Due to the fact that it was extremely dangerous and difficult, African Americans were rarely able to find ways to resist the perilous confines of the 'slavery. Throughout the history of American slavery, black people attempted to resist as much as possible, despite the odds that slaves would succeed in rebellion or escape permanently. Because of the power held over them, slaves tried to find ways, within limits, to resist their owners. However, these efforts were very ineffective in undermining the slave system. In “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” by Harriet Jacobs, this resistance is shown to be obvious but surely unsuccessful. As strong-willed and persistent as Harriet Jacobs was, she was confronted with Dr. Flint's inescapable hold to demonstrate his dominance over mind, body, and spirit. Based on the fact that Jacobs was raised without knowing she was a slave, this shaped her independent mindset. A major event was when Jacobs fell in love with a free black carpenter who lived in his neighborhood. Her lover wanted to buy her freedom but Dr. Flint would not give consent. Jacobs was reminded once again of the power Dr. Flint had over her, granted to her by the institution of slavery. When she argued that it was "just and honorable" for her and her lover to feel affection for each other, Dr. Flint struck her for the first time. Ultimately, Dr. Flint had the power to do whatever he wanted to punish his disrespect, driving home the overall theme that, in the end, the power of slavery prevailed. Another example of the ineffectiveness of resistance is Jacob's attempt to allude to Dr. Flint and his offer. to build him a house. Dr. Flint's plan to build Harriet a small house in a secluded location outside of town is so he can continue to make noise... middle of paper ....... This tactic has greatly undermined rebellion efforts based solely on the fact that most slaves were not intelligent. This led to the common assumption of the time that blacks were indeed the inferior race. Jacobs attacks the common assumption by writing that she does indeed agree that the black man was inferior, but only because whites made him so through their refusal of education. Even though the risk of rebellion against slavery was immense, African Americans still attempted to resist within slavery. limits of the institution of slavery. The success of these efforts was very unlikely as the system of slavery grew more and more, supported by the laws of the land and spreading ever further across the states. Harriet Jacobs' overall theme in her autobiography is the realization that the power of slavery proved uncontrollable from the slave's perspective..