Book Description
Every schoolchild knows of Harriet Tubman's heroic escape and resistance to slavery.But few readers are aware that Tubman went on to be a scout, a spy, and a nurse for the Union Army, because there has never before been a serious biography for an adult audience of this important woman.This is that long overdue historical work, written by an acclaimed historian of the antebellum era and the Civil War. Illiterate but deeply religious, Tubman left her family in her early 20s to escape to Philadelphia, then a hotbed of abolitionism.There she became the first and only woman, fugitive slave, and black to work as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. So successful was she in spiriting away slaves that the state of Maryland put a $40,000 bounty on her head.Within a year of starting her work, fellow slaves and Northerners began referring to Tubman as 'Moses' because of how many people she had freed. With impeccable scholarship that draws on newly available sources and research into the daily lives of slaves, HARRIET TUBMAN is an enduring work on one of the most important figures in American history.
Download Description
Every schoolchild knows of Harriet Tubman's heroic escape and resistance to slavery. But few readers are aware that Tubman went on to be a scout, a spy, and a nurse for the Union Army, because there has never before been a serious biography for an adult audience of this important woman. This is that long overdue historical work, written by an acclaimed historian of the antebellum era and the Civil War. Illiterate but deeply religious, Tubman left her family in her early 20s to escape to Philadelphia, then a hotbed of abolitionism. There she became the first and only woman, fugitive slave, and black to work as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. So successful was she in spiriting away slaves that the state of Maryland put a $40,000 bounty on her head. Within a year of starting her work, fellow slaves and Northerners began referring to Tubman as "Moses" because of how many people she had freed. With impeccable scholarship that draws on newly available sources and research into the daily lives of slaves, HARRIET TUBMAN is an enduring work on one of the most important figures in American history.
Customer Reviews:
A Good Reference Book.......2007-07-21
I partly agree with a former reviewer that this book lacks sparkle and suspense. In fact, if I were not already interested in this fantastic historical female figure (and slavery, in general), this book would not draw me in. I also agree that Clinton made the book tedious by her detours and sub-topic (if not off-topic) details--except that such coverage may increase the value of the book as an archival reference. She does wax somewhat eloquently in her Epilogue.
But I am not so dismissive of the book as to give it the lowest rating. Her seemingly exhaustive research did sparkle (to me) when it revealed Tubman's social connections, and events with which I was unaware. Here are some gems that got my attention:
1. The behavior of her first husband, John
2. Her remarriage (to someone nearly half her age)
3. Her affirmation of and connection with John Brown
4. How pro-slavery Maryland was
5. Her torturous efforts to get a military pension for her
dedicated service to the union army
6. Both her devotion to the charity of other down-trodden African-
Americans, both slave and free, and her intelligence in dealing with
various issues
7. The fact that a SINGLE and private reward for her capture would be
$270,000 in today's currency and the total offered by all parties
would add up to just under a million dollars
Finally, what I found unsettling was Clinton's admitted speculations-interpretations (and from some she quoted), the passing of "stories," events "according to family lore," and other happenings "based on comments"--the quotes are from her book. Of course, this practice was not a major part of the book by any means, but still a minus. These parts are sort of like the unanswerable historical question, "Who created ice cream?" with each answer having its own logic.
The rating of 3 is based on her craft as a writer, not on her skill as a researcher; for the latter I would give her a 4 or 5. I, too, recommend THE JOURNAL OF DARIEN DEXTER DUFF, AN EMANCIPATED SLAVE and THE JOURNAL OF LEROY JEREMIAH JONES, A FUGITIVE SLAVE. Also, though out of publication, I believe (but available at Amazon as used), is the engrossing young-teen-oriented book MARASSA AND MIDNIGHT by Morna Stuart. Finally (one has to stop somewhere), there is Milton Meltzer's ALL TIMES, ALL PEOPLES: A WORLD HISTORY OF SLAVERY. Of course, these recommended books are not about Harriet Tubman, but about similar conditions that Tubman experienced.
