Understanding the History of Hawthorne and BrentKnowing and understanding the social, political and cultural history is extremely important when reading many novels, especially Incidents in the Life of a Slave by Linda Brent and Others story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Both of these authors had many extenuating circumstances related to their writings that should be noted before reading their works. Without knowing what was happening both in the outside world and in the life of the respected author, it is not possible to truly understand what the author is trying to say or what he really means by what he is saying. In this article I will show how important it is for the reader to understand the social, political and cultural events in the lives of writers and the world around them during the period in which their works were written. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is an amazing example of what I'm trying to show. This book was written during a time of extreme racial segregation and it is extremely important to understand the hatred and cruelty shown, in general, towards blacks by whites before reading the story. This book tells the story of a young black slave's life in the South and focuses on trying to explain the trials, tribulations, and emotional and physical suffering that she, and many others like her, endured while they were involuntary members of the institution of slavery. Brent, like every other victim of the atrocity we call slavery, wished those living in the North would do more to end this destructive practice. As he stated, slavery is deconstructive for everyone around it. It tears families apart; not only the families raised in slavery, but also the master's family. How can the free men and women of the North remain silent while such a great atrocity is still taking place? Brent faces his reader one-on-one to re-emphasize his point. She uses family and sentiment to appeal to and challenge 19th-century white female readers in order to actually gain their support in the abolition movement. Understanding what was happening in our nation, in the southern states and in the northern states is incredibly important when reading this story. Slaves were nothing more than property and, in many cases, were treated with less respect than the family dog.