| Contents |
Pt. 1. Introduction: an uncommon woman and her times. Myth and reality ; Slavery in Maryland ; The multiracial Underground Railroad and antislavery movement ; Radical antislavery ; Resistance to the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 ; The Moses of her people ; Growing sectional tensions and greater militancy ; Tubman and the antislavery network ; John Brown's war ; The divisive politics of 1860 and a perilous rescue ; Fighting the war to end slavery ; Tubman's postwar life ; Tubman's life into the twentieth century ; Harriet Tubman in history and memory -- pt. 2. The documents. Provision regarding fugitive slave, 1787 / U.S. Constitution ; Fugitive Slave Law, 1793 ; Fugitive Slave Law, 1850 ; Reminiscences of fugitive-slave law days in Boston, 1818-1830 / Austin Bearse ; Kidnapped into slavery, 1853 / Solomon Northup ; Runaway advertisement, 1849 / Eliza Ann Brodess ; Slave-hunters in Boston, November 1, 1850 / Liberator ; Sending Underground Railroad passengers to Philadelphia, 1854 / Thomas Garrett ; Moses arrives with six passengers, 1872 / William Still ; Fugitive slaves aided by the Vigilance Committee since the passage of the Fugitive Slave Bill 1850, 1850-1858 / Boston Vigilance Committee ; Letter to John Brown Jr., April 8, 1858 / John Brown ; Tubman addresses Fourth of July meeting, July 8, 1859 / Liberator ; Letter to John Brown, September 16, 1859 / Lewis Hayden ; Charles Nalle rescue, June 1860 / Douglass' Monthly ; Emancipation eve, December 31, 1862 / William Wells Brown ; Account of Combahee River raid, July 10, 1863 / Commonwealth ; Solicitation of aid for Harriet Tubman, August 12, 1864 / Commonwealth ; Moses, March 1865 / Freedmen's Record ; Memories of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, June 1868 / Thomas Garrett ; Testimonials, June and August 1868 / Frederick Douglass and Wendell Phillips ; Moses, 1874 / William Wells Brown ; Harriet Tubman biographies, 1869 and 1886 / Sarah H. Bradford ; Affidavit, May 28, 1892 / Harriet Tubman Davis ; Affidavit, November 10, 1894 / Harriet Tubman Davis ; Letter to Earl Conrad, September 4, 1940 / Wilbur H. Siebert ; Committee on Pensions report, 1899 / U.S. Senate ; To end days in home she founded, June 4, 1911 / Syracuse Herald ; Harriet Tubman Davis obituary, March 14, 1913 / New York Times ; Harriet Tubman memorialized, June 11, 1914 / Auburn Citizen -- Appendixes. A chronology of the life and times of Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) ; Questions for consideration ; Selected bibliography. |
| Abstract |
"Harriet Tubman is a legendary figure in the history of American slavery and the Underground Railroad. In the introduction to this compelling volume, Lois Horton reveals the woman behind the legend and addresses the ways in which Tubman's mythic status emerged in her own lifetime and beyond. Going beyond mere biography, Horton weaves through Tubman's story the larger history of slavery, the antislavery movement, the Underground Railroad, the increasing sectionalism of the pre-Civil War era, as well as the war and post-war Reconstruction. A rich collection of accompanying documents -- including the Fugitive Slave Acts, letters, newspaper articles, advertisements and tributes to Tubman -- shed light on Tubman's relationships with key abolitionist figures such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison; her role in the women's rights movement; and her efforts on behalf of fugitive slaves and freed blacks through the Civil War and beyond. A chronology of Tubman's life, along with questions for consideration and a selected bibliography, enhance this important volume."--Publisher description. |
