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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSHarriet Tubman, published in its second edition in 1886 under the full title "Harriet, The Moses of Her People," is Sarah H. Bradford's biography of Harriet Tubman, drawn primarily from Tubman's own testimony along with letters and accounts from contemporaries. It opens in antebellum Maryland, where Harriet, born into slavery around 1820 or 1821 on a plantation in Dorchester County, endured brutal conditions from childhood. As a teenager she suffered a severe head wound when an overseer threw a two-pound weight at a fleeing slave and struck her instead, an injury that left her with lifelong episodes of sudden, deep sleep. Hired out repeatedly to cruel masters, she performed backbreaking field labor and domestic work, all while the question of her family's fate pressed on her: she had already watched two sisters taken away in a chain gang, and her own name appeared on lists of enslaved people to be sold south. The book follows her deepening religious faith, her marriage to a free Black man named John Tubman, and the growing certainty within her that escape was not just possible but necessary, setting the stage for the choice that would define the rest of her life.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a young enslaved girl sit dozing on a fence rail while other children play below her?
✓ Answer
Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People by Sarah H. Bradford
Bradford opens her biography with this image of the young girl perched on a fence post, falling into one of her sudden sleeping spells. The narrator uses the scene to hint at the great future awaiting her.
- First half
In what book is a man sent to prison for ten years for owning a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin?
✓ Answer
Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People by Sarah H. Bradford
Sam Green was an Underground Railroad station keeper whose house sheltered fugitives. He was later jailed for ten years after a copy of Stowe's novel was found in his possession.
- First half
In what book does a Quaker shoemaker give every fugitive who passes through his door a new pair of shoes?
✓ Answer
Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People by Sarah H. Bradford
Thomas Garrett of Wilmington helped three thousand fugitives escape and never let one leave his shoe shop without new footwear. He became one of the conductor's most reliable allies.
- Second half
In what book does a Union scout nurse soldiers stricken by smallpox without ever fearing she would catch it?
✓ Answer
Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People by Sarah H. Bradford
At one point she cared for hundreds of soldiers down with smallpox and malignant fevers. She had never had these diseases but trusted that the Lord would keep her safe until her time came.
- Second half
In what book does a heroine help guide gunboats up the Combahee River to destroy rebel torpedoes and bridges?
✓ Answer
Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People by Sarah H. Bradford
General Hunter asked her to accompany an expedition led by Colonel Montgomery to clear rebel torpedoes and supply lines. The raid freed about eight hundred enslaved people who fled to the gunboats from the plantations along the river.
- Near the end
In what book does an escaped slave describe her heart going "flutter, flutter" as her warning of approaching danger?
✓ Answer
Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People by Sarah H. Bradford
She claimed an inherited gift of premonition that warned her when trouble was near. She said her father could predict the weather and had foretold the Mexican war, and she credited her own warnings with helping her elude capture.
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