Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom

(upbeat orchestra music)

NARRATOR

Tubman was closely watching the politics of the moment. In January 1863, when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, she knew it would not be enough. She'd already concluded that the south would never be talked out of slavery, the only way to end it would be war. (dark orchestra music)

ERICA DUNBAR

The Emancipation Proclamation only granted "freedom" to those enslaved people who lived in states that had seceded from the Union. But for states like Maryland, Delaware, states that were called border states, that still had slavery but had not joined up with the Confederacy, Lincoln understood that he could not place the Emancipation Proclamation onto these border states. If he did...they would more than almost certainly jump to the Confederate side, so he strategically left these border states to hold onto their slaves while the war raged. (cannons firing)

NARRATOR

By the time of Lincoln's proclamation, Tubman was already engaged in the war effort - lecturing, nursing wounded soldiers, and encouraging Black men to aid in the cause. But she wanted to do more.

KATE LARSON

During those lecture circuits throughout New England, she had met the governor of Massachusetts, John Andrew. And when the war started, he immediately thought of Tubman and that she needed to go into the South and help the United States army. So, he made arrangements for her to go to South Carolina. NARRATOR At first, Tubman spent her time nursing Black soldiers and providing for the droves of ex-slaves fleeing Southern plantations for Union territory. Then, she became a spy. Using knowledge gained from the newly free people, Tubman recruited and led a team of eight Black scouts, gathering critical intelligence for the Union Army.

MARISA FUENTES

With all of that interaction with formerly enslaved people, she was able to get the lay of the land. And get specific information about where the Confederate army was stationed, what kinds of weapons that they had. She was gathering intelligence. And she would share that with these Union officers.

NARRATOR

In June of 1863, General Tubman, as John Brown had called her, set into motion one of the most daring and successful raids of the War. Northern and Southern newspapers related breathless accounts of Colonel Montgomery's campaign on the Combahee River in South Carolina, led by Harriet Tubman.

COMBAHEE REPORTER

Colonel Montgomery and his gallant band of 300 Black soldiers under the guidance of a Black woman, dashed into the enemy's country, struck a bold and effective blow, brought off nearly 800 slaves and thousands of dollars worth of property, without losing a man or receiving a scratch. It was a glorious consummation.