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Nov 19, 2023 · As the movie gains a new wave of viewers on Netflix, it’s essential to recognize that Harriet isn’t just another work of fiction — it’s a profound retelling of Harriet Tubman’s real-life ...
- Tubman’s Early Life as Araminta “Minty” Ross
- Tubman’s “Spells”
- Harriet’s Escape
- Gideon Brodess
- William Still
- Marie Buchanon
- “Moses”
- Bigger Long
- The Fugitive Slave Act
- The Combahee River Raid
Just as in the movie, Tubman (played here by Cynthia Erivo) grew up on a farm in Dorchester County, Maryland, where she was born Araminta “Minty” Ross. Though the movie may leave the impression that she only took on the name Harriet Tubman when she reached freedom, she seems to have taken it when she was married, taking Harriet from her mother, Har...
In the movie’s first scene, Tubman experiences one of her “spells,” which often cause her to lose consciousness and seem to give her visions of nearby dangers or events to come. (In an interview with Slate, Lemmons described the “spells” as Tubman’s “Spidey sense.”) As in the movie, Tubman believed that the visions she experienced were messages fro...
In the movie, as in real life, Harriet’s journey to freedom is kicked into high gear upon the death of her master, Edward Brodess. Brodess’ son Gideon (played in the movie by Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Joe Alwyn) had caught Minty praying for the death of his father after he refused to set her free. Tight on cash and unnerved by her seemingly prophet...
Though the Brodesses did have a son, his name was Jonathan, and little is known about him. As those facts suggest, just about everything in the movie that involves this character and his dogged, years-long pursuit of Tubman, up to and including a final standoff in the woods, was invented for the movie.
One of the first people Harriet meets in Philadelphia is the black abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor William Still. He helps her get settled in the city and eventually inducts Harriet as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Just as in the movie, William Still really did keep meticulous records of all the people who managed to esca...
The character of Marie Buchanon—a free black woman and successful business owner who takes Tubman in and teaches her how to live as a free woman—is invented for the movie. However, that’s not to say someone like Buchanon couldn’t have existed.
In the movie, Harriet’s first trip back south comes a year after her escape, and it’s to rescue her husband, John. Though he was a free man, his freedom as a black man in the South was exceptionally restricted by the whims of white people, as evidenced by the fact that Edward Brodess could keep him from seeing his wife. But upon returning to Dorche...
Upon noticing the escape of Harriet’s brothers, the vengeful Gideon hires Bigger Long, a slave catcher who is rumored to be the best in the area. To his (and my) surprise, Long is a black man. There’s no evidence that the Brodesses hired a slave catcher, but according to a few historians whom I reached out to, it’s not entirely impossible that such...
In the movie, Harriet manages several rescue missions, and her reputation as a conductor on the Underground Railroad is well established by the time that the Fugitive Slave Act passes. In reality, the law—which not only made it legal for runaways to be captured and returned to the South but effectively conscripted bystanders into aiding the capture...
At the very end of the movie, we see Harriet two years into the Civil War, giving a speech to a battalion of black soldiers in a prelude to the Combahee River Raid, where she led a group of 150 soldiers in an expedition to destroy Confederate supply lines and rescue about 750 fugitive slaves. In a postscript, we’re told that not only was she the fi...
- Rachelle Hampton
These Harriet movie questions serve as a starting point for exploring the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman. By delving into the complexities of her story, we can gain a deeper understanding of the struggles faced by those who fought against slavery and the lasting impact of their actions.
Oct 26, 2019 · Did Harriet Tubman really have Godly visions? Yes. In the Harriet movie, these visions unfold before us in literal form as washed-out, crazed montages of people, birds, memories, and the future. The visions are at times strong enough to make Harriet (Cynthia Erivo) collapse.
Oct 23, 2019 · Few figures in American history have been as shrouded in myth and misperceptions as Harriet Tubman. Biographers have made up figures about her, from the number of enslaved people she rescued to...
Oct 30, 2019 · The abortive attempt, undertaken in late 1860, marked her last rescue mission on the Underground Railroad. Following her escape, Tubman joined Philadelphia's abolitionist network (above, right ...
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Oct 30, 2019 · Did the real Harriet Tubman have psychic visions? In the film, Tubman is portrayed as a deeply religious woman whose psychic visions aided her dangerous journeys on the Underground Railroad.
