Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman

Freedom Train examines Harriet’s life story to illustrate how individual people can contribute to social change. Harriet and the other abolitionists portrayed in the narrative believe something that runs counter to the law and norms of their day. In the American South, slavery is legal, and the institution is backed by many cruel and oppressive laws and social expectations. From her earliest days, Harriet refuses to be limited by these laws and expectations. She will not smile subserviently, she attends forbidden meetings to hear people speak about freedom, and she assists in Jim’s self-emancipation. In her actions, Harriet is an example to others of what a free spirit looks like. Her choices, even as a young girl, reveal how living with integrity—even under threat—can act as a powerful form of resistance.

Harriet does not arise in a vacuum, however, and Sterling’s biography makes this clear. Sterling invents characters like Cudjoe and portrays Harriet’s interactions with people like Jim to demonstrate that young Harriet is heavily influenced by other individuals who have the courage to speak up—to educate her and affirm her belief in freedom. When Sterling portrays Cudjoe and Jim spreading the news about people like Thomas Garrett, she shows how the decision of individual abolitionists to take a stand creates a wave of change that ripples outward, inspiring people like Harriet to seek their own freedom and spreading the idea that enslaved people have a natural right to freedom. This network of influence underscores the idea that personal conviction, when shared, becomes collective momentum. When, as an adult, Harriet makes the decision to self-emancipate, her flight to freedom is aided by other courageous individuals—the Quaker woman and the Hunn brothers, for example. Although these are fictionalized details of Harriet’s initial journey north, these figures stand in for the many real people who assisted Harriet, risking their own lives and freedom to stand up for their beliefs.

As more self-emancipated people like Harriet arrive in the North and live among and speak to Northern white people, the idea that Black people should be free everywhere in the United States gains more traction. White people like John Brown are willing to fight and die to ensure this right, and he becomes a martyr, publicizing the abolitionist cause. White people of high status like Bronson Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson encounter this idea and are willing to add their voices to the abolitionist cause. No one individual topples slavery—but each abolitionist who speaks out or acts to promote Black freedom inspires more abolitionists to speak and act, and public sentiment begins to turn. Sterling portrays this in Chapter 15, “The Most of a Man,” as a chorus of voices arguing the cause. By this time, Harriet has become famous as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Her decision to repeatedly risk her hard-won freedom in order to help others is inspiring, and her voice is a respected one. Sterling shows Harriet speaking before white audiences, persuading them to join the abolitionist cause. Sterling quotes a newspaper article of the time, saying that Harriet’s words are greeted with “enthusiastic cheers” and “profound interest” (137); this emphasizes how powerful Harriet has become and the impact that her individual actions have on the broader society. The scene makes clear that Harriet has gone from resisting oppression to actively shaping public opinion—a shift from survivor to leader.

In the section of the book that discusses Harriet’s later years, Sterling repeatedly reinforces this picture of Harriet. Her biography is written, and her fame spreads even farther. Harriet meets with high-ranking government officials and even receives a letter and gifts from England’s Queen Victoria. When she is in need, the public rallies to her side again and again, and in her last days, she is surrounded by well-wishers and children eager to hear the stories of all she has accomplished. These details all work to send a clear message about the impact of Harriet and people like her: While any one individual is unlikely to single-handedly create sweeping social change, those who have the courage and determination to live by their beliefs and speak up against injustice can slowly change the world. Sterling’s portrayal affirms that moral clarity and persistent action—no matter how humble or local—can shape history over time.