Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Primary Source Material Analysis: Harriet Tubman
Mrs. Sarah H. Bradford wrote a small book in 1868 for the purpose of raising funds to benefit Harriet Tubman's efforts to buy a house and support herself and her aging parents (Introduction). This book was composed immediately before Bradford set sail for Europe in 1868 and its publication costs were covered by several benefactors. The book is remarkable because it is written by a White abolitionist and suffragist who had become acquainted with Harriet's work on the Underground Railroad through friends and associates.
The stories that Bradford included in the book were corroborated through independent sources and therefore represent a collection of accounts detailing Harriet's struggle to move her family and other slaves north to freedom in Canada along the Underground Railroad. To substantiate the veracity of these accounts Bradford includes in the preface several letters attesting to Harriet's contributions, including one from Frederick Douglass (5-8). What follows is a retelling of Harriet's escape from bondage, her work on...
Within this account are scattered letters from colonels, generals, political leaders, and cabinet appointees, including the Surgeon General and Secretary of State, substantiating Harriet's various contributions to the Underground Railroad and Union forces (e.g., 64-71). What this book allows the reader to argue is that Harriet Tubman was a remarkable and courageous woman who contributed in a number of significant ways to combating and ending slavery in the United States.
Another primary source was the final meeting minutes of the New York State Women Suffrage Association Executive Committee (Miller and Miller). The minutes were probably published in the association's state newsletter and later pasted into a scrapbook maintained by the Miller sisters. Its inclusion in the 1905 to 1906 scrapbook maintained by the Millers suggests an approximate date of publication. The minutes described efforts to send a delegate to Oregon on the eve of consideration for a state constitutional amendment giving women full suffrage, including the right to vote, which should provide a good estimation of publication date. Following a long paragraph listing the delegates selected for attending the national convention is another long paragraph briefly describing the publication of Sarah H. Bradford's book on Harriet Tubman's contributions to the Underground Railroad and the war, Harriet's travel to the committee meeting, her stay with committee members, and a brief talk in front of the…
Works Cited
Bradford, Sarah H. Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman. 1869. Salem, NH: Ayer Company, 1992. Print.
Miller, Anne Fitzhugh and Miller, Elizabeth Smith. Miller NAWSA Suffrage Scrapbooks, 1897-1911. Scrapbook 1905-1906. Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Washington, D.C. Web. 9 Sep. 2013. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D-rbcmillerbib:3:./temp/~ammem_fED1::
Tubman, Harriet. "General Affidavit" [Claim of Harriet Tubman: General affidavit of Harriet Tubman Davis regarding payment for services rendered during the Civil War]. The Center for Legislative Archives, National Archives, c. 1898. Web. 9 Sep. 2013. http://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/claim-of-harriet-tubman/.
Civil War How did it happen that the North won the Civil War, notwithstanding the fact that the South had its own powerful advantages? This paper explores that question using chapters 11, 12, 13 and 14 for reference sources. Background on the Southern economy and politics The South greatly expanded its agricultural industry (the plantation system) between 1800 and 1860, and in doing so became "increasingly unlike the North," the author explains in
Both the North and the South had notable female spies; ladies of a certain class simply wouldn't have been heavily scrutinized, nor would it have been thought that they would have any knowledge of essential strategic and political information. This allowed Washington, D.C. socialite Rose O'Neal Greenhow to continue spying for the Confederacy throughout the duration of the war, earning her a place as one of the most productive
Women of the South During the Civil War Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War. (New York: Vintage Books, 1997). Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War is a book about women in the South during the Civil War. The broader issue of this book is how women can empower themselves even in the face of hardship and - although
Robert E. Lee was also an important general responsible for commanding the Northern Virginia regiment of the confederate army. Lee was interesting in that even though he was a confederate commander he was believed be against slavery. Lincoln's beliefs about America are forever engrained on the national psyche. Speeches such as the Gettysburg Address are still quoted and reflects the intent of the founding fathers. The Gettysburg Address states, "Four
The war and the years that preceded it led to the creation of social classes in our country. These classes consisted of the rich upper-class down to the poor immigrants; and each class had its own rules and regulations by which it lived. To this day, a large part of our society is based on classes. Socially, the war divided races and started what would lead to racism, bigotry, and
Nobles, Connie H. (2000). Gazing upon the invisible: Women and children at the Old Baton Rouge Penitentiary. American Antiquity, 65(1), 5. Archaeological investigation of the Old Baton Rouge Penitentiary includes studying artifacts to determine the conditions of the children and women who were housed there as prisoners. "There were a total of 1,310 artifacts collected from this site. Five major categories of items include: 1) ceramic goods, 2) glass vessels, 3)