant and private questions about the lives of the American slaves. The bittersweet
description of the lives of the slaves is filled with strong arguments. This narrative provides a
gendered description of the period of slavery and very artistically avoids competition with its
more contemporary narratives written in 1970s. The heart of this narrative lies in the story of
an enslaved woman who is in the process of self-recovery. But, this process of hers is not

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completely isolated from that of the enslaved men. Deborah Gray Whites Arnt I a Woman?
mainly focuses on the role of women during the period of slavery in America, but it does not,
even in the least bit, diminish the role of the men facing the same fate at the same time. This
work demonstrates the ways in which the women working on the plantation fields shared the
duties of the men. They facilitated the transmission of moral, marital, and sexual knowledge
of the enslaved families. As mothers, these women controlled the sexual knowledge and
marital practices of their daughters. As religious facilitators, they served as gatekeepers to
weddings, acted as midwives, assisted in births, and tended to the sick and elderly in the
homes of their rich owners (White 53).
As a contrast to this, Frederick Douglasss Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass talks about the hardships of men. As the title suggests, this narrative is an
autobiography of sorts. This piece of literature deals with the epiphanies and realizations that
enslaved men went through, throughout their lives. For Douglass, his first epiphany was the
realization about the meaning of slavery. He realized that he was born as a slave and that his
abilities and talents had no role to play in determining his fate in life. As a child, he was
spared from the hardships of the plantation fields, but he saw his elders slogging for the
financial benefits of the rich men. He accepted his fate when he realized that he would only
see his mother a handful times and would always be unaware of the identity of his father. His
lifes second stage ensued when he was sold to another owner in Baltimore. It was here that
he understood the power of education. Eventually, he gathered the courage to fight his fate
and struggle against all odds to attain freedom. His final epiphany occurred when he
acquired his freedom. It was at this time that he realized that he could not be content with
what was going on and decided to work for the freedom of all enslaved men and women as an
abolitionist activist (Douglass 108).

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The lives of men and women, as slaves, were different in the roles they played but
similar in the hardships and humiliation they faced. From the very initial years of slavery, the
roles of men and women were separated. The enslaved women, usually, did not move from
the hands of one owner to another. They did not have the freedom of movement but were
approved to walk around the area without shackles. This caused some major repercussions.
Firstly, women became easily available for the sexual desires of the men at sea and even their
owners. There were few or no attempts made in order to stop the seamen and other rich white
men from abusing these enslaved women. When they displayed for sale, the highly
appreciated and most priced women were in the prime age of their lives and were expected to
be fertile. Many times they were personally scanned by the potential buyer, humiliating the
women even more. Since the enslaved men were constantly higher in price than the women,
the ratio between women and men rose to 2:1 or even higher at times. Once bought, the
enslaved women's destinies almost never improved. They were forced to either work in the
fields or serve as wives and sexual partners for the enslaved men. The other jobs that women
were exclusively expected to do were as follows: serve as full hands in the plantation fields
since they were cheaper to purchase, serve as nurses, midwives, home cooks, and overseer's
girls (White 112).
Though women were certainly mistreated and considered close to worthless, with
little to no control over their own bodies or futures, they were not completely powerless. In
view of the fact that they were confined to the plantation fields when compared to the men,
they maintained mutually dependent relationships, or enslaved womens networks, which
enabled them to endure and defy the fierce and brutal conduct of the owners. Women slaves
were trained to deliver babies, tend for the sick, and care for the slave inhabitants on the
plantation fields. They conspired against the owner. Overall, the compassionate feeling
towards one another that could be found in the female slave community was a safeguard

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enough in opposition to the depersonalizing organization of the plantations and the common
dehumanizing environment of slavery (Douglass 14).
On the other hand, male slave oppression was neither healthier nor inferior. It was
more or less as brutal as the female bondage, but it was distinctive. Due to their physical
stamina, the owners were anxious about and wary of the male slaves and thus were more
watchful when dealing with them. Men were kept in shackles and lived below the decks for
weeks at a stretch. Unlike women, men were not priced for their fertility, but for their fitness
and capability to perform hard work (Douglass 18). Owners preferred to acquire the men
brought in from the West Indies because they spoke broken English, and it was easier to
communicate with them. Once bought, they were sent to the plantation fields where they
were inducted into the existing slave community. From the very start, men were told who
was in charge, and their jobs on the fields were properly divided. Everyone was aware what
their job was going to be. These jobs differed significantly from the ones that the women
performed. Most men were bought for jobs that required tremendous amounts of hard work
designed entirely for males, like ditchmen, minders, stablemen, drivers, and plowmen (White
72).
Upon reading these texts, it becomes evident that fear played a vital role in the lives
of both slaves as well as their owners. According to Frederick Douglass, fear kept the slaves
where they were. He talks about fear among the slaves in chapters 1 through 4. He says that
as a child, he thought that his father was a white man, who usually acted as if he were his
owner. His childhood memories were plagued with images of his aunt being beaten by his
owner, and he was often the receiver of the whippings as well. Another reason due for which
the slaves would fear their owners was that the owners would almost always interact cruelly
with them. Deborah Gray explains that the owners were scared of racial mixing. Therefore,
many of them were forced to treat their slaves badly. Their fear would ripen when the issue

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of the slaves being educated would be risen. The owners thought that if the slaves attained
education, their liberation was certain, and this would leave the owners in a situation with a
severe lack of labor. Specifically, on page 91, Deborah Gray talks about the fears that
troubled the masters to no end. She further writes that the owners feared that educated
workers would ask for higher wages and as a result, the owners' shares would decline.
Therefore, the owners feared the emancipation of slaves, and the slaves feared their owners.
There were some jobs that were collectively performed by both sexes. These jobs
were of the sort of highland hands, half hands, gardeners, and house servants. Of course, it
was the responsibility of the women to raise their own children, alongside working around
eight to twelve hours a day. It is vital to mention, however, that expecting mothers were
treated slightly better than other enslaved women. This does not mean that their owners
tended to them or cared for the women, but, as mentioned above, expecting mothers would
bring into the world an essential addition to the labor capital. That is the only reason why
they were temporarily excused from hard work and other strenuous jobs. Once the slave
women were past their child bearing age, they were asked to work like everybody else until
around the age of sixty-five. After the age of seniority was reached by the slave, the master
would generally grant her financial support for the remainder of her life. However, there
were many reported cases wherein the owner would "free" the enslaved women, post their
years of work, and basically just run her off the field, and, as one might expect, order her a
death sentence.
Conclusively, the lives of men and women were equally difficult; the sole difference
was the kind of role they were expected to play as slaves (White 91). Men typically did the
harder jobs that required more strength and stamina, while women did the household chores
and duties. Gray's and Douglass's works were very informative and successful in explaining
what life was really like for a man or woman in the days of slavery.

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Works Cited
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Dover Publication, Inc.,
1845.
White, Deborah Gray. Ar'n't I a Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South. New York:
W. W. Norton & Company, 1985.