In 1840, Araminty "Minty" Ross, a slave on the farm of Edward Brodess, has married a freedman named John Tubman. John arrives on the Brodess farm with a letter from a lawyer that he and Minty hired. Brodess's grandfather had willed that Minty mother be freed when she turned forty-five along with Minty and her sisters. But Minty's mother is now fifty-six and Brodess has recently sold her two older sisters to another farm. They give Edward Brodess the letter, requesting that he free Minty and her mother. Brodess is infuriated and orders John off his farm and Minty and her mother back to work in the fields.
Devastated, Minty runs into the nearby forest, and prays to God that he take Brodess because he is an evil man. Minty is followed into the forest by Brodess's son, Gideon who overhears her prayer. Minty and Gideon played together as children on the farm, but now Gideon tells her that his father warned him about having a favourite slave. "Boy, having a favorite slave is like having a favorite pig. You can feed it, play with it, give it a name, but one day you might have to eat it or sell it."Shortly after this Edward Brodess dies and Gideon takes over the Brodess farm. He promptly puts Minty up for sale. While chopping wood, Minty has a vision of herself fleeing the Brodess farm to freedom. She has had this vision before but decides to act on it as her desire to be free has become so overwhelming. She meets John who shows her the flyer advertising her sale but he also tries to talk her out of running away. Minty however is determined. She races to the field and sings goodbye to her mother and flees to her father's house. He tells her to go to the Reverend Green's home.
The Reverend Green tries to talk Minty out of running away but when he sees how determined she is he tells her she must be miles away from the Brodess farm by morning. He tells her to follow the North Star and when she can't see the star to follow the river. Minty is to follow the Delaware River and travel to Wilmington where she is to seek out a blacksmith named Thomas Garret.
Minty is pursued by Gideon, his men and hounds until they finally meet at a bridge on the Delaware river. Gideon promises to not to sell her but Minty tells him "I'm gonna be free or die." and she jumps. Gideon searches along the river but when he doesn't find Minty, he believes she has died. In fact, Minty survives the jump and is helped by a Quaker farmer in whose wagon she hides. Minty reaches Wilmington, Delaware where she locates Thomas Garret who takes her in. After resting and recovering, Minty is driven by Garret, also a Quaker, to the Pennsylvania border and freedom. He tells her that Philadelphia is twenty-five miles north and to ask for the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society led by William Still. Garret gives Minty a card with Still's likeness so she will recognize him.
In Philadelphia, Still records Minty's name and asks her to take a new name in honour of her new-found freedom. She chooses Harriet Tubman. Still takes Harriet to a boarding house run by Marie Buchanon, who was born and raised free. Harriet is given a paid job as a maid but she finds herself lonely and deeply unhappy.
Harriet goes to see Still asking him to have his "angels" bring her husband and family out of slavery, however he tells her that this is too dangerous with so many runaways. Slave owners are frustrated, judges are working to help them and Congress is considering passing laws to help the South. Still is concerned that if Harriet returns to Maryland and is captured she will betray his network. However Harriet is determined and with the help of Marie who teaches her some basic etiquette and loans her a dress and a suit for John, she sets out. Harriet takes the train to Dover, Delaware using false papers identifying her as Dessa Dixon.
Meanwhile at the Brodess farm, Gideon wants to sell Harriet's brothers as the plantation is deeply in debt. Harriet returns to find her husband John, believing her drowned, has taken another wife who is now expecting their child. Devastated, Harriet questions God's purpose in all of this but soon discovers other slaves who do want to leave. Her father Ben takes her to house where her brothers Henry and Junyah as well as Henry's fiance, Jane and a young widow named Pheobe along with her baby are hiding. Robert joins them as well, leaving behind his wife and newborn daughter.
When Gideon learns that he has lost five slaves he is furious and threatens Harriet's sister, Rachel into revealing that it is "Minty" who is stealing his slaves. Gideon hires Bigger John to help him track and capture Minty and the slaves. But Harriet prevails, managing to lead all safely to freedom. Still is astonished at Harriet's success and decides to take her to meet the Committee, the officers and organizers of the Underground Railway.
Harriet soon becomes known as Moses in Maryland, although the slave owners have no idea who the slave stealer really is. She attempts to convince her sister Rachel to runaway but she refuses to leave because Brodess has sold her children. In Baltimore, Maryland Gideon learns from Bigger Lohn that Moses is actually is former slave, Minty Ross, now known as Harriet Tubman.
When Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act, allowing slave owners to track slaves in any state in the Union, Gideon and Bigger Lohn pursue Harriet to Philadelphia. With escaped slaves now in danger of being hunted down and brought back south, panic ensues. William Still insists that Harriet must go to Canada for her own safety. Before leaving, Harriet races to say goodbye to Marie, only to find her dying from a beating by Bigger Lohn. Harriet escapes to St. Catherines in Ontario, Canada.
With the death of her sister Rachel, Harriet returns to the United States to the home of Senator William Seward where the members of the Underground Railway are debating whether or not to continue the railway. Instead of helping slaves into free states they must now send them on a 500 mile journey north to Canada. But Harriet insists that they must continue and that likely only a war will end slavery now.
In 1858, Harriet returns to Dorchester County to free her parents and her sister Rachel's children. The group barely escapes with Gideon and Bigger John tracking them. Harriet stays behind to give her family a chance to escape and ends up confronting Gideon. She wounds him and fortells the future, that he and other young men will die in a war over slavery. "The moans of a generation of young men dying around you in agony for a lost cause. For a vile and wicked idea. For the sin of slavery."
