Chapter 1, Childhood Summary and Analysis

Here, Linda relates the details of her early childhood, which she admits is an unusually happy one for a slave child. For the first six years of her life, Linda lives in a house with her mother and father. Although both of her parents are slaves, they have been granted an extraordinary amount of freedom, being allowed to live together and raise their family with little interference from their masters. Her father is even able to work independently and earn his own income, so long as he pays his mistress an annual fee of $200 for this privilege. During this time, Linda is not even aware that she and her family are slaves.

When Linda is six, her mother becomes ill and passes away. It is at this time that she first discovers that she is legally a slave. However...