Enslaved Motherhood

Marilyn Pettigrew

Professor Jeremy Williams

English 260

September 12, 2012

Enslaved Motherhood

This is an essay about Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass comparing their enslaved motherhood, as well as Truth feeling she was as equal to a man.

She was named Isabella as a slave, being born in Ulster County, New York to slave parents. Isabella was separated from her parents as a child and given to a wealthy Dutch master. She was sold to many owners who undermined and utilized her unusual strength and used beatings as discipline. While in slavery, Isabella experienced a lot of harsh treatment. She had five children, which she gave away all but one of them.

When Isabella left her master in 1826, she took the child which she had kept with her, (fearing that the child would not survive without her), as she strived for her freedom. She sued for her son, Peter, two years later from enslavement in Alabama. Upon being freed from slavery, she worked in New York City as a Native. Isabella pursued a religious path toward the spiritual fulfillment she longed for. She assumed the name, Sojourner Truth, to signify the new person she had become in spirit.

Frederick Douglass was born in Talbot County, Maryland. His mother’s name was Harriet Bailey, who was a slave and his father was an unknown white man. Harriet was the daughter of Isaac and Betsey Bailey who were both colored and quite dark.

Douglass was taken from his mother when he was an infant. Harriet was hired by Mr. Stewart, who lived about twelve miles from where Douglass was housed.

He didn’t know his mother, being that she came to see him four or five times in his life; and each time being for a short visit and at night, to get him to sleep. Douglass and his mother didn’t communicate much. Douglass’s mother died when he was about seven years old, on one of his master’s farms, near Lee’s Mill. He was not allowed to be present during her illness, death, nor funeral....