Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl | Page 2

The names of both persons and places are
known to me; but for good reasons I suppress them.
It will naturally excite surprise that a woman reared in Slavery should
be able to write so well. But circumstances will explain this. In the first
place, nature endowed her with quick perceptions. Secondly, the
mistress, with whom she lived till she was twelve years old, was a kind,
considerate friend, who taught her to read and spell. Thirdly, she was
placed in favorable circumstances after she came to the North; having

frequent intercourse with intelligent persons, who felt a friendly interest
in her welfare, and were disposed to give her opportunities for
self-improvement.
I am well aware that many will accuse me of indecorum for presenting
these pages to the public; for the experiences of this intelligent and
much-injured woman belong to a class which some call delicate
subjects, and others indelicate. This peculiar phase of Slavery has
generally been kept veiled; but the public ought to be made acquainted
with its monstrous features, and I willingly take the responsibility of
presenting them with the veil withdrawn. I do this for the sake of my
sisters in bondage, who are suffering wrongs so foul, that our ears are
too delicate to listen to them. I do it with the hope of arousing
conscientious and reflecting women at the North to a sense of their duty
in the exertion of moral influence on the question of Slavery, on all
possible occasions. I do it with the hope that every man who reads this
narrative will swear solemnly before God that, so far as he has power to
prevent it, no fugitive from Slavery shall ever be sent back to suffer in
that loathsome den of corruption and cruelty.
--_L. Maria Child_

Contents
Childhood
The New Master And Mistress
The Slaves' New Year's Day
The Slave Who Dared To Feel Like A Man
The Trials Of Girlhood
The Jealous Mistress
The Lover
What Slaves Are Taught To Think Of The North
Sketches Of Neighboring Slaveholders
A Perilous Passage In The Slave Girl's Life
The New Tie To Life
Fear Of Insurrection
The Church And Slavery
Another Link To Life
Continued Persecutions
Scenes At The Plantation

The Flight
Months Of Peril
The Children Sold
New Perils
The Loophole Of Retreat
Christmas Festivities
Still In Prison
The Candidate For Congress
Competition In Cunning
Important Era In My Brother's Life
New Destination For The Children
Aunt Nancy
Preparations For Escape
Northward Bound
Incidents In Philadelphia
The Meeting Of Mother And Daughter
A Home Found
The Old Enemy Again
Prejudice Against Color
The Hairbreadth Escape
A Visit To England
Renewed Invitations To Go South
The Confession
The Fugitive Slave Law
Free At Last
Appendix
Selected Bibliography

Incidents
in the
Life of A Slave Girl,
Seven Years Concealed.
* * * * *

I. Childhood
I was born a slave; but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood

had passed away. My father was a carpenter, and considered so
intelligent and skilful in his trade, that, when buildings out of the
common line were to be erected, he was sent for from long distances, to
be head workman. On condition of paying his mistress two hundred
dollars a year, and supporting himself, he was allowed to work at his
trade, and manage his own affairs. His strongest wish was to purchase
his children; but, though he several times offered his hard earnings for
that purpose, he never succeeded. In complexion my parents were a
light shade of brownish yellow, and were termed mulattoes. They lived
together in a comfortable home; and, though we were all slaves, I was
so fondly shielded that I never dreamed I was a piece of merchandise,
trusted to them for safe keeping, and liable to be demanded of them at
any moment. I had one brother, William, who was two years younger
than myself--a bright, affectionate child. I had also a great treasure in
my maternal grandmother, who was a remarkable woman in many
respects. She was the daughter of a planter in South Carolina, who, at
his death, left her mother and his three children free, with money to go
to St. Augustine, where they had relatives. It was during the
Revolutionary War; and they were captured on their passage, carried
back, and sold to different purchasers. Such was the story my
grandmother used to tell me; but I do not remember all the particulars.
She was a little girl when she was captured and sold to the keeper of a
large hotel. I have often heard her tell how hard she fared during
childhood. But as she grew older she evinced so much intelligence, and
was so faithful, that her master and mistress could not help seeing it