Mama, papa! Harriet! I got the old man
wagon from the field! Just like you asked me to. They never use it. Quick, then!
We ain't got much time. There they are! Get down! Git! I'll get you! We alright. Ah! To the horse! Harriet Tubman!
I'm gonna get you! My name is Harriet Tubman and from the time I's born, I's property of Master Anthony
Thompson- 'same as my brothers and sisters
and Mama and Papa. 'Can't say how old I am 'cause birth of a slave
just considered like birth of horse or mule. Masters don't really
care when we born.... ... they just happy t' have
another slave do work for free or be sold in market for good
money. Wish I could say we be few, but
we not... there be slaves all over this
country. We had no choice, y'see... but I knew it wasn't right. I knew it wasn't God's plan. I knew it, even when I's a very
lil' girl. Mama! Mama!! Please don't send us away! PLEASE! Hush now! Stop all the fussin'! Oh, I so dislike it when they make such a fuss! They'll be part of the
chain gang headin' south. Get going! Yes, boss! Mama! Soph! Lynah! Oh, Lord Jesus.
Not my little ones. Lynah! Please don't take my children,
master. Please! No. Lynah!
- Please, Master Thompson. Hush now, Mama... C'mon now mama-
ain't nothin' we can do... ... she'll be fine in a few
minutes, sir... I should hope so!
We don't want supper to be late. WHY?
-HARRIET! They couldn't even say g'bye! Harriet, you hush up now! Why!? 'Cause they fetch a good price, that's why! Now get back to work! But it wrong! It wrong.... Harriet you come here! Now you've gotten
the mistress upset! Ben, you better keep your
brood under control if you don't want a whipping! Very sorry sir and I do
hope mistress feels better. Come now, Harriet, let's help mama to the kitchen. Harriet... One o' these days Papa-
I promise I's gonna be outta
here... One o' these days-
I gonna be free! All of us are! And how you expect to do that? I don't know how or when...
But I's gonna pray and pray. And you expect God to listen to a slave girl? He heard slaves 'n Egypt...
sent 'em Moses, didn't He? Well, 'till Moses shows up Pharaoh's whip's gonna keep
all of you slaves in your place! Listen to me child. You pay him no mind.... and you put your trust in the
Lord...
just as I's taught you Just put your trust in Him. Time passed and Spencer, the supervisor, he kept
his promise... But me... I also kept mine.
I prayed. And I prayed, and I prayed,
and I prayed... Well, Lord here I am. Still pickin' tobacco on
Master Thompson's fields while he sittin' pretty
watchin' us slaves do all the work! And Lord... I'm comin' t'you
again saying... Please! Let Master pick his own
tobacco and set us free! Still a'prayin', sister? 'Good Book say, 'pray without ceasin'- God forbid there come an hour in heav'n when 'n angel don't
come to the Lord'n say: Lord Jesus- It's Harriet again! I'm hopin' He'll just get tired
o' hearin' me and set me free! Well, I hope that day
come real soon! Real soon. Amen to that! Lord Jesus - Harriet again
asking
for the same thing... ...And the feisty one...
Harriet. How is she working out? She's strong and keeps up- except for those fainting
spells. Which would not be a problem if you hadn't hit her on the
head. Well, I was aiming
for that runaway slave- serves her right for
steppin' in to protect him. Anyhow, she'll still
fetch you a good price. Good, because she and two of her brothers
are getting sold South... ... in a matter of days. Guess God didn't answer
yer prayers after all. Auuughhh.... There she goes faintin' again! My dear girl!
Are thou unwell? I-I-I's sorry, ma'am... I get back to work right away! But thou has fainted!
And- what is that scar on thy
head? It nothin' ma'am... Girl! I's fine! I get back to- Listen to me, if thou ever has need of a friend- or... or a ticket on the
underground railroad... Get back to work!
- The underground railroad? I said- I live down the road, white
house, green shutters... ...get back to work! Thou will remember? Oh! 'This slave bothering
you, ma'am? Bothering? Why no... I- Then you best be on your way. She's got work to do. Yes, well... I shall go! God bless thee! God bless thee both! Huh! Must be one of those
crazy Quakers. And you- Master Spencer!
This'll help her... to get back
to work. Fine. You ain't restin'
till the job's done. Hear me?
Faintin' or no faintin'! That woman... 'said if I ever needed help to come t'her. Then maybe your prayers
are being answered. Why you say that? 'Cause we being sold in a few
days! What about Mama and Papa? You don't think my heart's
breakin'
leavin' 'em? But they can't walk that far! Anyhow... we being sold! - We being sent away from 'em
anyway. Well what if it's a trap? What if that Quaker woman means us no good? You know what they do to runaway slaves if
they be caught. IF they be caught!
