The slave remained in the water and was shot. Also, Douglass mentions a story about a woman being tied up and beaten for hours. The master doing the whipping, beat her before breakfast, left the poor woman tied up until after dinner, and beat her again, lacerating her back in places already raw for earlier. Douglass also speaks about a slave that had her nose and breastbone broken by an oak stick. This poor woman also died at the hands of a slave owner. Douglass told these stories to illustrate the kind of brutality some slaves had to endure. He wanted the rest of the country to see the types of horror slaves went through. Other slaves that lived this life wouldn't need to read his story. Numerous slaves from all around the south faced these types of troubles daily.
Incidents in the life of a slave girl, written by Harriet Jacobs, has similar stories, but has a different audience. Jacobs wrote her book for non-slave women. Obviously, Jacobs had a tough time as a slave, but the fact she was a woman made her struggle worse. Many female slaves had similar jobs to the males and similar beatings, but males never had to worry about sexual advances made by their male masters. Jacobs comments on being 15 years old and being sexually harassed by her master. Jacobs said in her book, "He told me I was his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things." Jacobs later talks about how any slave girl is faced with foul talk and harassment by the male slave owner and his sons. These males try to bribe the slaves with gifts, and if the gifts don't produce desired results, the slave girl is either whipped or starved into compliance. I could never imagine dealing with the troubles of an everyday slave and also being hassled constantly by men that beat me. The female slave was one of the toughest lives to live back in the 1800's. .
I would imagine that both audiences of these books would have the same reaction.
