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Lesson Plan Kahlil Chism

Harriet Tubraan: Spy, Veteran, and Widow

H arriet Tubman is one ofthe most enigmatic figures in Ameri- can history. Well known for liberating enslaved blacks while a "conductor" along the Underground Railroad, Tubman was

also a humanitarian, political activist, entrepreneur, and patriot, Tubman accomplished so much and helped so many during her lifetime that she has reached folkloric status in the American memory, in part, because the facts and myths of her life have been retold in over 40 children's books. Both ofthe accomplishments for which she is most remembered—her heroism along the Underground Railroad and her patriotism as a spy for the Union Army—were clandestine activities. Adding to her mystique is the fact that Tubman was illiterate, and so left no handwritten records of her exploits. Some documentary evidence of one phase of her life, however, survives in the holdings ofthe National Archives and Records Administration. The two documents featured in this lesson—a general affidavit of Harriet Tubman relating to her claim for a pension and a let- ter from Sereno Payne to George Ray, Chairman ofthe Committee on Invalid Pensions—provide a small window into her career as a soldier, her life as a wife and widower, and some of her struggles against the obstacles of sexism and racism (i).

Araminta Ross was born into slavery in either 1820 or 1821, in Dorchester County, Maryland, to Harriet Ross and Benjamin Green. At some point during her formative years, Araminta took her mother's name, Harriet. In [844, she adopted the surname of her first husband, a free African American named |ohn Tubman, The couple had only been married for five years when Harriet decided that she too would enjoy the taste of freedom, by mnning away. When Harriet decided to head north along the Underground Railroad, John did not accom- pany her. After she established abolitionist contacts in New York and Canada, Tubman returned to Maryland in 1850 to begin rescuing fam- ily members. In total, she made nineteen round trips from the North to the South during the remainder ofthe 1850s, leading approximately 300 enslaved African Americans to freedom (2).

Although the activities of the Underground Railroad continued during the Civil War, Tubman's efforts focused on the Union cause. By 1861, she was assigned to Colonel |ames Montgomery's 2nd Carolina Volunteers, serving as a nurse, cook, and spy on behalf of tlie Union. From 1861 to 1865, she at- tended to sick and wounded soldiers in South Carolina, aided "contrabands,"

who were slaves now under Union control, and used her knowledge ofthe local geography and personal contacts established along the Underground Railroad to gather valuable information for the Union side (3). Thanks no doubt to her gender, race, and diminutive stature (she was merely five feet tall), Tubman was able to move behind Confederate lines and gather infor- mation without being noticed.

Harriet Tubman became the first woman to lead a group of U.S. soldiers into combat during Colonel Montgomery's Combahee River campaign. Utilizing intelligence gathered about the location of many of South Carolina's ammunition depots and storage houses, Tubman led a contingent of soldiers down the Combahee River on the night of )une 2, 1863, By night's end, she and her troops had burned down many of South Carolina's largest plantations and liberated 750 enslaved biacks.

Having served her country faithfully, Tubman moved back to Au- burn, New York, at the end ofthe war. She began working on behalf of all women viath the aid of two of her colleagues, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in the political struggle for women's rights. In 1870 she married again, this time to Nelson Davis, who she had met in a Union camp in South Carolina, He died in 1888,

Tubman filed for a military pension in 1898 (see Document I, page 50) and went on record publicly stating that, in addition to serving as a nurse and cook in military hospitals, she served "as commander of sev- eral men (eight or nine) as scouts during the late war ofthe Rebellion" (4). Tubman's affidavit further reveals that she was claiming $1,800 for her three years' service, and that she served under "directions and orders of Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, and of several generals" (5). While Tubman did sign her "X" mark at the bottom ofthe affidavit after giving her testimony, as was customary for illiterate people con- ducting business, the majority ofthe affidavit was left blank. Tubman dictated her statement to Orin McCarty, the Notary Public of Cayuga County, New York.

In 1898, Sereno E. Payne, a New York congressman who would become the Republican majority leader from 1899 to 1910, was the Chairman ofthe Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, It was while serving in this capacity that Payne wrote a letter about Tub- man's ciaim to George Ray, Chairman ofthe Committee on Invalid Pensions (see Document II, page 51), Payne explained that Tubman

OAH Magazine of History • March 2005 47

was receiving a widow's pension of eight dollars per month, con- firmed that she served as a nurse, cook, "and spy during nearly the whole period ofthe war." noted to Ray that he felt her claim appeared "to be a very deserving case, and revealed that, "for all her services she only received about $200. during the entire war" (6). What Payne's letter does not reveal is that Tubman used her two hundred dollars to set up a wash house, where she assisted freedwomen in learning a trade. Tubman actually supported herself during the war by buying food staples, which she used to make baked goods and root beer and then sold to contrabands. Union troops, and others (7).

A cursory reading of Payne's letter makes clear that while he felt "Mrs, Davis" was certainly worthy ofthe $1,800 she was requesting, he did not feel confident that she would be successful in her approach. "I thought it much better to introduce a bill for the increase of her pension," Payne wrote, "instead of asking a lump sum and trying to get it in as a claim on account of money equitably due her from the Government for services" (8). Although Harriet Tubman was entitled to file both a monetary claim as a veteran and a claim for pension as a widow of a fallen soldier, there were other factors at play that led Payne to believe only the latter approach would be successful. Neither ofthe featured documents provide a definitive answer to why Tubman had to choose between requesting money as a veteran, which she deserved for her wartime acts of patriotism and bravery, or as a widow of a vet- eran. However, one ofthe many attachments that accompanied Sereno Payne's letter to George Ray seems to provide a clue.

