FINE ART ESSAY

from

The

Life of Harriet Tubman by Jacob Lawrence

Read with a Purpose As you look at these paintings and read the captions, notice how the text and the images work together to tell Harriet Tubman’s story. Preparing to Read for this selection is on pages 633 and 634.

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Build Background Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000) created The Life of Harriet Tubman, a series of thirty-one paintings, between 1939 and 1940. The series is a visual biography that depicts Tubman’s work with the Underground Railroad and her service in the Civil War. The series is one of Lawrence’s most famous works. Lawrence wrote long captions to go with the paintings because at the time he created the series, most people knew little about Tubman’s life. Much of the information in the captions comes from Sarah Bradford’s biographies of Tubman.

Analyzing Visuals

Connecting to the Text Who are the small figures? What effect does the artist achieve by making the people so small against an enormous sky? Which idea in the caption below is reflected in this painting?

© 2007 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation, Seattle/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The Life of Harriet Tubman (1939–1940), No. 15, by Jacob Lawrence. In the North, Harriet Tubman worked hard. All her wages she laid away for the one purpose of liberating her people, and as soon as a sufficient amount was secured, she disappeared from her Northern home, and as mysteriously appeared one dark night at the door of one of the cabins on the plantation, where a

group of trembling fugitives was waiting. Then she piloted them North, traveling by night, hiding by day, scaling the mountains, wading the rivers, threading the forests—she, carrying the babies, drugged with paregoric. So she went, nineteen times liberating over three hundred pieces of living, breathing “property.” A

A Read and Discuss What do Tubman’s actions show you about the Underground Railroad and her own character?

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Connecting to the Text Who are the figures in the painting? What is each group doing? © 2007 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation, Seattle/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The Life of Harriet Tubman (1939–1940), No. 19, by Jacob Lawrence. Such a terror did she become to the slaveholders that a reward of forty thousand dollars was offered for her head, she was so bold, daring, and elusive. B

B Informational Focus Connecting and Clarifying Main Ideas What main idea does this painting and its caption share with “All Aboard with Thomas Garrett”?

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The Life of Harriet Tubman (1939–1940), No. 22, by Jacob Lawrence. Harriet Tubman, after a very trying trip North in which she had hidden her cargo by day and had traveled by boat, wagon, and foot at night, reached Wilmington, where she met Thomas Garrett, a Quaker who operated an Underground Railroad station. Here, she and the fugitives were fed and clothed and sent on their way. C C Informational Focus Connecting and Clarifying Main Ideas How does the painting below and its caption connect to ideas in “All Aboard with Thomas Garrett”?

Analyzing Visuals

Connecting to the Text Notice the body language and expressions of Tubman and her fellow fugitives. How does the journey seem to have affected them?

© 2007 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation, Seattle/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

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The Life of Harriet Tubman (1939–1940), No. 20, by Jacob Lawrence. In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law was passed, which bound the people north of the Mason and Dixon Line to return to bondage any fugitives found in their territories—forcing Harriet Tubman to lead her escaped slaves into Canada. D

Read with a Purpose How do the paintings and their captions tell the story of Harriet Tubman in a way that’s different from the other sources?

Connecting to the Text What feeling, which also describes Tubman’s life in the North, do you get from this painting? © 2007 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation, Seattle/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

D Read and Discuss How were Tubman’s journeys north affected by laws concerning escaped slaves?

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Reading Standard 2.3 Connect and clarify main ideas by identifying their relationships to other sources and related topics.

All Aboard with Thomas Garrett / from Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People / from The Life of Harriet Tubman

Standards Review Informational Text 1. Which main idea is presented in all three sources about Tubman? A Tubman dedicated herself to helping people escape from slavery. B Thomas Garrett spent most of his money sheltering runaways. C African Americans celebrated the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment. D A large reward was offered for Harriet Tubman’s capture. 2. Which of the following statements is a main idea about Harriet Tubman in both “All Aboard with Thomas Garrett” and the excerpt from Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People? A Tubman was overcome by loneliness once she was free. B Thomas Garrett played an important role in helping Tubman gain her freedom. C Tubman believed that God would help her lead slaves to freedom. D Tubman feared being returned to a slaveholder. 3. Which of the following main ideas does the statement “I was free, and they should be free also” connect to? A Garrett gave runaways great sums of money. B Runaways often faced harsh conditions when they headed north. C Tubman would not rest until she had helped many more people escape from slavery. D Tubman feared being returned to a slaveholder.

4. The writers of the three sources would most likely agree that A runaways felt no obligation toward the people they left behind. B African Americans enjoyed a comfortable life as soon as they reached the North. C freeing people from slavery required great coordination between many people. D everyone Tubman met was eager to help her. 5. From the three sources, you can infer that all of the writers A were friendly with Harriet Tubman. B knew Thomas Garrett. C sympathized with the slaves seeking freedom. D grew up under harsh conditions.

Writing Skills Focus Review the main-idea chart you made while reading these three sources. Use the chart to write a paragraph connecting the main ideas about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad in these texts. Conclude by identifying two or three related topics and explaining their relationship to these main ideas.

Based on Tubman’s and Garrett’s actions, what can you conclude about the value of an individual’s efforts in fighting injustice?

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