Women in the Civil War

¶ … Real Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman -- Journal Article Review

The stories, myths, and facts surrounding Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad may seem to be a settled matter to the public, but this is far from true (Larson 9). Over the past several decades, historians have been sifting through primary source material for additional information about Tubman's contributions to the Underground Railroad during the Pre-Civil War period. The routes that Tubman used ran through Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York to St. Catharines in Canada. This journal article will examine this new evidence and the arguments presented by Kate Larson to justify her findings and conclusions.

A New Perspective

Larson lists various types of primary source material documenting the Underground Railroad and sounds surprised that historians had, until recently, largely ignored this wealth of information (9-10). These sources revealed that there were scores of men and women who took great risks to ensure that the Railroad functioned smoothly, thereby helping thousands of escaped slaves to make their way northward to freedom.

The exact details concerning Tubman becoming an integral part of a small abolitionist and suffragist community in upstate New York is unknown, but Tubman herself credited Philadelphia Quaker Lucretia Mott as being the first person to help her after escaping slavery in Maryland (Larson 9-12). Mott's ties to similar communities in New York and New England are assumed to be the logical connection. Subsequently, Tubman's efforts to help her loved ones and others escape slavery can be found in the journals kept by Stationmasters along the Underground Railroad. These Stationmasters were occasionally journalists and publishers comfortable with making detailed written observations. Larson presents some of the journal entries and it is hard not to be similarly incredulous that these details have only recently been studied by historians. William Still in Philadelphia and Sydney Howard Gay in New York helped coordinate movements north and interacted with Tubman on several occasions. Their journals provide some of the more remarkable details.

Although Still and Gay typically sent freed slaves north to Syracuse, Albany, New Bedford (MA), and Boston, Tubman preferred to take her companions further north, across the Niagara River to St. Catherines, Canada (Larson 13). The historical importance of these journal entries are supported by the fact that William Still had recorded every person requesting help since 1852, not just those assisted by Tubman. The purpose of this record was to help family and friends attempting to locate their loved ones when they too traveled the Underground Railroad. In addition to 'passenger' lists and destinations, Still kept several journals documenting what was spent on clothing, food, shelter, transportation, and medicine as a Stationmaster on the Underground Railroad.

The efforts of historians to collate the information gleamed from hundreds of primary sources, like those mentioned above, have enabled a surprisingly detailed picture of Tubman's adventures to emerge (Larson 16-23). On a particularly harrowing journey, taking much longer than usual due to pursuit by slave owners and slave catchers, ended in Canada just on the other side of the Niagara River. One of the slaves, worth a remarkable reward of $1,500 for capture, was so despondent throughout the ordeal that he could not look upon the resplendent Niagara Falls as they crossed the bridge to freedom. When informed that he was finally free, he jumped for joy and claimed that the next journey he would take would be to meet his maker. Tubman, a bit exasperated with the burden of his despondency, responded by stating "You might have looked at the Falls first and gone to Heaven afterwards" (22).