A BLACK 'GENERAL' LEADS HER PEOPLE TO FREEDOM.......2007-03-19
The story of the ex-slave, Civil War `general' and black liberation fighter Harriet Tubman is the stuff of legends. Although in recent decades she has received more of the proper attention due her the fight she so ardently fought for the real freedom for blacks still is the wave of the future. Her early story, in any case, is the all to familiar slavery story of arbitrary beatings, random acts of senseless brutalization, separation from family and friends and the dreaded `sale' further South that those like Ms. Tubman from border state slave society in Maryland feared above all. It was as a result of one such beating that left Ms. Tubman permanently injured that she determined to in the late 1840's to seek the "Northern Star" and escape.
If that was all to her story then she would not be different from the average one thousand or so slaves who escaped each year. But here is a woman with a difference agenda. After her escape she became a 'conductor' on the then bustling Underground Railroad, the route used by escaped slaves to head North to freedom. She repeatedly led, at great personal risk to her life, many slave expeditions from the South. As she was able to brag later she did not lose one of her charges to the hands of the slave owners.
Another interesting part of her story is her relationship with the legendary revolutionary abolitionist John Brown. Apparently she was slated to join Brown at Harpers Ferry but illness forced her to forego that fight. Given her talents in leading slaves from bondage, her authority among plantation blacks and her knowledge of the terrain and travel routes in the South she could have made Brown's seemingly utopian plan for a slave insurrection and guerilla warfare much more plausible. Needless to say she held the highest regard for this white man ready to lay down his head for black liberation. Toward the end of her life she named a rest home for indigent that she sponsored with her gvernment pension in his memory.
During the Civil War Ms. Tubman sought to aid the Union Armies as they made a beachhead in the South by acting as a scout and helping create a scouting unit made up of blacks that knew the area. She witnessed the brave fight of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment made up of Northern freeman at Fort Wagner and spent time under the command of the famous Kansas free state fighter Colonel James Montgomery, another intimate of John Brown's. Although she was recognized for her services she had to endure many hassles in order to obtain the full pension that her service to the Union cause entitled her. She nevertheless spent most of her life in poverty and maintained herself with odd jobs and projects. The real honors that Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, John Brown, the men of the Massachusetts 54th and those countless black slaves and freedman who fought in the Union ranks still await them in a more just and honest society. In the meantime read this informative book about Harriet Tubman's life and struggles to free her people and learn how to bring that day closer.
An Extraodinary woman and a very good and readable biography.......2006-02-25
Harriet Tubman is possibly one of the best known women outside of America, and it is ironic that she was born a slave and not considered important enough to even note her arrival except as property in Southern America of the 1820's, yet she rose to be one of the most important women of her time - or do I mean influential.
I digress through. I loved this biography. I thought Catherine Clinton did a fine job in making an enormously readable and well researched biography. I liked the simple spare text and Clinton's able explanations which allowed me to understand context with the minimum of fuss.
Harriet Tubman was a woman of whom it can be said there were many firsts. She was the first to black, and first woman, to be a conductor on the underground railway, the organisation which took slaves from the Southern plantations and guided them to safety in the North. Later she guided them all the way to Canada. Until Harriet Tubman came along all the conductors had been white men. Her stoic courage and her sheer hardwork under all circumstances are extraodinary.
So little remains on record of those days. The underground Railway was after all an illegal institution and the government of the day includded slave owners who at various times passed laws to make their work more difficult. So there is not a great deal of documentary evidence available. What is there Clinton has done a great job searching out.
We are lucky that Tubman did leave an autobiography as without that there would be slim reference to her in history.
What I most enjoyed about this book was that I had read some biographys of Harriet Tubman as a child, but this one allowed me, as an adult to understand so much more about her. The context of the world she lived in, the passing of the laws, her role in the civil war, and even in the raids. Tubman lived another 50 years following the end of the war and in that time she was still a ceaseless worker for her people.
I only hope that my children will be more inspired by someone like Tubman than the current rash of Paris Hilton-esque superficial wannabes. Tubman is proof that no matter what your circumstances with ceaseless determination you can effect change.
A great book which I would highly recommend to be motivated yourself!
The best researched H.T. book I've ever seen.......2005-09-19
I've been reading about Harriet Tubman since I first learned to read, and I can honestly say, this is the best I've read. Any fan of Harriet Tubman who want more details about her life as a slave, her roles as a spy and nurse during the Civil War, and her work after the war will find a lot of goodies here. The book also discusses some little known mysteries in H.T.'s life, especially her "niece" that she kidnapped. This is the only book you ever need to buy about H.T.'s life, period!
