The Influence of Northern Hypocrisy on the Civil War: "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" and "Slavery in Massachusetts" Kelsey Norris College

During the mid to late 1800’s, the United States of America was experiencing civil strife between the Northern states and the Southern states. One of the major conflicting issues between the two sides was their opinion on slavery. The South mainly saw it as financially prosperous and a way to better the economy. However, it also provided them with a sort of power that they had yearned for with their concept of splitting from the Union. They were envious of the North’s relationship with Congress, and how the South was often forgotten in important discussions. On the other hand, the North was also an active participant in slave labor and the trading of human beings. It was not until an increase in uprisings in the African American community, that the idea of freedom for all was discovered. It was because of the voices of escaped slaves like Harriet Jacobs, which found their way into the homes of Upper Class Northern white women, that the North truly became self-aware of their actions.

Narratives like Jacobs's were written to utilize the ethos of female emotions: “women were articles of traffic in New York, late in the nineteenth century of the Christian religion” (Jacobs 163). It was a successful application of their perceived...