As scholars place the autobiography in various contexts and examine it from multiple critical perspectives, appreciation of Jacobs's considerable achievement has continued to grow.
Harriet Ann Jacobs was born in Edenton, North Carolina, sometime in the fall of 1813, to Delilah, a slave to John and Margaret Horniblow. Her father, Elijah Jacobs, a carpenter and slave to Dr. Andrew Knox, was most likely the son of one of Knox's white neighbors, Henry Jacobs. Her brother, John S. Jacobs, was born in 1815. When her mother died, the six-year-old Jacobs was taken to live in the household of her mistress, Margaret Horniblow, who treated Jacobs kindly, teaching her to sew, read, and spell. When Margaret Horniblow died in 1823, however, she did not free Harriet, as her young slave had hoped, but bequeathed her to a three-year-old niece, Mary Matilda Norcom, daughter of Dr. James Norcom. Harriet and her brother then went to live at the Norcom household in Edenton.
Jacobs had served two years in the Norcom household as a domestic slave when she found herself subjected to the sexual advances and harassment of her young mistress's father. Jacobs successfully deflected her master's attentions for several years.
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