In addition to including testimonial letters from weil-known indi- viduals—such as Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and William H. Seward— to support Tubman's claims. Payne enclosed a history of Tubman's case, "written up by Charles P. Wood. Hon. deceased of Auburn. N. Y." (9). According to Wood's history of Tubmarfs claim;

That Harriett is entitled to several thousands of dollars pay, there can be no doubt—the only difficulty seems to be In the facts that she held no commission, and has not in the regular way and at the proper times and places, made proof and applica- tion of and for, her just compensation (10).

Harriet Tubman spent her postwar years in Auburn taking care of not only her elderly parents, but also many other destitute and needy men and women. Tubman used what little money she earned from her speaking engagements, as well as donations from sympathetic friends, to educate freed men and women, to start clothing drives, and to establish a convalescent home (11). Congress never approved Harriet Tubman's claim for money as a veteran ofthe Civil War. Instead, just as Payne had suggested. Congress was amenable to raising her widow's pension from $8 per month to $25. However, until her death in 1913 at the age of ninety-three, she only received a $20 per month pension.

National Standards This lesson plan correlates to the National Standards for History.

Era 5, the Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877), Standard 2A: The

student understands how the resources ofthe Union and Confederacy affected the course of the war (compare the human resources of the Union and the Confederacy at the beginning ofthe Civil War and as- sess the tactical advantages of each side). It also corresponds to Stan- dard 2B: The student understands the social experience ofthe war on the battlefield and home front (compare the motives for fighting and the daily life experiences of Confederate soldiers wi\h those of white and African American Union soldiers).

Time The following teaching activities can be conducted in two class peri-

ods (day one for instruction and day two for assessment).

Student Objectives Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to discuss

Harriet Tubman's role in the Civil War. compare and contrast the treat- ment of male and female Civil War veterans, and discuss the difficul- ties faced by black and female soldiers during the Civil War years.

Procedures • Vocabulary Development

Ask students to locate the following terms in the documents and accompanying article and use classroom resources (dictionary, thesau- rus, textbook) to define each term: affidavit, allowance, claimant, pen- sion, equitably, enigmatic, clandestine, mystique, conscripted, cursory, testimonial, amenable.

• Document Analysis and Discussion Duplicate and distribute the featured documents on pages 50-5J.

Based upon the students' examination ofthe documents, use their an- swers to the following questions as an entry point into discussing the roles of women and compensation for service in the Civil War

•What types of documents are these (memoranda, letters, forms, etc.)? •Are the documents dated? •Why were they created and by whom.^ • Do the documents have unique physical qualities (logos, nota-

tions, handwriting, etc.)? •Who was the intended audience for these documents? •What additional questions does the document raise for you?

• Role-Play Activity Using the documents, article, and additional research, ask students

to take on the role of "The Committee on Invalid Pensions" and hold a hearing on whether or not Tubman should receive a pension for her service during the Civil War. Students can fill the roles of Harriet Tub- man, Sereno Payne, George Ray, and other figures who wouJd have had an interest in Tubman's claim.

• Extended Research Activities I. Assign students the task of researching some ofthe people men-

tioned in the article (Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Fred- erick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison. Wendell Phillips, and William

48 OAH Magazine of History * March 200s

Seward). Allow them the choice of writing a two-page paper explaining

that person's relationship to Harriet Tubman or delivering the same

information as a five-minute oral presentation to the class.

2, Ask students to pretend that they lived one hundred years ago

and had an opportunity to interview Harriet Tubman. Encourage them

to generate a list often questions that they would have asked her. Next,

help them conduct Internet and library research to Identify books, mu-

seums, historic sites, scholars, and other resources that exist today that

might help answer their questions. •

Endnotes

1. The documents featured in this article can he accessed online via the Archival

Research Catalog (ARC) datahase of the National Archives and Records

Administration (ARC #s: 306573, and 306574): <http://www.archives.gov>.

2. The National Women's History Project. "Timeline, Harriet Tubman." The

Learning Place, Biography Center, <http://www.nwhp,org/tlp/biographies/

tubman/tuhman_bio.html>,

3. Contrabands were enslaved blacks who either ran away from their owner's

plantation to Union encampments or were conscripted by the Union army.

4. Genera! affidavit of Harriet Tubman relating to her claim for a pension, ca.

1898. Record Group 233: Records of the U, S. House of Representatives,

1789- . Center for Legislative Archives, National Archives and Records

Administration, Washington, DC,

5. Genera) affidavit of Harriet Thbman.

6. Letter from Sereno E. Payne, Chairman of the Committee on Merchant

Marine and Fisheries, to George Ray, Chairman of the Committee on Invalid

Pensions, on behalf of the claim of Harriet Tubman that she was employed

as a nurse, cook, and a spy, 02/05/1898. Record Group 233: Records of

the U.S. House of Representatives, 1789- . Center for Legislative Archives,

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.

7. Benjamin Guterman, "Doing 'Good Brave Work*," Prologue: Journal of the

National Archives 32 (Fall 2000); i6i.

8. Letter from Sereno E. Payne to George Ray.

9. Ibid.

10. A history concerning the pension claim of Harriet Tubman written by

Charles Wood, c6/oi/ :888. Record Group 233: Records of the U.S, House

of Representatives, 1789-. Center for Legislative Archives, National Archives

and Records Administration, Washington, DC.

11. Encarta Africana Online. "Harriet Tubman," <http://www.africana.com/

research/encarta/tt_29o.asp>.

Kahlil Chism is an Education Specialist at the National Archives and Re-

cords Administration in Washington, D.C., where he assists in presenting

workshops and video conferences to a national audience of students, teachers.

and administrators, K-iG. He has written articles and lesson plans for vari-

ous journals, as well as a documentary history of the landmark Brown deci-

sionforThe Unfinished Agenda of Brown v. Board of Education (2004).

a book published by Black Issues in Higher Education magazine.

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