The female given name, Harriet, has historically symbolized female virtue, strength, and courage. Meaning "ruler of the estate" or "she who runs the house", communicates Harriet's natural leadership ability and even alludes to her ambidexterity and skills in running business and managing life in both areas of the household and of the world of work. Three notable women emerge: Harriet Ann Jacobs, Harriet Beecher-Stowe, and Harriet Tubman. Heavily involved in social activism, these Harriets shaped human rights and empowered many people to break down social walls and pursue their self-determined dreams. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Abolitionist and feminist Harriet Ann Jacobs documents her life as an enslaved woman in Incidents in a Girl's Life slave” (1862). The chapter on Childhood tells of the happy days of an innocent young girl. However, the deaths of her mother and her mistress are blows that expose her to the horrors and harsh realities of slavery specifically reserved for female slaves. The chapter on “The Jealous Mistress” lays bare the sexual exploitation of the slave woman and the master's control over her body and the resulting tensions within the household. The slave's guilt is aggravated by the suspicion and malice of his mistress who recognizes the sexual relations between the slave and her husband. The slave woman is therefore the target of both the master and the mistress. Procreation becomes a business when slave masters father children with their slaves. Deceived wives turn a blind eye and sell the children as property, thus separating the family. A Perilous Passage in the Life of a Slave Girl recounts the slave's wasted innocence, her spoiled childhood, and the inevitable abandonment of her virginity. Although a slave tries to follow society's morals and standards by marrying, the narrator begs not to be seen as a cowardly woman. The Loophole of Retreat describes the runaway slave's hideout as she escapes the clutches of her slave master, Dr. Flint. Dr. Flint aptly characterizes the Master as he is stone-hearted, tyrannical, and unsympathetic to the repercussions of his actions. He is self-centered and determined to spoil his slaves. Harriet Beecher Stowe is the author of the famous Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), which advocates abolitionism and becomes a bestseller. The chapter “The Mother's Struggle” traces the feelings and reactions of a slave mother whose child is about to be sold. The child belongs to the slave owner, not the mother, and by law is her property. Eliza flees slavery to try to keep her child who is about to be sold. Stowe also points out the hypocrisy of slavery and the denial of Christian principles. All is not lost and Eliza resorts to the Quaker colony where the most fervent abolitionists and friends of humanity reside. Stowe describes the heavenly temperament of the Quakers in their true Christian friendship, their compassion for the plight of slaves, and their active efforts to shelter runaway slaves. Eliza plans to cross the border into Canada after the Fugitive Slave Act (1850) and the Kansas-Arkansas Act (1854). During slavery, Canada became the usual destination for escaped slaves, especially since the laws of the Kansas-Arkansas Act and the Fugitive Slave Act. These laws permanently stigmatized the slave, regardless of their location, whether in slave states or free states. The Underground Railroad, the route by which,.