Slave narratives were one of the earliest forms of African-American literature. The stories were written with the intent of informing those who were unaware of the hardships of slavery about how poorly slaves were treated. The people who wrote these stories experienced slavery firsthand and wanted to enlist the help of abolitionists to end it. Most slave narratives were not widely publicized and were often overlooked as the years passed; however, some were highly regarded and paved the way for many writers of African descent today. Two slave narratives that stand out today are “The Narrative Of Frederick Douglass” written by Douglass himself and “The Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl.” written by Harriet Jacobs. Both of these works contain the authors' personal accounts of slavery and how they successfully escaped. Although their stories end with the freeing of both Douglass and Jacobs, they share a similar narrative of a slave's horrific experience. Frederick Douglass's narrative reveals a large number of ways in which African Americans suffered under the oppression of slavery. For example, many slaves, including Douglass himself, did not know their birthdays or much of their family history. This was most likely the result of slave children being separated from their actual blood relatives at birth or being sold to different slave owners. Slaves were rationed only a small amount of food which they had to try to conserve. In addition to preserving food, slaves had to learn how to preserve their clothing. Douglass mentions how each year the adult slaves were given only two shirts, a pair of pants, a pair of…paper halves…whose attention they sought. In my opinion, I believe that Frederick Douglass' intention was to target educated northern men, especially educated white men. Douglass' use of literary devices to describe his experiences as a slave and his extensive vocabulary would most likely not have been easily understood by the average man. Douglass most likely wanted to enlist the help of educated northern whites to end slavery in the South. In a twist, Harriet Jacobs wrote primarily for an audience of Northern women. Her narrative not only told of the difficulties of being a slave, but also the difficulties of being a woman. Jacob's story of being a worthless, sexually abused woman whose primary concern is the safety and freedom of her children was certainly relevant to all women who were not seen as equal to men at the time..