Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom- Read Aloud ~ Read by Mrs. Young

the Caldecott Honor Book and the Coretta Scott King Award-winning book titled Moses When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Kadir Nelson music on loan from Twin Sister Productions CD titled walk together Children Moses When Harriet Tubman led her

people

to Slavery is a practice in which a person known as a master is allowed, through customs or even laws, to possess another human being from 1619 to 1865. Africans and their descendants were enslaved in colonial America and the United States. This was the first time in history. that his manohar slave as property slaves in the United States had no rights a person born a slave was a slave for life and was forced to work long hours on sometimes dangerous tasks slaves who disobeyed could be severely punished more slaves could being sold by one master to another, such sales often separated slave families forever many states forbade slaves from learning to

read

and write slaves had almost no chance of improving themselves or their living conditions in 1820 there were around From 1.5 million slaves in the United States by 1861 the slave population had grown to more than 4 million slaves he was moved by sermons about the ancient journey of the Israelites out of Egypt and gained hope from African American spiritual songs that a Sometimes they contained coded messages to help the escapees.

Between 40,000 and 100,000 slaves escaped to

freedom

through a loose network of helpers. and hiding places known as the Underground Railroad on a summer night Harriet looks at the sky and talks to God I am your daughter Lord, but the master owns me, drives me like a mule now he wants to sell me south and chains me to work cotton, rice, indigo or sugar cane Never see my family again God speaks in the whip song I said the North Star in the heavens and I mean be free Harriet see the stars twinkle My decision is decided tomorrow I flee God wraps her and the cloak at night and returns to the cabin she sleeps next to her husband for the last time the next day Harriet doesn't tell anyone her plans grabs the ax to chop wood breathes deeply in murmurs Lord, I'm going to hold on to you and God whispers in the breeze I'm going to see you to the end girl at dusk Harriet sings

when

that car arrives I'm leaving, she leaves you she hopes her loved ones hear a song and know what it means goodbye while the plantation sleeps Harriet praise Lord send me a sign owl screeches ha When the time comes Harriet slips through the night running through the swamp she hears the frogs croaking and her own heart beats Lord, I can't do it alone in the reflection of the moon in the stream she sees the face of God Harriett you dream that the saints saved you, but mortals will give you shelter the woman in the wagon who always spoke kindly to me yes, Harriet, I must go with her the woman shows Harriet safe havens, hiding places for fugitives and Harriet slips away in the darkness she crawls through the forest her heart beats silence the hooves please Lord, don't let them catch me and take me back to face my masters, don't let my journey enter here in the undergrowth Harriet sinks into a deep sleep God cradles her

when

wake up the men on horses have passed by and it is dawn thank you Lord for watching over me in a clearing, the safe haven Harriet knows that most strangers would turn her in without helping her, but the farmer's wife feeds Harriet and then tells her to sweep the garden.

I don't know who to trust. Lord, seek my face and theirs and my hands and their work, what do you have in your hands in a cloud of dust? she sees the broom turn into a cane and then into a rifle Harriet is startled but holds on I will arm you against your enemies but you will not harm a soul nor harm will come to you the dust settles when she stops sweeping and everything is as it was at nightfall night Harriet gets into a wagon and the farmer covers her with blankets as the wagon rocks Harriet wonders if she will go to jail if she jumps Lord, trust me, protect you girl a song from the heart she knows how to sleep sweetly sweet the wagon falls stops at dawn Harriet walks until her legs hurt then leans on a tree sir I miss my parents

harriet

your father taught you to

read

the stars predict the weather pick wild berries and make cures from the roots use his lessons to be free you will again find a mosquito buzzing in Harriet's ear she gets up and moves a boatman took her upstream back to the shore the dogs growl and sniff looking for Harriet's trail she runs as fast as she can well I can Don't leave them back God speaks through a babbling brook throw away your shoes get into the water to trick the dogs upstream the barking stops and the fear disappears thank you no Harriet's feet bleed inside her they stir under the stars she draws closer to God Lord don' Don't let anyone make me spin I'd rather die than be a slave Harriet keep going you've already glimpsed the future she remembers dreams where she flew like a bird she sank and was lifted up by ladies in white who pulled her fly towards the north Harriet you faith has wings ahead hears the news that the Patrol is catching the fugitives and crouches for days and a whole potato dreams that it is buried alive have you abandoned me Lord Harriet when you were a child you hid in a pigsty to avoid the whip you fought against the pigs for table scraps?

I was almost starving before you faced the whip I'm with you now while I was there an old prayer comes back to her Lord make me strong help me fight after seven days Harriet rises from that hole like a

young

tree reaching for the sun, Is it to touch God's? Hand in hand in the moonlight, she goes mile after rugged mile hiding in haystacks, attics and barns holding God's hand all the while often worrying how far Lord, how far You can walk with me, my daughter, and I can take you when Harriet is around. leave a couple in a wagon they say that slavery is a sin and they take her on the last leg of their journey not for now girl not far away now in the Promised Land Philadelphia the sun shines golden in the trees and Harriet feels light as a cloud studies herself from head to toe to see if she has wings it is this sky Lord not the sky Harriet free soil but

freedom

brings new evils Lord I am a stranger here all my relatives are in the south would you like to see them like Harriet? dust the faces of her family appear in the grain of the wood she wipes a tear from the table I would make a home for them here I would give my own life to free them then I would return for them daughter but first I would go home to prepare for the trip and Harriet goes to church finds not only holy ground but also a stop a station along the Underground Railroad this lace traveled toward freedom Harriet hands out shirts and shoes serves beans and cookies to newly arrived fugitives while agents plotting escape routes pass by by secret routes that she learns by heart finally a driver a guide she turns to God I am ready Lord guide me Harriet I will open a path for you risking her own life Harriet returns to the feared South and rescues her family but dreams of slaves still in the yoke she listen he moans see there are tears he tosses and turns in his sleep then God opens his eyes Harriet be the Moses of your

people

but I am a lonely woman Lord Harriet I have blessed you with a strong body an intelligent mind you heal the sick and you see the future use your gifts to break the chains I will do as you say Lord, I will show others the path to freedom that you have shown me save all you can daughter and Harriet Heath God's call go south again and again keeps his bands of fugitives on the move Storms and difficult lands come to Canada, land of Canaan and when free souls sing her praises, she gives glory where she is, it was not me, it was the Lord.

I always trust him to guide me and he always does it right. Moses, well done.