Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

News of Nat Turner’s rebellion floated between plantations. Motley crews of “country bullies and poor whites” searched houses (102). Harriet knew that they would be annoyed to see Black people living comfortably, so she took care to hide some of her grandmother’s more precious items. Enslaved men, women, and children were beaten until they lay in pools of blood. At night, brutal patrols broke into homes. Black women hid from them in the woods and swamps. No two Black people dared be caught speaking to each other.

When one of the patrols entered Martha’s house, they went through every trunk, box, and closet. When one patroller found a box with silver change, another complained about Martha having such nice linens. Suddenly, another member of the patrol called out in excitement when he seized hold of some letters, which turned out to be lines of verse. The captain then asked Harriet who wrote the poems, cursed at her, and tore the poetry, which he assumed were from free Black people, to pieces. Afterwards, Harriet was always sure to burn them after reading.

After the search, the patrol got drunk. Harriet saw them dragging Black people through the streets, while holding muskets. One of their captives was an old Black minister. After finding a few bits of buckshot, which he used to balance his scales, they decided “to shoot him on the Court House Green” (106). They patrols were stopped only when they posed threats to White citizens’ property. However, the patrols continued to harass and terrorize Black people outside the city limits for several weeks, until Nat Turner was captured. Thereafter, free Blacks were forbidden from visiting plantations. The enslaved were no longer allowed to meet at their own church. Instead, they were permitted to sit in the galleries at white churches.

At the urging of slave owners, who wanted their chattel to get enough religious instruction to be subordinate, Episcopal clergymen began to hold separate services for slaves on Sundays. Harriet was invited because she was one of few slaves who could read. Reverend Mr. Pike’s congregation consisted of 20 people. Mr. Pike scolded the slaves for being lazy, telling lies, and eating their masters’ food. He admonished them for “tying up little bags of roots to bury under the doorsteps to poison each other,” going to grog shops to sell their masters’ corn, and pitching coppers in back streets and bushes (110).

After these meetings, the enslaved would go to Methodist shouts—informal religious meetings in which they composed and sang their own songs and hymns. The lyrics addressed their endurance in response to endless torments and burdens. Harriet attended one Methodist meeting led by the town constable—a man notorious for slave trading and whipping those currently sitting in his congregation. She sat beside a woman who rose to her feet, struck her breast, and cried out that the last of her children had been sold away from her. She pleaded for her brothers and sisters to pray for her, claiming she had no more reason to live. The constable held his handkerchief to his face, barely concealing his laughter.

After Mr. Pike left his church to “go where money was more abundant” (113), the new clergyman was kinder. He added to the congregation five of his own slaves, whom his wife had taught to read and write. He encouraged his parishioners to allow the enslaved to have their own meetings every Sunday, with sermons tailored for their comprehension, attracting many Black people who had never gone to church. This particular clergyman ministered to them as human beings, which, predictably, caused dissent among his White parishioners. Before the clergyman’s wife died, she freed her slaves and sent them away with enough money for them to live comfortably. Soon after her death, the clergyman gave his farewell sermon, in which he encouraged them to remember that God judges people by their hearts and not the color of their skin.

The memory of the nobler clergyman, leads Harriet to “an old black man” who had an almost child-like trust in God, which she deemed beautiful (115). To serve the Lord better, he wanted to learn to read and asked Harriet to help. She reminded him that reading was unlawful and dangerous for slaves. He insisted, so Harriet taught him in a quiet, secret place three times per week. She was astonished by how quickly he learned, despite his age.

Around this time, Dr. Flint joined the Episcopal Church, though this had no redeeming effect on his character. In fact, Harriet notes, his behavior toward her became worse.

When Harriet refused Dr. Flint’s entreaties, he responded with violence. He threw Harriet down a flight of stairs and threatened to sell her child. When he learned that Harriet was again pregnant, he cut off all her hair as short as a boy’s. After the baby was born, Harriet learned, to her fear and consternation, that the child was a girl.

During her daughter’s christening, Harriet’s father’s former mistress offered to give the child her own name. Harriet accepted, and also gave her daughter her father’s surname, which was also the name of her White grandfather. As they left the church, Harriet’s father’s former mistress fastened a gold chain around the infant’s neck. Though Harriet thanked the woman, she didn’t like the gift. She despised the idea of a chain of any sort being fastened onto her daughter.

Harriet’s children grew up healthily, prompting Dr. Flint to remark that the pair would bring him “a handsome sum of money” (124). A slaveholder soon to leave for Texas approached Dr. Flint with an offer to buy Harriet for $900, though he was prepared to offer as much as $1200. Suspecting that the buyer came on a mission from Harriet’s lover, Dr. Flint refused, claiming that Harriet was his daughter’s property. Dr. Flint gave him the message that Mr. Sands would be unable to buy Harriet or her children for any sum.

Harriet assured Dr. Flint that she had not created this plan, but Dr. Flint accused her of lying. When he seized her arm, her son Benny screamed, and Dr. Flint threw him across the room, knocking him unconscious.

Dr. Flint came to Grandmother Martha’s house at all hours to find Mr. Sands. He then changed his approach and offered Harriet and her children her freedom, but only if she refused to stop speaking to their father. In exchange, Dr. Flint would also purchase a cottage for them. Dr. Flint told her that, if she refused the offer, she and her children would be sent to his son’s plantation. Harriet knew that Dr. Flint’s offer was a trap. Still, she refused. When she told her grandmother the news, Martha went to Dr. Flint and reminded her of how long she had served his family, of how she had even nursed his wife. She offered Dr. Flint payment for Harriet’s time so that he could buy a stronger woman. Dr. Flint refused the offer and made arrangements for Harriet and her children to go away.