Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism, child abuse, death, and graphic violence.

Harriet Tubman, at seven years old, tends to an infant in the main house of a Maryland farm. Harriet is Black and is the enslaved descendent of a long line of enslaved people. She wishes that she could be outside playing, enjoying the sunshine, but she is considered the property of the farm’s owner, referred to as the “Master,” and from dawn until long after dusk, she works. She cleans, helps with the cooking, and tends to the baby of Miss Sarah, the Master’s wife. Through a window, Harriet sees geese flying north, and she considers what she has heard about the North. She has heard that it is cold there and that both Black and white people are free.

Harriet wishes that she were still considered too young to be put to work in the “Big House.” When she was younger, she spent her day outdoors, fetching water, carrying messages, and shucking corn. She was sometimes allowed a day off to play in the creek or the woods. One day, however, the Master approached her mother,