Quotes from Catherine Clinton

I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other."40

Of course, in these racial passion plays, though the "good guys" might have been either black or white, the villains were nearly always white. It was tricky for the majority of blacks during the antebellum era to separate friend from foe. As one African American confided: "They [whites] was all . . . devils and good people walking in the road at the same time, and nobody could tell one from t'other."4

The free black community, especially in the border states, steadily increased at the turn of the nineteenth century. No black population grew more dramatically during the early years of the republic than Maryland's. Its free people of color made up the second largest free black population in 1790—and became the largest free black population of any state by 1810.

Tubman despised the licentious atmosphere that plagued towns where Civil War soldiers gathered. As one of the Union doctors complained, the mistreatment of black women was a shame and scandal of occupied Carolina, where lawless conditions reigned during the first year of occupation.

South Carolina slaveholders were the staunchest of Rebels, belligerent for independence and ready for blood.

If you are tired, keep going; if you are scared, keep going; if you are hungry, keep going; if you want to taste freedom, keep going.

She believed her ability was a kind of second sight, something she inherited from her father, who she said could forecast the weather and had predicted the war with Mexico.

Family members lost to slave sales were worse than dead, as there was no peace or closure.

Owners, physicians, and overseers regularly accused female laborers of pretending to be pregnant. The charge of "shamming" was a self-serving lament as much as a legitimate concern, as it was rare for pregnant women to be given any dispensation.

Although African Americans toiling in the field might be seen as the quintessential image of slavery, the more potent symbol of the system was the auction block.

One day, Tubman recalled, she was whipped five times before breakfast—and her neck bore the scars from this incident for the rest of her life.

jumping the broom," in lieu of or in addition to the exchange of vows. The bride and groom would each jump backwards over a broom handle held a few inches above the floor, and raised slightly with each leap. Whoever stumbled first was, according to lore, forced to heed the wishes of the other.

More than a decade before, another young woman in her twenties, Isabella Baumfree, born a Dutch-speaking slave in rural New York, resolved her spiritual crises by running away from her master and eventually changing her name to Sojourner Truth. She seized the opportunity for emancipation in 1826

By the 1840s, informal networks were well established, as was the reigning metaphor of the Underground Railroad (UGRR).

The problem was so widespread that in 1793 Congress passed the first Fugitive Slave Act.

Thus demographic shifts stimulated an increase in race prejudice and mob violence, especially among working-class whites and European immigrants also pouring into the city.16

If you are tired, keep going; if you are scared, keep going; if you are hungry, keep going; if you want to taste freedom, keep going." Along with the inspirational spirituals for which Moses became so beloved, this motto has been handed down to the present generation as part of her enduring legacy.

I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other.

The Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of the Abolition of Slavery

Years later Tubman likened her decision to an epiphany: "I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other."40

1857 Dred Scott decision, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that African Americans were not guaranteed rights as citizens and that slave status could not be outlawed by any state government.

Official military reports credited Montgomery with the Combahee River Raid's triumph, yet soldiers recognized this victory as Harriet Tubman's.

Even if a slave woman became pregnant by another man because of rape, there is evidence that some black men were unwilling to be understanding of the situation.

Douglass's hesitation was understandable. His own letters and speeches were consistently full of retribution and bloodshed, but Douglass never actually participated in any such activities.