Profiling Harriet Tubman

We are down to our last two classes for our Underground Abductor unit, a unit about Harriet Tubman, the Underground Railroad, and American slavery. As we finish our readings for this unit, it's time to step back and analyze Ms. Tubman a bit more deeply. While from our historical distance we often perceive her as another person from history, we tend to overlook just how awesome she was.

Think about it. Harriet Tubman, a runaway, a black woman, illiterate, disabled, made no less than twenty incursions into the South and saved more than a thousand slaves from bondage without ever getting caught. Not even once. She had nothing working in her favor, but she went, time and time again for no pay to help others, and she was never caught. In fact, she never lost a single person in her charge. Her success and acts are incredible and exceptional which is why we take the time to learn about this woman, to honor her legacy.

To do this, students will complete a Character Profile of Harriet Tubman this week using our novel and two primary sources. The assignment is posted below. Students will also respond to their classmates' slave resistance videos this week. I've put that task below as well.