During the time of the Grimke Sisters, late eighteenth and nineteenth century, slavery and freedom was a significant problem mainly throughout the Southern part of the United States. The major goal of Sarah and Angelina Grimke was to spread the awareness of the unfair and cruel actions towards most slaves of the time. Sarah starts here document off by describing some of her past, and the influences put upon her throughout her childhood and part of her young adult life. She talks about how she needed to run away from her home, because of the unbelievable amount of torture that was taking place around her. She then goes on to say, “I feel impelled by a sacred sense of duty, by my obligations to my country, by sympathy for the bleeding victims…” This sort of language that is used, allows the reader to see inside of the author's mind, and therefore get a better understanding of what their true opinions are.
In the other two sections of the reformer's document, Grimke outs forward two situations dealing with the potential harshness of a drastically unequal country. In the first example, a woman is punished severely for attempting to run away from the fierce control of her owners. She is repeatedly whipped, one of her front teeth was removed, and lastly a heavy iron collar with prongs was secured around her neck. The author then relates the woman to the reader, by mentioning that she is very religious and it is even common for her to read scriptures. The second example took place in South Carolina where something shocking was pointed out to Sarah by a stage coach driver. Nearby, a runaway slave had been shot by an individual, and the slaves head was then severed and put atop a high pole. This had been done as a way to warn other slaves as to what the consequences of running away would be. Here we see the emotions that are attached to the situation due to the general awe that is laid upon the reformer.
