ipl-logo

Letter To A Civil War Nurse, By Frederick Douglass

571 Words3 Pages

“A tongue doesn't get things done” -Amit Kalantri. If you want results, you must take action, like Harriet Tubman helping slaves to freedom or Cornelia Hancock risking her life on the battlefield to save soldiers' lives. In “Letters of a Civil War Nurse” by Cornelia Hancock, “The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln, and “Letter to Harriet Tubman” by Frederick Douglass all illustrate how words can be influential. Still, action speaks louder because it's more powerful and has a lasting effect. In “A Letter to Harriet Tubman" by Frederick Douglass, he writes how Harriet Tubman's actions are way more effective and vital to their cause than any of his speeches. Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass are both abolitionists fighting for slave freedom as former slaves themselves. Tubman is an example of the power of action, and Douglas is of words. However, Douglas believes her actions of taking slaves to safety and freedom show her willingness and devotion to the cause and what she has “done would seem improbable to those who do not know you as I know you.” (Douglass) This is saying how her actions are so powerful yet unrecognized, and yet she …show more content…

It also impacts the outcome of the future, something words cannot achieve. She acts on the battlefield, saving dying men. She knows staying home won't help the Union and takes action as a Frontline nurse. Without writing her letters, we would not know of her heroic actions. Her devotion to keeping men alive is shown when she “received a silver medal from the soldiers which cost twenty dollars.”(Handcock) Which was a lot back then showing how her actions are gratified as now the soldiers can live, something words could not have the power to do. Words can last forever, but actions people take are what truly can motivate and set an example, take Lincoln's call to action during the Gettysburg Address as an

Open Document