A Different World View.......2005-08-29
Herriet Tubman was one who walked the walk and talked the talk, as the current saying goes. She craved freedom, both for herself and others, and did what she had to do to obtain this freedom. She never forgot her roots and sacrificed her life to help others less fortunate than herself.
Ms. Clinton's clear and moving biography of this remarkable woman reflects her scholarly research and extensive knowledge. We are able to get a glimpse of the world in which Tubman lived, both as a slave and as a free woman in the North. This is a view that we don't see very often. What a delight!
Average customer rating:
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Harriet Tubman: Freedombound (Benge, Janet, Heroes of History.)
Janet Benge , and
Geoff Benge
Manufacturer: Emerald Books
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ASIN: 1883002907 |
Product Description
The pounding of horses' hooves shattered the night's silence. Harriet froze in the shadow of a tree and peered out into the darkness. She barely dared to breathe as three slave catchers came to a halt only a few feet from her hiding place. Had she escaped from danger so many times only to lose her hope of freedom now?
"At age six the sharp bite of a whip taught Harriet Tubman what it meant to be a slave. The other slaves scoffed when Harriet resolved to escape north someday. Little did they know that this girl would one day lead hundreds of slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
Even huge rewards for her capture - dead or alive - did not stop Harriet from risking her life again and again in the fight for liberty as the nation spiraled into the Civil War. Whether running from slave hunters, advising generals, or improving condition in war hospitals, remarkable Harriet Tubman would not be satisfied until every person could experience true freedom."
Customer Reviews:
What Greater Honor.......2004-12-14
All the series written by Janet & Geoff Benge are heavily researched and written with great care for High School age students but comprehensable for all age groups. I'm planning on purchasing all of their books for my 19 nieces and nephews for their birthday and Christmas presents. That will be my new tradition. Cannot go wrong with the Benge's.
This is wonderful reading and the perfect way to retain noteworthy facts about our "Heroes of History".
Book Description
Harriet Tubman is born a slave on a Maryland plantation in the 1800s. She trusts in God, but her faith is tested at every turn. Should she obey her masters or listen to her conscience? This story from Harriet's childhood is a record of courage. Even more, it's the story of God's faithfulness as He prepares her for her adult calling to lead more than 300 people out of slavery through the Underground Railroad.
Customer Reviews:
Courage to Run.......2007-05-07
This was an excellent book. I found it most fascinating about Harriet Tubman. She was truly a great woman, far above her age and time. Great reading for anyone who is learning more about the underground railroad!!
Harriet Tubman from a different perspective.......2003-08-29
I don't remember seeing or reading a book on Harriet Tubman as a child. Wendy Lawton's account of Harriet Tubman's childhood life was very realistic to me. I could visualize the deplorable conditions of the slave quarters as well as the less than nice slave owners. The book is easy reading and peeked my interest right from the start. Well worth the reading.
More than another childrens book.......2003-08-16
This is a wonderful piece of children's prose, by dynamic author and sculptor Wendy Lawton. As a teacher, it would be advantageous to include this as supplementary reading for your students, but also as an avid bibliophile, it is a great read like for everyone. Lawton has captured the reader in an engrossing and mesmerizing tale. Well written, superbly detailed, factual without being compromising, engaging to the child yet still approachable, this work truly is paramount. I cannot express in words just how much children can learn and will be edified by this book. It sparks lively class discussion, piques childrens curiosity and is a great introduction to adolescent literature. I compare this prose to Anne of Green Gables and also Little Women. I highly recommend it without reservation for all! Destined to be a classic! Great work Wendy Lawton!
A real page turner! Exceptional writing........2003-04-28
This is a very engrossing book and one I could not put down until I finished it.
I normally do not like to read any book written in dialect. In fact, I will quite often go out of my way NOT to read them. I find they tend to slow down the read for me because I mentally try to sound out the dialect as I read. Very distracting.
But Wendy has done a superb job with Minty, and she managed to pull me in right at the start.
I think Harriet Tubman has been an inspiration to nearly everyone, regardless of race, because of her courageous actions once she decided "this is what I have to do!" and I am no exception. To see her story through the eyes of her youth is very enlightening...and heart-breaking.
Well written and well researched. A great read.
