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...
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