At that time it was never seen as melodramatic or sentimental. In fact, insights gleaned from the Bible gave her acceptable and effective counterarguments to the prevailing idea that it was practically impossible to give up slavery.
In modern times male employers are compelled by law to treat female employees with utmost respect. Nonetheless, cases of sexual harassment continually grab headlines all over the world. It is hard to imagine the psychological and emotional agony that young slave girls had to go through every single day when the nation’s justice system favored the slave owners. Consider the impact of Jacobs’ words: “When she is fourteen or fifteen, her owner, or his sons, or the overseer, or perhaps all of them, begin to bribe her with presents. If these fail to accomplish their purpose, she is whipped or starved into submission to their will.
He also detested the argument that Negro slaves are of the same value as beasts of burden or cattle. He hinted at these arguments when he described the life experiences of two slaves and a slave master called Colonel Lloyd. Consider for instance the deeper meaning of the following passages: “Its excellent fruit was quite a temptation to the hungry swarms of boys, as well as the older slaves, few of whom had the virtue or the vice to resist it.
It is a good thing to be reminded of the social injustice and extreme poverty created by the said institution in order to ensure its perpetual extinction in democratic societies. It is sometimes hard to believe that immortal souls are able to ignore the implications of universal laws of respect and human decency for the sake of economic gain.