Now come on! We can help each other
get to freedom! Come on now... What you waitin' for? I... I can't. Ben! Me neither.
It's too dangerous! Let's go back. Harriet! I just can't go back to that. Harriet... please. Harriet! Why?... Why, Lord? Why anybody need to chose
between family and freedom? Why anybody need to chose? Help me come back for my family when the time is right, Lord! Please! I-I... needs ticket... to the Underground Railroad Dear child- thou has fled,
praise God! And now... -thou must go! There is no time to lose. Where is it?... Is it under the house? Under the house? The train... to take me North. Oh dear, dear child... There is no train! No train!???... Oh no! Then I
gotta go back! My child! Be calm. I have not
tricked thee. The Underground
Railroad, is a route... a way- from
friendly house to friendly house and following it will take
thee to freedom! But thou must go... for thou
will need to travel under the cover of darkness and you have a very long
ways to go! It's a good thing Papa taught me
that moss grows only on the north side o'trees... It's so dark I can hardly see! A river! ... Quaker woman say hounds can't track scent in the
water... Lord... sun's coming up... Please help me find a place to
hide. For goodness sake woman, stop your shakin' and answer. Where's Harriet? We... we don't know. We as surprised as you are.
Honest. They're lying, but I can get 'em
to talk. No. I know my slaves and this
one, he's never lied to me. You're wasting
precious time, Spencer. Well, what are you waiting for?
You heard Master. Saddle up our horses!
And Ben... Sir? When you finish that... Fetch the hounds. Oh, Lord Jesus!
Protect Harriet! Protect m'child! You're sure you haven't seen
her? I told you - I have not! Now, my supper is
waiting and in case you haven't noticed- IT'S RAINING! We've been riding all day, boss. Even the hounds is tired! We'll camp for the night. Go! Thank you for sparing me, Lord. Thank you! Some food.
God be with you! Thank you, ma'am! I must've said that thank-you
prayer 'hundred times 'cause so many good people
of the Underground Railroad risked their necks f'me... ... and helped me through that
long,
hard journey. Just stay real quiet and we'll get you
through the town. For me? Get some rest. You have one more
night of travel. And tomorrow morning you'll
reach Pennsylvania, and freedom. Now Lord,- you know I ain't
never
learned to read- but that Quaker woman said when I see a sign
like that--- it mean freedom. And that looks like
a match t'me! Praise God! I's free!
I'S FREE! For so long I wonder'd what'd
happen when I's free an' I looked
at m'hands to see if I's any
different. No... same ol' worn hands. Same ol' tired feet. Same ol'... A smile on my face...
Oh, Lord Jesus... I has a smile on my face 'n
tears o' joy. I has tears...
o'joy! And I wished that moment
on every slave in the world. I wished that freedom on
everyone! Here's our pay for this week!
Now let's be off quick! My,my, my... first time I ever
got
paid t'wash dishes! Freedom's good!
Where you say we going again? We free slaves meet with William
Still, he be a part of the
Underground Railroad and helps
us once we here in the North.
He say he got news for us all. Let's just hope is good news! I'm afraid it's not. The
Government
has just passed the Fugitive Act which means that any slave
who has escaped to the North can be arrested and sent back. Sent back? Why? Because the government says
slaves are property of their
masters and by escaping, the slaves are
stealing... from their own
masters. The safest thing now is to leave
the United States and go to
Canada but its going to take us
weeks to extend the
railroad all the way there. Canada? That's over
300 miles away! Harriet. I'm afraid I have even
more bad news. We hear your brothers
are being sold further south. Oh, Lord! I'm sorry... I need to leave
'soon as possible. Of course but like I said, it'll
take us a few weeks to get everyone to Canada- Canada? No! I ain't going to
Canada! I's goin' back
for my brothers. For your-? Harriet, with the new law, bounty hunters will be out
full force. You're risking your
freedom by going back. I know! But God blessed me with freedom. and now my brothers,
they need it too, and in my heart I hear God
sayin' "Go to them, Harriet." And so... I am. God's love make us do some
scary things sometimes and goin' back got me almost
captured more'n once. But the Good Lord
helped me just like before- though I was in for a bit
of a surprise. Harriet!! You got my message! We need to go- Who're these? They heard about you comin'. And they want a ticket
on the Railroad. We need help! Capable people that can conduct
others in the Underground Railroad, but we just don't have- Yes? Uh.. It's Harriet. She- -was captured? Is she alive? Oh, very much so. And in fact-
Harriet, you made it back! By the grace o'God!- And you brought your
brothers with you! Yes... along with a few others. But... They heard I was comin'... I couldn't leave 'em behind. Now... did I hear you say you need help rescuing more slaves? 'Cause I's ready to go back for
more. How many have you lost? Thirteen, in just the
last two months. - Eight.
