Process Paper

For the 2017 National History Day project, our group piled together ideas for this years
theme Taking a Stand. Immediately, we chose Harriet Tubman, one of the most successful
leaders in the Underground Railroad, a rebellious trailblazer that paved the path of liberty for
people of color based on her dreams and firm beliefs of freedom, inspired others, past and
present, to pursue righteous choices for ethical reasons, and brought upon reformations that
changed Americas definition of society.
We started our research by asking questions to ourselves. In order to get a gist of who
Harriet Tubman was, we searched through broad-topic sources, such as textbooks that introduced
slavery and the Underground Railroad, and news articles in the 1800s and discovered the public
concern of slavery. Continuing our research based on broad information gave a better
understanding of the historical context of the time period that Tubman lived in, major events that
caused changes in Tubmans life, and later opened up leeway for narrowing our research. We
read Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman, which was the first biography of Harriet Tubman
published in 1869, and described leading figures and authors involved in the pursuit of freedom.
To understand who Tubman was as a leader, we delved deep into primary sources, such as letters
from leaders of the Underground Railroad written to Tubman. These primary and secondary
sources provided insight on Tubmans commencement of abolishing slavery.
We chose our presentation category by contemplating our ability to compose a
substantial, attractive, and self-explanatory website shaped by our strong organizational and
constructive skills.
Our topic relates to the theme of Taking a Stand because during the 1800s, many
people, specifically people of color, were violently pressured into slavery. The most famous

event that happened in the 1800s was the Civil War, and this war was a disagreement that lasted
years over the topic of involuntary servitude. Harriet Tubman rebelled against the belief of
slavery by taking action, and resisted the oppression that forced her people in enslavement. For
instance, she traveled thousands of miles for the freedom for not only herself, but for her people,
for every slave. She believed that freedom should be granted to every man and woman,
regardless of the color of their skin. Her resolute belief of racial equality gave her the bravery to
blaze the path of freedom for the slave population. The dangers of being a fugitive slave did not
prevent Harriet Tubman from taking a stand against early American society. The major
significance about Harriet Tubman was her reestablishment of Americas culture and society by
taking the first step to eliminate racial discrimination, she motivated the Reconstruction Era. Her
actions helped destroy the culture of slavery, thus leading our nation a step closer to the true
meaning of the Declaration of Independence, ...All men are created equalwith certain
unalienable rights...Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness... , and brought the United
States society to where we are today.

Word Count: 498