Unforgettable.......2003-04-01
Lawton does an outstanding job of putting the reader right in the "Quarter" house for slaves on a plantation in Maryland with the young Harriet Tubman, her family and close friends.
The reader anguishes with Harriet every time her master whips her. We pull for her to return to her family every time she is "hired out" to other slave owners. We rejoice with her when God answers her simple yet profound prayers. And we are challenged when a young girl asks God for the courage it takes to run for freedom.
I knew very little about Harriet Tubman before reading Lawton's book. Now I'll never forget her.
Book Description
It's 1863. Harriet Tubman is facing one of the biggest—and most dangerous— challenges of her life. She has survived her master's lash, escaped from slavery, and risked her life countless times to lead runaway slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad. Now she has a new role—that of Union spy! The outcome of a secret night raid deep into Confederate territory depends on the accuracy of the intelligence she and other black spies have gathered. Success will mean freedom for hundreds of slaves. Failure will mean death by hanging.
You are about to enter the undercover world of African-American spies—enslaved and free—risking everything in the name of freedom. How were the Underground Railroad and slave songs used to pass secret messages? What were "contrabands" and "Black Dispatches?" What did Harriet have in common with the Secret Six and a maidservant in the home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis? You'll discover these answers and more as the action unfolds.
Thomas B. Allen, author of the award-winning George Washington, Spymaster, has sifted through military and intelligence archives, diaries, and little-known memoirs from ex-slaves to bring to light new facts about the role Harriet and other black spies played in helping the Union win the war.
This detailed account combined with powerful archival images supplemented with woodcuts by Carla Bauer, maps, a time line, footnotes, and extensive quote sources make this incredibly detailed account an excellent resource for report writing as well as an exciting true-life adventure.
Customer Reviews:
an axsiting boke!.......2000-03-21
i liked it a lot. but some words where hard for me.
Average customer rating:
- As close to an "autobiography" as we can get!
- What a great way to learn U.S. history!
- Harriet Tubman's memory and legacy are cherished
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Harriet Tubman: The Life and the Life Stories (Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography)
Jean M. Humez
Manufacturer: University of Wisconsin Press
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ASIN: 0299191206 |
Book Description
Harriet Tubman’s name is known world-wide and her exploits as a self-liberated Underground Railroad heroine are celebrated in children’s literature, film, and history books, yet no major biography of Tubman has appeared since 1943. Jean M. Humez’s comprehensive Harriet Tubman is both an important biographical overview based on extensive new research and a complete collection of the stories Tubman told about her life—a virtual autobiography culled by Humez from rare early publications and manuscript sources. This book will become a landmark resource for scholars, historians, and general readers interested in slavery, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and African American women.
Born in slavery in Maryland in or around 1820, Tubman drew upon deep spiritual resources and covert antislavery networks when she escaped to the north in 1849. Vowing to liberate her entire family, she made repeated trips south during the 1850s and successfully guided dozens of fugitives to freedom. During the Civil War she was recruited to act as spy and scout with the Union Army. After the war she settled in Auburn, New York, where she worked to support an extended family and in her later years founded a home for the indigent aged. Celebrated by her primarily white antislavery associates in a variety of private and public documents from the 1850s through the 1870s, she was rediscovered as a race heroine by woman suffragists and the African American women’s club movement in the early twentieth century. Her story was used as a key symbolic resource in education, institutional fundraising, and debates about the meaning of "race" throughout the twentieth century.
Humez includes an extended discussion of Tubman’s work as a public performer of her own life history during the nearly sixty years she lived in the north. Drawing upon historiographical and literary discussion of the complex hybrid authorship of slave narrative literature, Humez analyzes the interactive dynamic between Tubman and her interviewers. Humez illustrates how Tubman, though unable to write, made major unrecognized contributions to the shaping of her own heroic myth by early biographers like Sarah Bradford. Selections of key documents illustrate how Tubman appeared to her contemporaries, and a comprehensive list of primary sources represents an important resource for scholars.
Customer Reviews:
As close to an "autobiography" as we can get!.......2004-02-13
Several years back I was watching a documentary on Harriet Tubman in which one of her relatives was interviewed. I suddenly realized I had never thought of Tubman as a real person, with actual living relatives! Her legend looms so much larger than life that she hovers somewhere in the realm of Paul Bunyan.
This book begins with a traditional biography, presenting the bare bones of Tubman's life. The section called "Stories and Sayings" puts meat on those bones, breathing life into someone who has nearly been lost to us in legend. It's a fascinating concept, and I think it works.
Equally amazing is the Documents section, reflecting 10 years of research and which will be required reading for any future Tubman scholars because, as Humez herself says, "...my retelling of her life story cannot be definitive." Highly recommended.
Curator, AfroAmericanHeritage dot com
What a great way to learn U.S. history!.......2004-02-12
Harriet Tubman: The Life and the Life Stories, by Jean M. Humez
This book is a treasure. Eminently readable, impossible to put down, totally absorbing, this book will satisfy meticulous scholars and the general public. What a great way to learn U.S. history! Great quotes, critical appraisal of the work of earlier historians, new documentation, wonderfully illuminating photographs. A feast for the curious mind and eye.
I have always wanted to know more about Harriet Tubman and as soon as I heard this book was out I dived into it. Harriet Tubman's life has been the subject of several biographers in the past, but in this work Humez convincingly argues that Harriet Tubman, who could not read or write, was able to produce a "self-authored life story" by carefully choosing the writers she collaborated with and exercising control about what stories to tell and how to tell them. This results in a fascinating and kaleidoscopic interpretation of Harriet Tubman's life, as seen through different authors and through Harriet Tubman herself.
In the first section, "The Life," I learned about the salient facts of Harriet Tubman's life: her years as a slave in Maryland, seeing two of her sisters sold and carried away in a chain-gang, her successful escape from slavery in 1849, when she was probably 29 years old, her contacts with the anti-slavery movement in the North, the mutual admiration of Harriet Tubman and John Brown who referred to her using the masculine pronoum ("Harriet Tubman hooked on his whole team at once. He is the most of a man, naturally, that I ever met with"). It is also about the clandestine trips she made to Maryland to rescue her extended family and others, her military and nursing work during the civil war and her settling in Auburn, New York, in poverty, taking care of old and sick people of color and children-- the John Brown Hall project, as she called it.
Interesting quotes from her dictated letters reveal details that throw light on her views on other issues, such as women's rights. For instance, in telling about the successful Combahee River raid in South Carolina, in which she worked with Col. James Montgomery and a band of 300 black soldiers, she states after her dress was shred that "...I made up my mind then I would never wear a long dress on another expedition of the kind, but would have a bloomer as soon as I could get it..."
It is in the second part, "The Life Stories," that Humez makes the case that Harriet Tubman's gifts as a story-teller, singer, and performer and her reputation as an African-American celebrity ensured that her experiences as a slave and her deep spirituality would be preserved. Here, through a discussion on the politics of research, the dynamics between a researcher and her/his subject, and the cultural and social context that influences much of those dynamics, I felt Harriet Tubman's presence and resourcefulness vividly, towering above those who tried to capture her complex story and interpret her life according to their values and the racial views of their culture.
The third part, "Stories and Sayings," offers a hypothetical version of Tubman's "autobiography" culled from every individual life history story Humez was able to locate from the earlier works. While all the stories and sayings are revealing and offer significant insights my favorite part was the "Stories of Clever Exploits and Tricks," probably because I always wondered how she actually carried out her rescue missions. In this section the intelligence, courage, and humor of Harriet Tubman shines through, like in the story "Avoiding Capture by Pretending to Read." It says: " At another time when she heard men talking about her, she pretended to read a book which she carried. One man remarked. `This can't be the woman. The one we want can't read or write.' Harriet devoutly hoped this book was right side up" (Tatlock, 1939a).
The final section, "Documents" is a gift of primary source materials for future researchers and anybody interested in pursuing an in-depth study of Harriet Tubman's life.
Read this book. See for yourself how illuminating the past and looking at history with a fresh eye can instill hope. This book is yes, about Harriet Tubman, but more fundamentally, it is a book about courage, dignity, persistence, and solidarity in incredibly harsh circumstances. What a gift for us all in these troubled times.
Harriet Tubman's memory and legacy are cherished.......2004-02-09
Harriet Tubman: The Life And The Life Stories by Jean M. Humez is an exhaustive biography of this celebrated and heroic woman. Grounded in exhaustive research as well as the complete texts of stories Harriet Tubman told about her life. Harriet Tubman: The Life And The Life Stories follows Tubman, who was born a slave in the American South, as she escaped to freedom in the North, and vowed to liberate her entire family. Her work to guide dozens of slaves to freedom, as well as her service as a spy and a scout for the Union Army, are also described in historical detail. After the Civil War Tubman settled in New York and founded a home for the indigent aged. an absolutely essential addition to academic library Black History and African-American Biography reading lists, Harriet Tubman's memory and legacy are cherished in this profound and all-encompassing chronicle.
Book Description
Harriet Tubman is one of the giants of American history—a fearless visionary who led scores of her fellow slaves to freedom and battled courageously behind enemy lines during the Civil War. And yet in the nine decades since her death, next to nothing has been written about this extraordinary woman aside from juvenile biographies. The truth about Harriet Tubman has become lost inside a legend woven of racial and gender stereotypes. Now at last, in this long-overdue biography, historian Kate Clifford Larson gives Harriet Tubman the powerful, intimate, meticulously detailed life she deserves.
Drawing from a trove of new documents and sources as well extensive genealogical research, Larson reveals Tubman as a complex woman— brilliant, shrewd, deeply religious, and passionate in her pursuit of freedom. The descendant of the vibrant, matrilineal Asanti people of the West African Gold Coast, Tubman was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of Maryland but refused to spend her life in bondage. While still a young woman she embarked on a perilous journey of self-liberation—and then, having won her own freedom, she returned again and again to liberate family and friends, tapping into the Underground Railroad.
Yet despite her success, her celebrity, her close ties with Northern politicians and abolitionists, Tubman suffered crushing physical pain and emotional setbacks. Stripping away myths and misconceptions, Larson presents stunning new details about Tubman’s accomplishments, personal life, and influence, including her relationship with Frederick Douglass, her involvement with John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, and revelations about a young woman who may have been Tubman’s daughter. Here too are Tubman’s twilight years after the war, when she worked for women’s rights and in support of her fellow blacks, and when racist politicians and suffragists marginalized her contribution.
Harriet Tubman, her life and her work, remain an inspiration to all who value freedom. Now, thanks to Larson’s breathtaking biography, we can finally appreciate Tubman as a complete human being—an American hero, yes, but also a woman who loved, suffered, and sacrificed. Bound for the Promised Land is a magnificent work of biography, history, and truth telling.
Customer Reviews:
A Remarkable Hero.......2007-01-14
This book was exceptionlly well researched. The author did a good job of separating fact from fiction, while acknowledging the many myths about Harriet Tubman that have been part of the oral history surrounding this remarkable woman.
Voted Best Non Fiction 2005.......2006-03-09
An excellent book! You will learn so much more than you ever thought you knew about Harriet and what you did learn in school doesn't hold a candle to who she really is. This is a remarkable book and should be part of every middle school history class. Larson has done an excellent job bringing this much information to us and years of research do it. Remarkable!
You can't be Serious?!!!!.......2006-03-08
This book is woefully and inadequately researched. Here, again, there are those who want to continue to make a buck off the backs of slaves some 141 years later. The good news is that some of us know the truth and reject this as merely an Internet driven collaboration of conjecture. It is nauseating to suggest that Harriet's own account of her life can't be taken as fact. It's typical of these same people to accept, without question, the life recollections of Robert E. Lee or any of the other so-called "great American heroes". Typical yet not surprising. You should stick with subject matter that won't prove you wrong at the end of the day.
Bound for the Promised Land - A True Work of Scholarship.......2005-04-10
Bound for the Promised Land is the first book that I have actually read to the very end, in a long time. I could not put this book down! As I turned page after page, there was wonderful historic fact couched in a way that is easily understood by the reader and placed within a believeable context of time, places, and people whom Harriet Tubman encountered or assisted during her long lifetime.
Kate Clifford Larson brings Harriet Tubman to life because of the many details she includes in the book. I was in awe as to how the author would know such extensive information. Clearly, this book was thoroughly researched. The biographer goes beyond just presenting facts. She also analyzes situations and interprets them. One example concerns why Tubman 'kidnapped' her own niece and brought her to Canada. No other print source that I have read so far has presented a theory as to why that may have occurred.
