In her Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861), Harriet Jacobs, an,escaped slave, described her former master's sexual advances:

During the first years of my service in Dr. Flint's family, I was accustomed to share some indulgences with the children of my mistress. Though this seemed to me no more than right, I was grateful for it, and tried to merit the kindness by the faithful discharge of my duties. But now entered on my fifteenth year a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl. My master began to whisper foul words in my ear. Young as I was, I could not, remain ignorant of their import. I tried to treat them with indifference or contempt. My master's age, my extreme youth, and the fear that his conduct would be reported to my grandmother, made me bear...