Harriet Tubman: Imagining a Life

¶ … Harriet Tubman: Imagining a Life by Beverly Lowry. Specifically, it will contain an analysis of the book and Tubman's impact on American history. This is an unusual book, because it combines biography with fiction, "imagining" what certain experiences might have been like in Tubman's life, and then blending them with true details of her life. This book illustrates the important role Harriet had in history, by creating the Underground Railroad and sending so many slaves to safety in the north and in Canada.

Harriet Tubman was born in 1820 in Maryland and lived as a slave until she ran away in 1849. Her escape changed her life, and created a place for her in history. She had an enormous impact on American history, not because she escaped, but because she became a "Moses" to her people, making trips south again and again to rescue other slaves and lead them to freedom. She established what became known as the Underground Railroad, which utilized secret stops along planned routes that led north to Canada and freedom. The author writes, "Black abolitionists are leading the cause, with white compatriots as allies, conspirators, and full participants."

Her most important accomplishment and gift to American history was to show that blacks would do just about anything to be free, and that they would go to just about any length to help others gain their freedom too. There were laws against aiding slaves escape, and Harriet faced heavy penalties, and even death, if she had been caught. That did not deter her, and she proved to others that it could be done, another important accomplishment in her life.

Another important aspect of Harriet that made her so important to history is that she refused to give in to slavery and the people that would fight her. For example, she gave her real name to reporters covering the black flight to Canada, and would not ever bow to the consequences of her actions. Lowry writes, "In her last years, she will insist that interviewers get it right. Posterity is hers, earned and identified."

In total, she brings over 70 slaves to freedom herself, and is never caught, but her Underground Railroad helped others gain their freedom too, even if they did not travel directly with her.

Even after she stopped leading slaves to freedom, Harriet did not stop accomplishing important things in history. During the Civil War, she became active with the Union Army, and acted as a spy. The author notes, "She will be a spy, a recruiter, a specialist in intelligence, a guerilla warrior."

This makes sense, because these were many of the same things she did successfully on the Underground Railroad, but it also shows her great strength and determination to help free other slaves and ensure they remained free. She was also important because this was a time when women were far less involved in society, and yet she was not afraid to step forward and serve. It was even more difficult for black women to be actively involved in social issues, so she made history by being one of the first and by serving so loyally.

This book uses an unusual approach to portray an important individual's life. The author uses first-hand accounts of the life and times of Harriet Tubman, so the account is true, but she also "imagines" specific scenes and times, and how Harriet might have acted as she experienced them. This is true fiction, but the author has researched her individual so well that it is almost as if she knows her, and knows how she would react in these situations. That makes it a much more interesting and engaging book, because it is almost as if the reader is right there with Tubman, experiencing what she experienced, and it makes it much easier to read this book and imagine what Tubman experienced throughout her life.

There were many elements of Tubman's life that I had not read about before. For example, I did not know that she lived to be nearly 100 years old, and I did not know about her time spent as a spy for the Union Army. I mostly knew her from her exploits with the Underground Railroad, but I did not know that she made so many journeys back for her family and others, I thought she had formed the railroad and that others helped people escape. She was a true heroine, and many people of the time acknowledged that. One newspaper wrote, "We write,' Sanborn continues, 'of one of these heroines, of whom our slave annals are full -- a woman whose career is as extraordinary as the most famous of her sex can show'."

She also served as a nurse for a time during the war, another thing I did not know. She was also severely injured as a child with a head injury, and suffered from it throughout her life. She attributed her visions to that injury and thought it gave her the ability to listen to God.