This book is a must-read for any serious student of history and particularly those who are interested in the Underground Railroad and those abolitionists and conductors who facilitated flights to freedom. Magnificent piece of writing and well worth reading!
Patricia L. Cummings
Informative.......2005-02-06
Who is this woman they called "Moses?" and what did she do to acquire this name?
In this work by Kate Larson we examine the life and workings of Harriet Tubman, a remarkable woman who risked her life for others. The author takes us along the journey of Ms.Tubman's life and her battle for freedom and the freedom of others who were slaves at this time.
The author's work shows her intense research as she carefully outlines and puts together all the pieces of this incredible woman's life. Her writing style is factual yet she draws you along in a gentle storytelling manner that keeps your attention.
The pictures that were included added much realism to the read as pictures certainly help by putting a face on the character you are reading about. I found this work very enlightening and certainly learned a lot about an outstanding woman of history and the era in which she lived.
Shirley Johnson
Book Description
“I am at peace with God and all mankind.”
—Harriet Tubman to Mary Talbert, on the occasion of their last visit, 1913
Now, from the award-winning novelist and biographer, an astonishing reimagining of the remarkable life of Harriet Tubman—the “Moses of Her People.”
During her lifetime Harriet Tubman was an escaped slave, lumberjack, laundress, raid leader, nurse, fund-raiser, cook, intelligence gatherer, Underground Railroad organizer, and abolitionist. She was known both as Moses and as General Tubman.
In Harriet Tubman: Imagining a Life, Beverly Lowry goes beyond the familiar tales to create a portrait of Tubman in lively imagined vignettes that, as Lowry writes, “catch her on the fly” and portray her life as she herself might have presented it. Lowry offers readers an intimate look at Tubman’s early life firsthand: her birth as Araminta Ross in 1822 in Dorchester, Maryland; the harsh treatment she experienced growing up—including being struck with a two-pound iron when she was twelve years old; and her triumphant escape from slavery as a young woman and rebirth as Harriet Tubman. We travel with Tubman along the treacherous route of the Underground Railroad and hear of her friendships with Frederick Douglass, John Brown, and other abolitionists. We accompany her to the battlefields of the Civil War, where she worked as a nurse and a cook and earned the name General Tubman, join her on slave-freeing raids in the heart of the Confederacy, and share her horror and sorrow as she witnesses the massacre of Colonel Shaw and the black soldiers of the 54th Regiment at Fort Wagner.
Integrating extensive research and interviews with scholars and historians into a stunningly rich and mesmerizing chronicle, Lowry brings Tubman to life as never before.
With 62 photographs, illustrations, and maps
Customer Reviews:
The Woman they called Moses.......2007-07-24
After any number of biographies about Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) aimed at adolescents, Beverly Lowry's new work takes its place among two other recent efforts: Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom (2004), by Catherine Clinton, and Kate Larsen's Bound for the Promised Land; Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero (2004). Tubman looms large as one of our country's greatest and most inspirational heroes. She's also a biographer's nightmare. Tubman was born as one of nine siblings into a Maryland slave family, she never learned to read or write, and reliable documents about her, especially her early years, are sketchy to non-existent. Thus in her author's note Lowry describes her work as "the story of a life as I have reimagined it." She tries to avoid "weasily qualifiers" about Tubman, rather unsuccessfully in my opinion, but one can hardly fault her given her subject.
Born Araminta Ross, Tubman was rented out as slave labor when she was about six years old. She later escaped to the north at age 27, then, defying all odds, made as many as nineteen return trips back into slave-holding territories in order to rescue as many as 300 other slaves. She also served in the Civil War as a spy, nurse, and armed soldier. About a year after her death, in 1914 a bronze tablet was laid at her home in the central New York town of Auburn where she lived for forty years, which includes her own description of her life work: "On my Underground Railroad I nebber run off de track and I nebber los' a passenger." Stubborn and stoic, dignified and determined, it's hard to fathom the bravery and brilliance it must have taken to do what she did. Tubman saw visions, heard the voice of God, and dreamed dreams as a truly fearless woman of faith. She also suffered from acute narcolepsy. By the time she died she was famous, which left me wondering why Lowry ends her biography in 1868, when Tubman still had another 45 years to live. Her book includes 62 photos, illustrations, and maps, along with extensive bibliographical sources for further study.
