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U.S History Is A Bitter Sweet Tale Of Many Triumphs And

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U.S history is a bitter sweet tale of many triumphs and failures. A country built on the promise of an individual 's alienable rights, but practiced taking away those rights from most of its people . Slavery, though in the past it will never be forgotten, was one of the darkest times in U.S history and still is a reminder of what humans can do to each other. After decades of abuse of the African Americans people the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation made slavery illegal and set those imprisoned free. Many had to fight hard to achieve freedom and today we celebrate their accomplishments. In the book Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom, author Catherine Clinton provides a detailed look into the life of Harriet Tubman. Tubman life …show more content…

Not only does Clinton us Tubman 's suffering of physical abuse during her time in slavery , but also describes Tubman 's mental abuse as support for her fight against slavery. One of the hardships slaves face is how easy it was for a family to get separated. This was do to the buying and selling of slaves that could separate mothers and fathers from their children. Unfortunately, Harriet Tubman lost three of two of her sister when they were sold by the slave owners. Clinton states "Slave parents lived in abject terror of separation from their children. This fear, perhaps more than any other aspect of the institution, revealed the deeply dehumanizing horror of slavery." (Clinton 10). One can not imagine the paranoia and pain of the buying and selling of human lives especially when it comes to those that you love most. The horror of having your children taken away from you came a reality for Tubman 's mother and left a scare on Tubman for the rest of her life. She would later use her abuse to make her stronger as a person able to fight slavery and ensure this would go on no longer. In the book Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom Tubman 's abuse is used as support by Clinton of why she would risk her own life to help other. It was 1839 Harriet Tubman finally escaped from the plantation and was free from its cruelties. Her husband at the time criticized her decision and did not join her in escaping. This may have been justified for the backlash for running away was

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