ia_2009_c_katie

=Evaluation of Sources (250-400 words) Tips]=

Source 1:Letter possessing a message from Harriet Tubman to President Abraham Lincoln, 1862 [appendix 1]

God won't let Master Lincoln beat the South until he does the right thing. Master Lincoln, he's a great man, and I'm a poor Negro but this Negro can tell Master Lincoln how to save money and young men. He can do it by setting the Negroes free. Suppose there was an awful big snake down there on the floor. He bites you. Folks all scared, because you may die. You send for doctor to cut the bite; but the snake is rolled up there, and while the doctor is doing it, he bites you again. The doctor cuts out that bite; but while he's doing it, the snake springs up and bites you again, and so he keeps doing it, till you kill him. That's what Master Lincoln ought to know. . . . [1]

The value of this source is that it is one of the best examples of Harriet Tubman's abolition efforts and the important impact she had not only on the African American people but also on the  US   government. As for the origin of this source Child was a very influential woman during the civil war and anti slavery movement throughout the   United States. She was an organizer of many anti slavery societies, fundraised for the first anti slavery fair, was an editor of the society’s National Anti Slavery Standard in 1841 and was a member of the anti-slavery society’s executive board during the 1840s and the 1850s. Finally i  n terms of purpose, the fact that abolitionist Lydia Maria Child, added Harriet Tubman's quote in her letter to President Lincoln shows that Tubman was renowned, held a certain amount of respect and importance in the eyes of her community. There are though some limitations to the use of this source. In terms of origin, while it is said that Tubman said these exact words to the president; she was illiterate; which means someone would have had to copy down her words on paper. So it's impossible to know if these were her exact words, as we can see from previous examples in history such as Sojourner Truth's "ain't I a woman" speech which was distorted into many different forms and used in many different contexts. Secondly in terms of purpose, her quote is taken out of context. The viewer only has access to an extract of her speech not the whole thing. We're only given the section that portrays to the message Lydia Child was directing at the president, not the entire message Tubman was giving that day. If we had the entire speech we might have found this source to be less or more useful for this project.


 * Source 2: Bill H.R. 3786 written by Representative Gerry W. Hazelton of Wisconsin, of the Committee of War Claims for the 1874 official report of the Congressional Record **

"The whole history of this case establishes conclusively the fact that her services in the various capacities of nurse, scout, and spy were of great service and value to the Government, for which no compensation was paid her besides the support she was furnished... Your committee is of the opinion that she should be paid for these services and to that end report back the accompanying bill as a substitute for H.R 2711, appropriating the sum of $2,000 for serves rendered by her to the Union Army as a scout, nurse, and spy, and recommend its passage." [2]

The purpose of this text was to have the United States Government reimburse Harriett Tubman for her various contributions for the Union Army. The value of this source is the fact that it lists many of the various roles in which Harriett Tubman served during the American civil war. These occupations consist of being a nurse, scout and spy for the Union Army. This source also shows that Gerry W. Hazelton, like Lydia Maria Child, was a person of influence during this time period in the  United States   and who's personal opinion would be listened to and taken into consideration. Gerry W. Hazelton was a representative of  Columbus  ,   Wisconsin   during the time of the war and wrote for the Congressional record, which is an "     official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress and is published daily when Congress is in session". By stating these numerous aids Gerry W. Hazelton is implying Tubman's various war contributions which lead to the freeing of the slaves. Limitations though do exist for this source. In terms of purpose, we are not given the entire article but only a small portion, which could again create a problem regarding the context. This quote was taken from a House of Representatives report and extracted into the book Harriett Tubman (the road to freedom) by Catherine Clinton. By only possessing a section of the article we are unable to know it's full context and meaning thus only seeing the portion that is portraying to the author's, Catherine Clinton’s, point of view. In terms of origin we are unaware of his relationship with Tubman and how he came across this information. While he states her various roles he does not state any details regarding her motives or involvement within each role, thus making the record very vague.

[1] Lydia Marie Child, Letters of Lydia Marie Child (Boston : Hughes Mifflin, 1883) [2] House of representatives, 43rd congress, 1st session, Report 787