Harriet Tubman Conductors On The Underground Road Analysis

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Despite the challenges brought upon them, the people of the Underground Railroad had to make many sacrifices in their lives. It is through the actions of characters in the passage “Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad” that readers learn themes of freedom and sacrifice. One of the most important characters that represents these traits is Harriet Tubman through her perseverance. Thomas Garrett and Ellen Craft also demonstrate these characteristics through their experiences with runaway slaves. Moreover, these characters each demonstrate themes of freedom and sacrifice. Harriet Tubman was one of the most well known conductors of the Underground Railroad. She was very influential in this time period, as she helped over three …show more content…

She was influential with her efforts and perseverance to reach freedom. Ellen Craft was pale and had fair skin. With this, she was able to pretend that she was a white male who was a wealthy landowner. Craft was violating several laws by doing this and could have been punished very severely, but she was willing to do anything to reach freedom. Ellen Craft was also able to stay in high-end hotels on her journey to the North because of her disguise. She was not suspected because of her status, and was able to stay in hotels with comfort. Although Ellen Craft was fair skinned, her husband, William Craft, did not have this advantage. To accommodate with this, and the fact that Ellen was illiterate, Ellen pretended to be injured so that William could act as her slave and could sign all her papers for her. “Ellen pretended to be very ill-her right arm was in a sling and her right hand was bandaged because she was supposed to have rheumatism. Thus, she avoided having to sign the register at hotels, for she could not read or write”(445). Furthermore, this allowed Ellen Craft to avoid revealing her ignorance, thus leading her to freedom. All in all, Ellen Craft demonstrates themes of freedom and