Has the world changed or have new people just replaced the people of the past? Reading books like Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Linda Brent (aka Harriet Jacobs) make me wonder. Her story, which relates some 27 years of life as a slave, in many ways seems similar to stories that have been brought out very recently. For example, there is the story of the three women in Cleveland, Ohio who were found and released after spending years in captivity being mistreated and regularly assaulted. Then there is the story of Elizabeth Smart, who was held captive as a teenager, assaulted, and finally rescued in California. Every once in a while, the internet or TV news will talk about human trafficking– especially young women and children. Is what happens or is happening to these “modern slaves” much different than what happened to the slaves of early America? The book cannot answer that question, for it is autobiographical and its overall theme was to arouse the senses of Northern women in the late nineteenth century to see slavery as it really was. Nevertheless, the book can help the modern-day reader, just like it did for the Northern women of the past, to see slavery as it really was and therefore the reader can answer that question on their own. So, let us examine the true events as related in the story and see how the slave life of Linda Brent was made deplorable by the horrible institution known as slavery. Linda’s story is written in chronological sequence with occasional flashbacks and a few references to what would happen in the future, so it is appropriate to examine her tale in same fashion. To begin with, her first six years are spent in relative harmony, for she lives with her mother, her father, and her brother (Willie). Moreover, her grandmother lives nearby. That, however, quickly changes when her mother dies. Her world turns upside down, for she discovers that she is a slave and actually belongs to her mother’s mistress. So, she could be given away or sold, and no one in her family could prevent it. Fortunately for her, the mistress is fairly kind, instills in her the precepts of the golden rule and loving thy neighbor and even goes so far as to teach her to read and write. This peaceful period lasts another six years. Linda’s peaceful period comes to a crashing end with the deaths of her father and her mistress; her stressful life as a slave begins in earnest. She is bequeathed like property to her mistress’ niece, who happens to be only five years old. This means she comes under the control and supervision of the little girl’s parents, Dr. and Mrs. Flint. Both would spend many ensuing years making her life miserable. At the beginning, Dr. Flint shows his disdain for Linda’s slave status by claiming that she belongs to his daughter so that he is prohibited from allowing anyone to buy her, something her grandmother wants to do. Mrs. Flint shows herself to be a mean-spirited woman, for she would spit into the pots and pans after their contents have been dished out so that slaves could not eat what little food is left. This forces Linda to sneak by her grandmother’s house whenever she is sent on an errand so that she could get some food to keep from being hungry. By the time she is fourteen, Linda finds Dr. Flint’s interest in her directly related to her developing body, and his veiled references and suggestions to her become more frequent. Unlike her Uncle Benjamin (her grandmother’s son), she could hardly run away. He has escaped, been jailed, escapes again and ends up in New York. He is physically free but still technically a slave, so he would have to live a careful life to avoid being exposed. His light skin must have helped him