Chapter One "Childhood"

Born into slavery, Harriet Jacobs never knew about her status as a slave until the age of 6. Harriet lived with her mother and father, as well as her grandmother and siblings. During the same year, her mother passed away. Harriet’s mistress took her in and treated her like a child of her own. As time passed, her mistress also passed away and she had to be passed onto another family member. Harriet was not happy with her new “owners”. The corrupting power of slavery is shown in this chapter when Harriet’s grandmother lent 300 dollars to her mistress but she never paid her back. To make matters worse, Dr. Flint never had the interest to pay her back either.