2016 Reprint of Second Edition of 1886. Originally entitled “Harriet: The Moses of Her Peopleâ€; this is contemporary biography of Harriet Tubman; an African-American abolitionist; humanitarian; and Union spy during the American Civil War. Born into slavery; Tubman escaped and subsequently made more than nineteen missions to rescue more than 300 slaves using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. She later helped John Brown recruit men for his raid on Harpers Ferry; and in the post-war era struggled for women's suffrage. As a child in Dorchester County; Maryland; Tubman was beaten by masters to whom she was hired out. Early in her life; she suffered a severe head wound when hit by a heavy metal weight. The injury caused disabling seizures; narcoleptic attacks; headaches; and powerful visionary and dream experiences; which occurred throughout her life. A devout Christian; Tubman ascribed the visions and vivid dreams to revelations from God. In 1849; Tubman escaped to Philadelphia; then immediately returned to Maryland to rescue her family. Slowly; one group at a time; she brought relatives out of the state; and eventually guided dozens of other slaves to freedom. Traveling by night; Tubman (or "Moses"; as she was called) "never lost a passenger". Large rewards were offered for the return of many of the fugitive slaves; but no one then knew that Tubman was the one helping them. When the Southern-dominated Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850; requiring law officials in free states to aid efforts to recapture slaves; she helped guide fugitives farther north into Canada; where slavery had been abolished in 1834. When the American Civil War began; Tubman worked for the Union Army; first as a cook and nurse; and then as an armed scout and spy. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war; she guided the Combahee River Raid; which liberated more than 700 slaves in South Carolina. After the war; she retired to the family home in Auburn; New York; where she cared for her aging parents. She became active in the women's suffrage movement in New York until illness overtook her. Near the end of her life; she lived in a home for elderly African Americans that she had helped found years earlier.
#1150898 in Books 2015-04-21Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x .75 x 6.00l; .0 #File Name: 1632206366264 pages
Review
112 of 119 people found the following review helpful. Author's Negativity Completely Ruins Any Benefit To Reading This BookBy Erin GI was excited to read this book and initially enjoyed it. However; the author's sanctimonious; self-righteous and downright negative personality became the only thing I was able to take away from this book. Nearly every interaction she has with other people besides her corset-obsessed husband is completely negative and downright strange. She goes off on random rants berating everyone around her for things that literally have nothing to do with the subject matter. This book comes off as a petty diary of an immature girl's teenage years while she also happens to be wearing a corset. I really wish I could mention a redeeming quality about this book. I want to so badly because - hello - Victoriana; corsets; early 1900s fashion- what isn't there to love? Unfortunately; nothing0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Fascinating!By james b potterFascinating book; once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. Sarah Chrisman is a brilliant writer and the book is well researched; there were so many myths that she disproved. I so enjoyed reading about her immersion into the Victorian era; a time that has always been of so much interest. I had to underline some of the passages so that I could read them to my husband; especially the section where she disproves the myth about Victorians being prudish.We had a good laugh.We could all do well to embrace some Victorian manners and etiquette.This should be required reading for young women! I am now in the process of devouring "This Victorian Life"357 of 387 people found the following review helpful. Would have been a delightful book; but....By DawnRiderI was really looking forward to reading this book; having read a short review of it on a on a website. How different the reality! Though I did finish it; I could only tolerate it in small doses. Ms. Chrisman is a good writer and has a way with words; it's true; but her contemptuous attitude towards everyone in the book who was not her husband or of any benefit to her was off-putting to the max.I was particularly offended by her classification of a bus driver who attempted to help her and accidentally unraveled an already loose petticoat ruffle as "a low class southern brute"- she prattles on ad infinitum about her poor abused petticoat having been manhandled; as if the driver recognized her clothing as antique and maliciously decided to destroy it; rather than just trying to help her on the bus. This same petticoat she refers to as one she purchased for herself "for learning to walk again" (NOT!) after having to recuperate from a broken foot for a mere six weeks; part of which time she spent walking in a supportive orthopedic boot. Reading this; I was outraged for everyone who has experienced a genuinely traumatic injury and has had to spend months or years in physical therapy truly learning to walk again.She downs doctors; the healthcare profession in general; people who have misconceptions about corsetry; people who don't dress according to her high standards of historical accuracy; people who may or may not be staring at her in coffee shops; a party hostess that has an unfortunate moment of inattention; and on and on. She has hardly anything good to say about anyone; excluding her husband and and a few people who flatter her. It just became downright tiresome to read all that vitriol.This would have been a delightful read if Ms Chrisman had stuck to her experience learning to wear her corset; debunking the myths about corseting; and imparting details about Victorian clothing. That's what I really wanted to know. As it is written; she comes across as alternately spoiled; condescending; self righteously preachy; and self pitying.My (no doubt unappreciated) advice to Ms. Chrisman: Develop a little empathy for others before you write another book. It will make your life happier and your writing voice stronger.
