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Prologue
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland. When she was twenty-nine years old, her master planned to sell her away from her husband. So Harriet ran away, heading north to Pennsylvania, a free state.
Along the way, kind and courageous people helped her. If her owner had caught her, Harriet would have been beaten, lashed with a cowhide whip, and possibly branded or mutilated.
Even knowing the danger, Harriet returned to the South again and again. In the dead of night, she helped slaves run away.
Jordan: My name is Jordan and Harriet Tubman helped my great-great-great-great grandmother escape slavery. On this night, I’ll travel back in time to 1854 and follow her footsteps as she helps Tobby, a slave, risk his life to taste the joy of freedom.
(We are in a cornfield in the slave state of Maryland A forest looms ahead of us. Beyond it is the Mason-Dixon Line that divides the slave South from the free North. Night covers our escape.)
Harriet: Look, yonder! There’s the forest! Quiet now. I can hear the dogs baying. They’re almost licking at our heels!
Tobby: Are we going to make it, Moses? Will I cross over to freedom tonight?
Harriet: You will, Tobby!
Jordan: Why do you call her Moses, Tobby?
Tobby: Because she’s leading me to the Promised Land! Like that Moses in the Good Book, she’s leading me out of slavery. I’m bound for the Promised Land!
Harriet: And we’ll get there if those slave catchers make just one mistake! We were ahead of them by a whole day, but now they’re catching up! They want your master’s money! He’ll pay them $100 to get you back, Tobby!
Jordan: What will they do if they catch us, Miss Tubman?
Harriet: You hush, child! Don’t even be thinking such thoughts! We’ve got the North Star on our side!
Tobby: I see it, Moses! I surely do!
Harriet: Look up, Jordan! That’s freedom shining!
(Harriet points upward through the tall corn stalks at the stars blanketing the night sky.)
Harriet: See there! See that drinking gourd pouring God’s care down on us?
Jordan: That’s the Big Dipper! Is that what you call the Big Dipper—the Drinking Gourd?
Harriet: Many a time I’ve sipped sweet cool water from a gourd after long hours of working in the fields! God’s care for us is like that water!
Jordan: How will the gourd help us?
Harriet: Settle your eyes on those two bright stars on the right side of its bowl. See them?
Jordan: Yes!
Harriet: Now follow the line of those two stars. Upward! Look upward! See that other dipper? That smaller one?
Jordan: Yes! I see it!
Harriet: The star we follow is at the end of that little dipper’s handle. See it? See it shining just for us? That’s God’s own North Star!
Jordan: Did God put it there to show us the way?
Harriet: He did, child. He surely did. It leads us due north to freedom. It’s God’s finger pointing the way. It’s like God’s taking our hand and saying, “Get a move on!”
Tobby: Listen! It’s the dogs! They’re hungry for me!
Harriet: Stop moaning, Tobby! God gave you courage. Now grab hold of it and take heart, man! Stop thinking like a slave. You’re going to be a free man!
Jordan: I’m not sure I have enough courage to keep going, Miss Tubman. My legs are so tired.
Harriet: You’ve got courage, child. Enough and more than enough courage if we only keep our eye on God’s star! It’s helped me lead many a man, woman, and child to the promised land. God’s up there cheering us on, child!
Jordan: But we wont’ be able to see the North Star when we get in the woods!
Harriet: I spied a path when I snuck back into Maryland last week! Just crouch low and follow me.
(The group leaves the rustling corn stalks behind and moves into the deep, dark forest. Harriet leads the way.)
Harriet: Watch your step! Don’t stumble over roots! I don’t want to have to drag you to freedom!
Jordan: I’ve got a rock in my shoe, Miss Tubman! I’ve got to get it out!
Harriet: No stopping now, child! We got to get through these woods! On the other side is glory land!
Jordan: Oh, Miss Tubman, I can hear the men coming! They’re coming fast!
Harriet: Yes! Those slave catchers don’t give up! But God doesn’t give up either.
Jordan: They’re so noisy! We’ve had to be so quiet!
Harriet: They’ve got our scent! They’re on to us now! And they know that freedom lies just ahead! They don’t get their money if we get away! So shake a leg you two!
(Suddenly they break through the woods. Two roads fork just beyond them. Harriet motions them to the one on the left. They race down it and are quickly out of view.)
Harriet: Run! Run! We’ve got to get to the Chambers’ house. They’ll hide us!
Jordan: But this is Pennsylvania! People are free here! Those slave catchers can’t do anything to us here!
Harriet: Oh yes, child, they surely can! It’s that Fugitive Slave Law! That’s why Tobby’s going to have to go all the way to Canada!
Jordan: Shhh! I don’t hear them anymore. I think they took the other road!
Harriet: They did. They’re thinking that we took the road that leads to Philadelphia. That’s where they’re headed! Oh, we fooled you tonight, you rascals. You didn’t catch us! God outsmarted you this time!
Jordan: Are we safe now? Will they come after us?
Harriet: By the time they realize we’ve taken this road we’ll be sleeping in the basement of the Chambers’ house. Tomorrow night, we’ll move again. We’re going to be traveling north for days and days, Tobby! You’re going to have to follow all my orders! I know how these slave catchers think!
Tobby: I’ll surely follow you, Moses. I’ll follow you anywhere! Just so I never have to do what master says again!
Harriet: You’re a free man, Tobby! Free at last! You chucked slavery aside tonight and grabbed ahold of freedom! You grabbed hold of God’s gift of courage and used it tonight!
(Ahead, they see a candle glowing in the front window of a two-story house.)
Tobby: How far is it to Canada, Miss Harriet! How much farther do we have to go? And how will we get there?
Harriet: I’ll stay with you all the way, Tobby. People will help us, and the North Star will guide us.
Jordan: I have to leave you now, Miss Tubman. But tomorrow in school I’ll tell my class about you and how you led Tobby to freedom!
Harriet: You tell them about God’s North Star, child! You tell them that God leads the way!
Epilogue
Harriet Tubman helped more than 300 slaves escape from the South! And she never got caught. Not once!
I’m going to go to the library and find a book about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. I'd like to know more about how God gave her the courage to lead others to freedom!