Book Description
Born into slavery, young Harriet Tubman knew only hard work and hunger. Escape seemed impossible--certainly dangerous. Yet Harriet did escape North, by the secret route called the Underground Railroad. Harriet didn't forget her people. Again and again she risked her life to lead them on the same secret, dangerous journey.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome book!!!!!.......2007-01-31
I am reading this book right now in t.a.g/school and it is very good. It inspires all chilldren to take a stand. This is a good book for excellent readers!!! Buy the book for 5 dollars on amazon.com and read great book Freedom Train!!!!~~~~!!!!
freedom train.......2006-11-28
The book I read was called freedom train. It was about harriet tubman trying to escape. An one day she found a tunnel that lead to Canada. Happy as she was she went to tell everyone. and they were free!and also this book made me feel I could do something too. Because when she caped on saying I can do it!And she never gave up!I will reccomand this to my friends because I hope they will enjoy the things she did,And feel the same way I felt.
The Underground Railroad.......2006-11-23
If I could, I'd give this book 6 stars. It's the story of Harriet Tubman who was born into slavery. Harriet Tubman escaped and then helped other slaves escape with the underground railroad. I learned more about the Civil War and how courageous Harriet was. It is a good book for those who want to learn more about the Civil War. This would be good for all ages to read.
Important and inspirational tale of a young woman who defied slavery.......2006-02-25
Harriet Tubman has to rate as one of the most amazing heroines in history. A slave born in America in about 1820, (I say about as she never really new her birth date). She was always fired with a stronger will than her 'master' and 'mistress' liked. As a very young girl she was taken to the big house but she never got on with the mistress. She ended up whipped and sent back to be a field hand. She was short, but she worked so hard she soon was capable of doing a mans work. However she never wished to bow her head to any one.
When she was quite young she helped another slave escape and in the process was badly injured. Despite leaving her with sudden sleeping spells she escaped and went on to join the freedom train. Her inspirational way, strength and sheer will made her extremely successful at freeing many others - even when they eventually had to take the 'train' all the way to Canada. She even helped her elderly parents escape.
This is as much a story of slavery in America as this outlines the background of what Harriet was doing. Why she suddenly had to take her 'passengers' beyond the Delaware border to Canada. The wrangling of the slave-owning congress who wanted all slaves returned, that Lincoln refused to allow black troops in the civil war at first - and paid them only 2/3rds of what the white troops were earning.
It also talks about Harriet's life after the end of the civl war and her support of her family, friends and freedmen institutions to better her community.
This is a very well written, informative and entertaining book suitable for 8-12 year olds and I would highly recommend it. It is inpirational - about a girl who would not give up hope and when she could acted on it. I really liked the fact that this story is about someone who actually made change. This is not a glamouress herione, but one who really changed the face of America.
Freedom Train.......2004-05-20
The setting is on a plantation. The main character is Harriet Tubman. In the beginging the is a little girl and she is a house servant. She takes care of the baby and other thing too. But when she tries to get a piece of candy off the table at dinner the Mistress catches her. The Mistress goes to get her wip and Harriet runs out the door............
You all know or at least heard of Harriet Tubman. To see what happens next READ the book!!!
Average customer rating:
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From Slavery to Freedom With Harriet Tubman (My American Journey)
Deborah Hedstrom-Page
Manufacturer: B&H Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 080543268X |
Book Description
For students ages eight to fourteen, the MY AMERICAN JOURNEY series presents a true history of the United States with a cleverly helpful dose of fiction.
Each of these first four books (in a projected series of ten) recounts highlights from the life of a true American founder or social pioneer. But to engage a student's interest from page one, a fictional narrator - usually a school-age person who somehow knew the main hero - tells the story with youthful vigor.
Adding to Deborah Hedstrom-Page's unique lessons are plentiful illustrations from Sergio Martinez (Max Lucado's You Are Special). Each book also contains study questions for every chapter and other educational helps.
Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) was an African-American abolitionist. Born into slavery herself, she helped hundreds of slaves escape to the North via the Underground Railroad during the Civil War.
Books:
- Help Me Say Goodbye: Activities for Helping Kids Cope When a Special Person Dies
- Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- Home with God: In a Life That Never Ends
- Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?
- Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour
- Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour
Books Index
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