The story Underground Railroad by Ann Petry highlights the complexity of one of Harriet Tubman’s missions during the time of slavery. In the story, Tubman is leading a group of slaves down the Underground Railroad and towards the freedom of Canada. During her journey she faces many obstacles such as fear, uncertainty and exhaustion. Despite that, she forces herself to continue the mission and bring her slaves to freedom no matter what. In the text Dangerous Passage to New Life a Mexican man is attempting to cross over to the United States in search of new opportunities . He also faces multiple difficulties throughout his trek but he must overcome them if he wishes to achieve his purpose. While the two passages may seem unrelated at first, …show more content…
While taking on such a challenge is not unusual to her, this particular mission is a lot more risky that the any other she has ever attempted. For starters, she is taking the slaves to Canada which is an unfamiliar route to her. To make matters worse, this group of slaves is the largest she’s ever had to lead and that increases her chances of capture. Throughout the story, she is followed by fear and uncertainty at her heels yet she refuses to give up. When a slave wishes to abandon the group and return to the plantations which would risk the lives of everyone involved, Harriet stands her ground. She points her gun towards the slave and tell him that they “got to go free or die” and explains to the slaves that “freedom is not bought with dust”. What Harriet means is that the path of freedom is not an easy one but to achieve their goal they had to keep going, no matter what difficulties may arise. During the entirety of the story, Tubman relentlessly urges the reluctant slaves to follow her. She continuously speaks to them about “the long hard way they had come and the long hard way they had yet to go”. She wanted to remind them of the obstacles they had conquered and how more of those would come but they had to keep trying. Her resilience and resolve in difficult times contribute to the theme of perseverance in the
He implies that her sudden fame of her tremendous efforts to overcome her racial oppression was strategically planned to help support the movements for equality in labor and civil rights. Tubman gave these social fighters a symbol for their cause. For Tubman, McPherson also investigated the level of truthfulness in her legend, as discussed by her biographers. The author grappled with her medical history of seizures documented through her dictations to those around her who were literate and also through the accounts of others working close to her, saying that these extreme medical issues conflict the writings on her physical and mental strength. Furthermore, comparing Tubman’s seemingly miraculous ability not to get caught with another fugitive slave of the time, Harriet Jacobs, McPherson further suggests that the legend of Harriet Tubman may be nothing more than that. Questioning the validity of Tubman’s “primary” sources allows McPherson to show that her popularized image could feasibly have been exaggerated for political
n the short story, Tunnel by Sarah Ellis, humour is used to reflect the struggles of adolescence and the overall theme of change, maturity and growth overtime. The first use of humour as a form of criticism of adolescents is when the protagonist realizes that he is not properly trained to babysit his new child, Elizabeth or lb. He is shocked at the drastic different styles of play from his previous child. “In my babysitting course at the community centre they taught us about first aid, diapering, nutritious snacks and how to jump your jollies out. They did not teach Barbies.” The author uses juxtaposition and humour to criticizes the inherent pride that the youth carry with them about their knowledge. For example, the protagonist is prideful
In the book The Underground Railroad, we learn of a woman named Ethel Wells a Christian educator who shows some signs of being a lesbian. In Ethel’s time (the 1800’s) it was considered disgusting when you love someone who is not of the opposite sex. If one woman was found with another woman in sexual relations you were either stoned, put into an asylum, or punished by death (Wikipedia). Ethel shows her first sign of being a lesbian when she was little. Ethel would play with her friend Jasmine and they would play husband and wife kissing and quarreling as she saw her mother and father do. Once Ethel turned eight her father banned Ethel from playing with Jasmin saying, “so as not to pervert the natural state of relations between the races”(263).
In Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad, we see a piece of history being slightly rewritten. Whitehead was able to give the reader a visual of how mentally and physically the slaves were affected. We are given a glimpse of what they call freedom and the reality of freedom in the 1800s through eyes of the protagonist Cora.
...er what escaped slaves followed through the Underground Railroad. As well with the famous fictional book of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In Uncle Tom’s cabin Stowe talks about the life of slaves in the plantation. Douglass also publishes an autobiography talking about the horrid life of a slave and how honored he was to had been able to learn how to read and write. All this propaganda caused commotion within the union and the confederates leading up to the war.
“I freed thousands of slaves, and could have freed thousands more, if they had known they were slaves.” (History.com) This Harriet Tubman quote is a great representation of the kind of person she was. Harriet Tubman was a great woman, not only did she escape slavery; she went back several times to save more people. She conducted the Underground Railroad and did great things that have changed our history in one of its darkest times in our history. Being a slave was not easy but that didn’t stop her.
Harriet was never considered a good slave. After her head injury, a neighbor wanted to hire her as a nurse-girl, and her owner was more than willing to let her go. (Taylor 8). Harriet was required to “do all the housework, milk the cows, as well as to be at the side of the cradle every time the little darling cried.” (Taylor 8). Because she wasn't able to be at all places at all times, she was beaten and sent back to her owner with the recommendation, “She don’t worth the salt that seasons her grub.” (Taylor 8). Once Harriet was returned, her owner greeted her with “I will break you in!” (Taylor 8). “From early morn till late at night she was made to work, beaten and cuffed upon the slightest provocation.” (Taylor 8).
