"I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such glory over everything. The sun came up like gold through the trees, and I felt like I was in Heaven."

When Harriet Tubman crossed the line from slavery to freedom, she didn’t stop running; she turned back to help others escape. In this episode of Quotable History, we explore the life behind that radiant quote and the heroic journey of a woman who risked everything, again and again, for the freedom of others.

Host Will Henry walks you through the brutal reality of American slavery, Tubman's courageous missions on the Underground Railroad, and the faith and focus that drove her, even through pain, seizures, and constant danger.

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🙏 Special thanks to Rachel Henry—for her unwavering support and essential editing work behind the scenes.

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Sources:

Shay Dawson, “Harriet Tubman” National Women’ History Museum, 2024. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/harriet-tubman

Tyler Piccotti and Biography.com Editors, “Harriet Tubman,” Biography.com, 2023 https://www.biography.com/activists/harriet-tubman

Bradford, Sarah H. Harriet, The Moses of Her People. New York, Printed by J.J. Little & Co, 1901.

Jim Crow Museum “Slavery in America Timeline.” 2024. https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/timeline/slavery.htm

Digital History, “Slave Labor.” 2021. https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3041

Barbara O’Brien “When US Christian Denominations Split Over Slavery” Patheos.com 2023. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thereligioushistorynerd/2023/01/when-u-s-christian-denominations-split-over-slavery/

National Archives Foundation, “The Long Road to Abolition” 2025 https://archivesfoundation.org/newsletter/the-long-road-to-abolition/