Yomy Mexicano

HIST 1301
Ms. Chandler
November 21,2016

Harriet, the Moses of Her People

The book Harriet, the Moses of Her people, written by Sarah H. Bradford takes place in

1886 during the Civil War. The book was centered about Harriet Ross Tubman, a fugitive slave

who played an extensive role in the operation of the Underground Railroad, and during the Civil

War.

During the time period Harriet was remarkably helping slaves escape, the Fugitive Slave

Law came into play. The law enforced the capture and return of runaway slaves within the

territory of the United States. Serious problems such as free blacks from the North could be

captured and be sold as slaves in the South. This made people very angry, but it was nothing

people at the time could do to stop the law. Harriet was persistent through this because she kept

successfully bringing slaves to the freedom they deserved.

Another major issue during this time period was the Civil War. The war was between the

urban North and the rural South. Harriet was very cautious during her journeys because she did

not want to risk being forced back into slavery. Harriet's simplicity and ignorance have, in some

cases, been imposed upon, very signally in one instance in Auburn, a few years ago; but nobody

who knows her has the slightest doubt of her perfect integrity.(Harriet, the Moses of Her

People). Whenever returning to the city it was very different she was able to work at a hotel.

Also during the war, she was a nurse, a cook and even a spy for the Union.
 The typical lives of slaves consisted of harsh behavior and unfair treatment from sunrise

to sunset. Behavior like this towards slaves was common because slave masters did not

understand that slaves had emotions and were capable of anything other than manual labor.

Examples of harsh behavior include, whipping, getting set to the hot box, and getting hanged

(Chandler 2016, Chapter 12-Notes).This type of behavior made slaves attempt to run away and

risk their lives to get to freedom such as Harriet Tubman.

Things that did not typically happen in Harriets life include getting caught trying to help

slaves escape to freedom. During her voyages in her life time this would include up to six times

of almost being caught in the act. Examples of her almost getting caught include: her old master

seeing her at a store of purchase, getting caught without a pass, and when being transported in

wagons (Harriet, the Moses of Her People).

By writing this book, the author is trying to tell the story of Harriet Ross Tubman by

including that she showed no fear of the lash, the blood-hound, or the fiery stake, could divert

her from her self-imposed task of leading as many as possible of her people. This book was

written for abolitionists, slave masters, and slaves because even though it comes from a slaves

perspective it shows how she was very determined and never took no for an answer plus it shows

how she endured during her life time.

The author made some of the book confusing, at certain points in the book it would be in

another persons perspective about Harriet. The author should have clarified when certain people

where sharing their testimony of Harriet and all of the exceptional things she did in her life time.

Also the author should have went into detail about why she did the wonderful things she did.
 The book, I thought, was very interesting since it was about the life of a woman who

endured hardship and faced any danger for the sake of slaves. The book was very extensive in

detail and at times took me a while to understand. I would recommend this book to anyone who

likes history, bibliographies, and loves the work of Harriet Ross Tubman. Overall, I would give

this book a 4 star rating.

Bibliography

Chandler, Kimberly Old South Lecture Lecture Notes, History 1301 from Houston Academy

for International Studies, Houston, November 2016

David Emory Shi and George Brown Tindall. America: A Narrative History Tenth Edition. 2016
Sarah H. Bradford. Harriet, the Moses of Her People New York:1886