Harriet A. Jacobs (1823-1897) was a slave who decided she must run away in order to protect her children from harsh treatment by their owners.

Delilah Horniblow was a slave to Margaret Horniblow in the town of Edenton, North Carolina, just as Delilah's mother, Molly, had been for much of her life. In the early 1800s, slaves could not be officially married without the permission of their masters, so the marriage of Delilah to the carpenter Daniel Jacobs, a slave on a neighboring plantation owned by Dr. Andrew Knox, is not recorded. Nevertheless, Daniel and Delilah had two children together. In the autumn of 1813, Harriet Ann was born, followed two years later by John.

Harriet was just six years old when her mother died. There must have been no thought of sending her to live with her father; he was, after all, the property of another master. So...