Harriet Tubman (Mar. 1822 – Mar, 10, 1913) was born into slavery in the state of Maryland. Her legacy and exploits were brought to the forefront in the movie titled “Harriet”. Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia goes into great detail, but the movie brings a more personal approach to her extraordinary life.
Harriet’s life and legacy was rough to say the least but she survived and lived a long life. For a woman who never learned how to read or write, she has two National Parks named after her legendary life’s journey; The Auburn National Park in NY and The Church Creek National Park in MD.
We know the name Harriet Tubman because she did so much, but we don’t know all the details. We know she ran away from slavery and that she returned many times to rescue others. The Bucktown weight that hit her in the head could have killed her, but GOD stepped in and turned tragedy into victory. Her spiritual visions saved her and her passengers countless times. To the southern plantation owners, she was their biggest threat. As a results The Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress to appease the Southern slave owning states.
Harriet Tubman didn’t start the Underground Railroad but she became the most famous conductor. If you didn’t see the movie ‘Harriet’ when it was in the theaters I highly recommend you get the DVD and make sure you watch the bonus material. The movie is a fictionalized version of history which means it is designed to inform and entertain.
During the Civil War she served as a cook and a nurse then a armed scout and a spy. She even led a military expedition of 150 African American soldiers from the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment which liberated over 750 slaves.
Harriet the movie was produced by three women; Debra Martin Chase, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, and Kasi Lemmons the Co-writer/Director. They wanted to tell the Harriet Tubman story from a woman’s view. Slavery is harsh and brutal but they wanted to include a sense of hopefulness in her story. They wanted to show her as a hero with a purpose based on family. The scenes were designed to bring hope to some of the darkest days of American history.
Harriet Tubman was the small frame slave woman, who said “I’m gonna die or I’m gonna be free” before she jumped off the bridge. Reminds me of another American who made it into American history. He said, “Give me liberty or give me death”. Patrick was his name and they both had big dreams and became American Icons.
H.G.M.
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