Epilogue: When the Civil War breaks out, Harriet becomes a spy for the Union and leads one hundred and fifty black soldiers in the Combabee River Raid, freeing over 750 slaves. Harriet did eventually remarry. She died in 1913 at the age of 91 years of age.
Discussion
Harriet tells the story of Harriet Tubman, an African American woman who escaped slavery and who worked to save her family and others from slavery and end the evil of slavery.
The exact date of Harriet Tubman's birth is not known with a wide range of birth years being given. It is believed she was born sometime around 1822, in Dorchester County, Maryland, to Harriet "Rit" Green and Ben Ross both of whom were slaves. Rit, whose mother Modesty came to America on a slave ship from Africa, worked as a cook for Mary Pattison Brodess while Ben worked nearby on Anthony Thompson's plantation. Rit and Ben had nine children, Linah, Mariah Ritty, Soph, Robert, Minty, Ben, Rachel, Henry and Moses. Edward Brodess who was Anthony Thompson's stepson sold the three older girls, Linah, Mariah Ritty and Soph but when he attempted to sell Moses as a baby, Rit threatened to kill him.
Harriet was often loaned out to other plantations working in the fields. When she was thirteen she received a serious head wound that would affect her for the rest of her life. The injury resulted in her having headaches and seizures during which she seemed to experience vivid dreams or visions. Harriet believed these were from God and her faith in God became very strong.
Harriet's father Ben Ross was made a free man ins 1840 by Anthony Thompson's son who honored his father's wishes to free Ben at the age of forty-five. A lawyer hired by Ben discovered that Rit's former owner had stipulated that she would be manumitted at the age of forty-five, along with her children. However, the Brodess family refused to honour this and Rit and her children, including Harriet remained enslaved.
In 1844, Harriet still a slave, married John Tubman who was a free man. This meant that any children born to them would be slaves because the mother's status determined that of her children. When Harriet became ill in 1849, Brodess attempted unsuccessfully to sell her. After praying for Brodess to change his ways, and then changing her prayer that he be taken if he would not, Edward Brodess died suddenly. His death meant that many of the Brodess estate's slaves would be sold. This would break up Harriet's family forever and it was at this point that she decided to escape slavery.
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| Harriet Tubman ~ 1868 or 1869 |
Once free, Harriet Tubman was not content to stay in Pennsylvania while the rest of her family including her husband were still slaves. Harriet made many journeys back to Maryland to rescue members of her family and other slaves, guiding them to freedom along the Underground Railway. Her work was made especially dangerous with the passing in 1850 of the Fugitive Slave Act which permitted owners to pursue runaway slaves even into free states and forced law enforcement in free states to arrest runaways.
The film Harriet is not entirely factually accurate in its portrayal of Harriet's life. For example, Harriet's main adversary, Gideon Brodess is entirely fictional. Edward and Eliza did not have a son named Gideon. Instead, the character of Gideon embodies all the evil of the white slave owners, their belief that they could own people and that black people were simply not human. Also fictional is the character of Marie Buchanon, although for the telling of the story, it's quite likely that someone like Marie would have helped Harriet adjust to life as a free woman in Philadelphia.
Harriet does capture the most important aspects of the character and life of Harriet Tubman, focusing on her work against slavery and the traits that made her so successful. Initially Harriet wanted to be free but once she escaped slavery, being free was not enough. She wanted other slaves, beginning with her husband and her family to also be free and this evolved into the overriding purpose of her life. She was so effective in rescuing slaves that she became known as "Moses", although initially her identity was unknown to the slave owners, who believed "Moses" to be a white abolitionist. Harriet would rescue at least seventy slaves over the period of thirteen years.
The portrayal of Harriet Tubman's efforts to help slaves in the film provides viewers with much insight into the character of this remarkable woman. She is shown as determined, courageous in the face of grave danger and with an intense faith that God would guide her every step. Thankfully director Kasi Lemmons did not play down the role Tubman's Christian faith played in her life. Harriet frequently explains to others the role of God in her life when confronted with what seems to be the impossible. When William Still asks, "Who'd you make the journey with?" Harriet tells him, "I left my husband and family. It was just me and the Lord." Harriet explains to Still that the head injury she incurred from an overseer, "...just made God's voice more clear."
Later when Still refuses to help Harriet bring back her husband, she warns him not to tell her what she can and cannot do. "God was watching but my feet was my own." Marie Buchanon, curious about what it is like to hear God, questions Harriet about hearing God's voice. "Sometime it sting. Like a smack in the face. Other time it's soft. Like a dream...."
Cynthia Erivo gives a passionate and believable performance as Harriet Tubman. Joe Alwyn portrays the cold-hearted, relentlessly wicked Gideon Brodess who pursues Hattie, while Janelle Monae is an elegant, demure Marie Buchanon who believes in Harriet to the very end, even sacrificing her life for her. The film has some exquisite cinematic moments such as the glorious sunrise when Harriet arrives at the Pennsylvania border and is no longer a slave, and the dark, mysterious night shots as Harriet leads her groups of frightened slaves through darkened forests to freedom.
Harriet is a film worth watching and will encourage younger viewers to learn more about this remarkable African American heroine. Rated PG-13 with only a few instances of violence.
Harriet Tubman photograph from the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/2018645050/
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