Harriet Tubman And Frederick Douglass: How Slaves Came To Be Free?

There is strength in numbers

The system of slavery seemed to be inescapable. People where controlled by fear not only to their lives but also towards the people they loved. There is a lot of debate about how slaves came to be free. Many experts argue the Union Army as a determining force for their liberation. Others argue that the Civil War ended freeing the slaves thanks to the need of more men for the war. I would like to argue that the slaves were the ones that actually freed themselves. The collective thinking, organization and opportunistic behavior of slaves helped them achieve freedom. Discontent among slave was obvious. The spread of independence ideas and stories of freedom gave hope to slaves. The slaves started to share ideas

One of the most important figures for the antislavery movement was Frederick Douglass. Douglass fought for emancipation and eventually for black men to have full citizenship Egerton, p.89) . He spread many ideas that would push black people to have similar ideas of freedom. He helped collective thinking to form on slaves. Also, Douglass said that there were sacrifices that had to be made for freedom but that “no power on earth that could deny that he had earned the right of citizenship in the United States.” (Egerton. P.36) Another very important figure was Harriet Tubman. Her actions were very distinct to the actions of Douglass, never the less both worked towards the same goal. Tubman directed the raid of Combahee Ferry. She acted as a spy and led the union army to victory. Harriet was a former slave and because of this “they would tell anything, (…) so it became important that should would accompany them (…) to control and get information” (Brandford, p.39) for the raids along rivers and other plantations. With her actions Tubman prove the previous slave representation wrong. She showed the Union Army that slaves could be helpful for battle. Tubman took many risks and opportunities to get the trust of the union