Numerous are mindful of the considerable deed that Harriet Tubman executed to free slaves in the south. Then again, individuals are still left considerably unaware about in which the way they were safeguarded and how she triumphed each and every deterrent while placing her life at risk of being captured. She is deserving of the great honor she has garnered by todays general society and you will find out her in the biography. The title of this biography is “Harriet Tubman, the Road to Freedom.” The author of this piece is Catherine Clinton. ”Harriet Tubman, the road to Freedom” is a charming, instructive, and captivating book that history appreciates and is a memoir than readers will cherish. The Target audience of the biography is any readers
The underground railroad was a system organized to safely move slaves into free states (Coddon). Harriet Tubman was an outstanding abolitionist and black leader of her time. After freeing her whole family from slavery, Tubman’s main concern was the freedom of all slaves. She became well acquainted with many white abolitionists and often received food and shelter from them, while trying to free someone from slavery (Coddon). Most of the Underground Railroad was organized in Philadelphia, where Tubman became acquainted with William Still (Coddon). This was were the first anti-slavery society was established. Still was a black man who was the executive director of the General Vigilance Committee and later became known as “The Father of the Underground Railroad” (Coddon). Since written records were life-threatening to keep, many were burned or not kept at all. Although William Still did say this about Harriet Tubman, “She was a woman of no pretensions; indeed , a more ordinary specimen of humanity could hardly be found...Yet courage shrewdness, and disinterested exertions to rescue her fellow man, she was without equal. (Coddon)” Still encouraged African resistance to slavery, and even taught himself how to read (Turner). He worked nonstop to end race discrimination and, in 1867, he published A Brief Narrative of the Struggle for the Rights of Colored
The Underground Railroad, a term that have been used dating back as early as the1830s.
Harriet Tubman was a selfless woman, who devoted her life to save others. Many other slaves from the South escaped to freedom in the North like Tubman. Many of these people stayed where they were free, frightened to go anywhere near the South again. However, that was not Tubman, she was different. She wanted everyone to have the feeling of freedom that she had newly discovered. Harriet was known “to bring people of her race from bondage to liberty,” (S Bradford et al 1869). Harriet Tubman was known as a hero to lots of people during the Civil War.
Harriet Jacob had spent seven years in hiding in hopes to make it to the northern states to be free. She finally achieved it when the Dr. Flint had died and way followed by his daughter’s husband in Boston to have her buy her freedom. I have heard her say she would go to the ends of the earth, rather than pay any man or woman for her freedom, because she thinks she has a right to it. Besides, she couldn't do it, if she would, for she has spent her earnings to educate her children."(Incidents, pg. 180). She would never give up and there was no way that she would give in and pay for her own freedom. She had devoted her life to raising her children and educating them. While Sojourner Truth continued to persuaded people about the women’s rights. These women worked to get the truth out about the treatment they had received while in slavery. The Life and Incidents of a Slave Girl would be more convincing then the speeches of Sojourner Truth. Harriet had been fighting for a case for herself and a better life of her children where they would not have to live like she
Conducting the Underground Railroad was Harriet Tubman’s greatest achievement for the following reasons.Harriet was taking the biggest risk helping others.This was a big risk she was taking because if they got caught they could all be sold back into slavery.They had to walk until they reach Canada to be safe.There were many different routes they took to escape.They had to walk miles and miles to escape.Harriet lead many slaves to freedom.She helped many of her people escape.She wanted them all to have the right of freedom.Harriet Tubman’s life is important to study because she constantly was doing good work with no benefits.She would always put her life at risk helping
Analyzing the narrative of Harriet Jacobs through the lens of The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du bois provides an insight into two periods of 19th century American history--the peak of slavery in the South and Reconstruction--and how the former influenced the attitudes present in the latter. The Reconstruction period features Negro men and women desperately trying to distance themselves from a past of brutal hardships that tainted their souls and livelihoods. W.E.B. Du bois addresses the black man 's hesitating, powerless, and self-deprecating nature and the narrative of Harriet Jacobs demonstrates that the institution of slavery was instrumental in fostering this attitude.
As a former slave that returned to help the others trapped in the south to a fighter in the civil war to a fighter for civil and women’s rights. A women that has done a lot for America has certainly gone through a lot from the horrors of slavery to the backwaters of sexist U.S.A. what can we take from the life of Harriet Tubman. The part of Tubman's life that I wish to focus on and inspect is Harriet’s work on the underground railroad as it is the most stressful and extenuating as not only is she risking her life like she does when she sevres in the war but she is left in charge of non-combatants as a leader steering them through a hostile environment with their livelihoods or most likely their lives in her hands. The ways that she keeps calm in this time of distress isn't in any way that we have discussed in class but a new way that I’ll show “Harriet Tubman carried a small pistol with her on her rescue missions, mostly for protection from slave catchers, but also to encourage weak-hearted runaways from turning back and risking the safety of the rest of the group. Tubman [also] carried a sharpshooter's rifle during the Civil War.”(Clifford Larson 1) Harriet Tubman uses a gun in order to protect herself and her ‘cargo” to make her feel more strong and confident so she can feel safer in her journeys down into Maryland. The gun allows her to feel safe and secure it relieves some of the pressure of traveling through hostile lands. She even goes on to upgrade later on as a result of changing to the rising risks as to protect herself from confederate troops. The weapons allow for her to protect herself make her feel more confident. She stays safe as said above, she uses it to keep the other travelers that she leads in line and make sure they don't falter. As the overseers and plantation owners look for her sweeping their the grassfields like that of waves on