Moses Arrives With Six Passengers Analysis

This primary source, which is a letter written by Thomas Garrett, titled “Moses Arrives with Six Passengers” is from the book Harriet Tubman: The Life and the Life Stories, published in 2004. This letter describes the success of Harriet Tubman, a fugitive slave who escaped and helped other slaves escape using The Underground Railroad. The first part of the letter begins to describe how Harriet was considered to be “Moses” because she was so brave and daring to help these six slaves escape. It then goes on to describe Harriet’s success, with many trips to Maryland, being gone for days and weeks at a time. The letter ends with describing the six slaves Harriet helped to escape. Benjamin who was 28, Henry was 22, Jane was 21, Robert who was the oldest at 35 years old, and two others that weren't named. It describes who each person was and what were some of the things they had to leave behind, such as wives and children. …show more content…
It provides the thoughts of the slaves towards Harriet and their attitudes towards escaping. The letter explains how some of the runaway slaves wanted to turn back and when Harriet heard of that she would kill them. She had one rule of her own, “which implied death to any who talked of giving out and going back.” This shows how important and risky their situation truly was considering she would do anything to help as many slaves as she could get to the North. Harriet had to risk her life to help these slaves escape, and for that she is seen as a