"I would rather drudge out my life on a cotton plantation, till the grave opened to give me rest, than to live with an unprincipled master and a jealous mistress"
- Harriet Ann Jacobs
About this Quote
This quote by Harriet Ann Jacobs talks with the challenging and oppressive problems of enslavement. She shares her preference for a life of hard labor on a cotton ranch, even if it leads to an early death, over coping with an unprincipled master as well as a jealous girlfriend. This quote talks to the powerlessness of servants and also the lack of control they had more than their own lives. It likewise talks with the cruelty of slave owners, who can be unprincipled as well as jealous, as well as the disrespect they had for their slaves. Jacobs' words are an effective tip of the oppression of slavery and also the stamina of the human spirit in the face of oppression. Her words are a testament to the nerve as well as durability of those who endured the scaries of slavery.
"Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage"