Women in the Civil War Research Paper

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Real Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman -- Journal Article Review

The stories, myths, and facts surrounding Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad may seem to be a settled matter to the public, but this is far from true (Larson 9). Over the past several decades, historians have been sifting through primary source material for additional information about Tubman's contributions to the Underground Railroad during the Pre-Civil War period. The routes that Tubman used ran through Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York to St. Catharines in Canada. This journal article will examine this new evidence and the arguments presented by Kate Larson to justify her findings and conclusions.

A New Perspective

Larson lists various types of primary source material documenting the Underground Railroad and sounds surprised that historians had, until recently, largely ignored this wealth of information (9-10). These sources revealed that there were scores of men and women who took great risks to ensure that the Railroad functioned smoothly, thereby helping thousands of escaped slaves to make their way northward to freedom.

The exact details concerning Tubman becoming an integral part of a small abolitionist and suffragist community in upstate New York is unknown, but Tubman herself credited Philadelphia Quaker Lucretia Mott as being the first person to help her after escaping slavery in Maryland (Larson 9-12).
Mott's ties to similar communities in New York and New England are assumed to be the logical connection. Subsequently, Tubman's efforts to help her loved ones and others escape slavery can be found in the journals kept by Stationmasters along the Underground Railroad. These Stationmasters were occasionally journalists and publishers comfortable with making detailed written observations. Larson presents some of the journal entries and it is hard not to be similarly incredulous that these details have only recently been studied by historians. William Still in Philadelphia and Sydney Howard Gay in New York helped coordinate movements north and interacted with Tubman on several occasions. Their journals provide some of the more remarkable details.

Although Still and Gay typically sent freed slaves north to Syracuse, Albany, New Bedford (MA), and Boston, Tubman preferred to take her companions further north, across the Niagara River to St. Catherines, Canada (Larson 13). The historical importance of these journal entries are supported….....

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https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/women-civil-war-96887