Thomas Garrett, a Quaker from Wilmington, Delaware, had a genial disposition unless provoked to defend his strong anti-slavery beliefs. Unlike most other white abolitionists who viewed slavery in more abstract and constitutional terms, Garrett, like free black abolitionists and the slaves themselves, saw slavery in very personal terms. He believed so strongly in the Underground Railroad and in helping slaves escape that he chafed under the Quaker belief in non-violence when force seemed to be the only way to win freedom for the slaves he was trying to help. When he died in 1871, Wilmington's black community saluted him as 'their Moses.' ""Station Master on the Underground Railroad: The Life and Letters of Thomas Garrett"" was an important work in antebellum reform when it was first published in 1977. Author James McGowan disputed earlier arguments that white abolitionists were unified in their opposition to slavery and that they were largely responsible for the success of the Underground Railroad while the escaped slaves were helpless and frightened passengers who took advantage of a well-organized network. The present volume has been revised to include new information on Garrett's relationship with Harriet Tubman and the abolitionist newspaper editor William Lloyd Garrison. It also gives readers a new perspective on Thomas Garrett, recognizing his shortcomings as well as the uncompromising nature of his Quaker faith.

This concise biography of Harriet Tubman, the African American abolitionist, explores her various roles as an Underground Railroad conductor, Civil War scout and nurse, and women's rights advocate. The legendary Moses of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman was a fiery and tenacious abolitionist who organized and led African American military operations deep in the Confederacy. Harriet Tubman: A Biography relates the life story of this extraordinary woman, standing as a testament to her tenacity, drive, intelligence, and courage. In telling the remarkable story of Tubman's life, the biography examines her early years as Araminta Ross (her birth name), her escape from slavery, her activities as an Underground Railroad conductor, her involvement in the Civil War, and her role as a champion of women's rights. The book places its heroine in the broad context of her time and the movements in which she was involved, and the narrative shifts between the contextual and the personal to give the reader a strong understanding of Tubman as a woman who was shaped by, and helped to shape, the time in which she lived. Maps and detailed descriptions of the major Underground Railroad routes Tubman used in guiding fugitives to freedom 24 primary source excerpts from newspapers, contemporary correspondence, and Tubman's military records 13 photographs