Primary Source Analysis: Harriet Tubman's Life and Legacy

Introduction

This paper analyzes three primary sources that together document the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman: a biographical account written by Sarah H. Bradford in 1868, meeting minutes from the New York State Women Suffrage Association, and a pension affidavit Tubman filed with the U.S. government in 1898. Each source illuminates a different dimension of Tubman's contributions to American history, from her work on the Underground Railroad to her service in the Union Army and her recognition within the women's suffrage movement.

Bradford's Biographical Account of 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 was 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 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 enslaved people 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 the Underground Railroad, and her service in the Union Army during the war. Scattered throughout this account are letters from colonels, generals, political leaders, and cabinet appointees — including the Surgeon General and the 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 conclude 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.

Women's Suffrage Association Meeting Minutes

Another primary source examined is 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. Their inclusion in the 1905–1906 scrapbook maintained by the Millers suggests an approximate date of publication. The minutes describe efforts to send a delegate to Oregon on the eve of consideration for a state constitutional amendment granting women full suffrage, including the right to vote, which provides a useful estimation of the publication date. Following a long paragraph listing the delegates selected to attend the national convention is another 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 she gave before the committee during the morning session.

The Miller sisters' scrapbook containing this passage is one of several volumes documenting the National American Women Suffrage Association's activities between 1897 and 1911 (Miller and Miller). The inclusion of the New York State Association's minutes helps to document the widespread recognition of Harriet Tubman, her status as an formerly enslaved person, and her accomplishments during the pre-war and wartime periods. Harriet Tubman had therefore become a respected and celebrated woman in her own time.

Conclusion

The general affidavit and congressional bill substantiate claims that Harriet Tubman served as a nurse in the Union Army with enough distinction that she successfully petitioned Congress for an additional $25 per month. Taken together, the three primary sources analyzed in this paper — Bradford's biographical account, the suffrage association meeting minutes, and Tubman's pension affidavit — collectively confirm that Harriet Tubman was an extraordinary figure whose courage, service, and legacy were recognized by her contemporaries across multiple spheres of American public life.