- Ten. They're dissappearin'
all over the place. Well somethin' aint right. Of course it ain't right!
It's that ex-slave man all the slaves talk about.
Their liberator! Ex-slave man? They say he comes back for'em
and takes 'em to the Promised Land!
Some man they call... Moses! They call what? I said they call him, MOSES! MOSES!
Moses ain't no man! I know we got word that more of
your family are being sold but you can't go, Harriet!
These are everywhere! And it sayin' they looking for- A black woman who can't read. So they won't be lookin'
for a man that can. No. God willing, I be back
in a few weeks. And God willing, I be bringing
back
some more slaves to freedom. This is the first time I just
don't
believe you, Ben. You see... 'seems
your Harriet is this Moses
person helping slaves to escape from
all
over the place and you say you ain't laid eyes on her-
don't know
where she is... That's the truth. Well... We'll see what
the court says about that. C-court? Sure! You see, the authorities-
they want to question Ben... find out what he knows.
'Course, I... uh... don't know that any slave
ever' won a court trial... how 'bout you,
Spencer? Not that I recall. Think about it, Ben... court's
not
due for a week. You think it'll work? Ain't no one Harriet loves more
than her parents... soon as word gets out
her Pa' could be hung... she'll come around. And we... We'll be ready for 'er... Let's hope so. Yep... I'll be ready for her and
that nice reward! What we do now? Only Lord knows, Mama. We best be prayin'... We best put all our trust in
Him.
He bound to help us. Somethin's wrong! Somethin's
happenin' to Mama and Papa! You have all 'em baskets
full before sundown! And Ben, you be sure
to get a good night sleep! You want to be nice and fresh
in the morning for court! I'll be on watch tonight so I'm going to rest. Keep an eye out. Will do! And Emmet... Make sure we've got
horses ready and saddled
tonight... Moses ain't turned up yet but I'm bettin' she will
before this night is over... Saddled... got it. Anything? Nothin'. You sure nothin'
happened this afternoon when I left-
anythin' out of the ordinary? Nothin'... 'xcept that Quaker woman
and her chickens! Quaker woman? The one that lives down
the road- she was carrying
some chickens... Evenin' 'mam... Bless me! My chickens!
MY CHICKENS! Ha ha ha ha... You get'em Quaker woman,
you get them chickens, Quaker
woman! My chickens! Here ya'are, Ma'am. Why, thank you- I made sure she just
kept movin' along. The slaves... they just went back to their business. Singing as they did. When Israel was in Egypt's land. When Israel was in Egypt's land. Let my people go. Oppressed so hard
they could not stand. Let my people go. Go down Moses way
down in Egypt's land Tell old Pharaoh let my people
go Go down Moses way
down in Egypt's land Tell old Pharaoh let my people
go Moses! To the horses! Mama, Papa!
- Harriet! I got the old mare and wagon
from the field just as you asked me
to-
they never use it. Quick then...
we ain't got much time! There they are! Get down! Git! I'll get you! We alright! To the horses! ... Harriet Tubman- I'm gonna
get you! Git! Git! - if its the last thing I-
Auuugghhhh! Augh! I thought you said the
horses were saddled! They were! I told Ben to do that
right after supper! You told who?! You fool! What happened? Oh, I might've forgotten
to tighten the saddles. What's it like, Harriet? You mean the North, mama? Freedom... What's it like? You're gonna find out, mama. Thank the Lord, you're gonna find out real soon. After their narrow getaway,
Harriet and her parents escaped to Canada and later,
when it was safe, they settled in New York. There, mama and papa tasted
freedom the last few years of their
lives. Ever willing to risk her own
liberty, Harriet continued her secret
travels
back into the South, and rescued nearly 300 slaves. She remained active in the
pursuit of freedom for all
slaves and even served as a nurse,
laundress,
and spy during the Civil War, which eventually brought the end
of legal slavery in the United
States. Despite her heroism and the
recognition she received
for her untiring work, Harriet lived the rest
of her life in poverty. Her determination and the
selfless love she showed for those in slavery continues
to be an inspiration to people all over the world.
