Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad

By the time Harriet is six years old, she has already “unconsciously absorbed” (21) many of the same fears as the adult slaves. She is taught to be submissive and polite to white men and women and to fear the mounted patrollers who chase runaway slaves. She also learns about the North Star and how to use it as a guide. Her father, Benjamin, has a knack for predicting the weather, a skill valued by the other slaves and Brodas. He also has a deep understanding of the land and animals and can read the signs of nature and the landscape. Harriet has a “free and wild” (23) essence due to her father’s influence. Her parents are talented storytellers, and her mother often recounts biblical stories, especially about Moses. Harriet also enjoys the monthly “Issue Day,” when slaves were given new food and clothes, and Christmastime, when the slaves are allowed more leisure time. While Harriet is still too young to work, she feels afraid in the morning when the overseer blows his horn to call the slaves into the fields to work. The slaves run quickly to the field because the overseer hits the last one to arrive. Petry describes Harriet as a “solemn-eyed, shy little girl” and hints that her “carefree idleness” (27) would soon be over as she became old enough to work on the plantation.