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"I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death."

— Harriet Tubman

I Had Reasoned This Out In

I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death.

— Harriet Tubman
courage determination liberty

About this quote

This statement appears in Sarah Bradford's Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman (1869), one of two biographical works Bradford produced based on interviews with Tubman. Tubman described her reasoning before her escape from slavery in Maryland in 1849: she had resolved that she would accept death rather than continued enslavement, a decision that gave her the psychological freedom to act. Bradford's accounts remain the primary documentary source for Tubman's own words.

Source

Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman by Sarah Bradford

I think slavery is the next thing to hell.
— Harriet Tubman
Twas not me, twas the Lord. I always told Him, I trust to you. I don't know where to go or what to do, but I expect You to lead me, and He always did.
— Harriet Tubman
I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say - I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.
— Harriet Tubman
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