Catherine Clinton's Harriet Tubm The Road To Freedom

Catherine Clinton’s biography “Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom” is an interesting and comprehensive biography on Harriet Tubman’s life. Catherine Clinton is a renowned historian with a special interest in black history. Many consider Harriet Tubman as the “Black Moses” of America and for good reason; she has lead hundreds of slaves to freedom, risking her own life for their welfare. This book is truly comprehensive and immersive and focuses on exposing the reality of Harriet Tubman’s life. Most biographical narratives on Tubman have become predominantly focused on her myth, we all know her as the mastermind of the “underground railroad”, but many aspects of her life have become forgotten. This narrative really focuses on Harriet Tubman,
Clinton first introduces the world in which Harriet Tubman lived in. The book also delves into the topics of social history of American slavery and the antislavery movement, and how Harriet Tubman greatly fought for this cause. Clinton tells the story of Tubman’s struggles and her life around the greater battle for emancipation that was occurring in America. Clinton provides a general overview of conditions for slaves along the Eastern shore; and how Harriet must have lived during her early life. Harriet Tubman was very much an ordinary woman, with the normal complexities of ordinary life. However, her extraordinary accomplishments are how she is remembered today. However, Harriet Tubman endured travails that all human beings endure. However, what made Harriet Tubman so extraordinary was her strength and courage in facing the realities of life, and the dangers she exposed herself to be very real. Her character truly defines and speaks volumes about who she truly was, rather than her
Tubman was born during the “era of good feeling”, a historical period within American history of peace and prosperity. This of course did not apply to African Americans, whose lives were still controlled solely in the hands of their white owners. Clinton narrates Tubman’s journey from being born a slave in Maryland to her daring escape to Canada, her daring journeys back to the United States and the already glorified endeavors of the Underground Railroad. Clinton also explains how Tubman’s husband John Tubman had a substantial influence on Harriet. They were married as teens in Maryland, Clinton says that their early marriage was filled with “happiness and repose, they loved each other tenderly and with great passion”. Little has been known about the relationship between these two. Clinton paints a picture of a happy couple torn apart through their conflicting moral values. John Tubman was content to live out his life on the farm. John felt that despite the conditions under which he lived, they were not as worse as comparable circumstances at other farms. His indecisiveness when it came to his personal freedom ultimately led him to refuse to run away with Harriet. Running away to Canada without John had a profound effect on her and was a turning point in her life. Harriet took a huge risk, one that took a lot of courage and conviction in her ideals to be able to leave her relationship. Harriet, the real human