The American Dream, Harriet Tubman, and Fredrick Douglas
... or death; if I could not have one, I would have the de oder; for no man should take me alive; I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted (pg. 3 of H. Tubmnan).” She is saying that she had one of two things she had a right to, liberty or death. She would keep fighting for her liberty until she gets it or until someone kills her. To have liberty is to have the American dream. Even when both were free from slavery, they still did not have the American dream. How could they? While they were free in the north their people were still in bondage in the south. How could they enjoy life knowing of the terrible things happening in the south? Also, even though they were in the north, they were not fully accepted as human beings. When both escaped, if they were caught, they could have easily been sent back to the south to the slave masters. Harriet Tubman had a $40,000 reward for her capture. When Fredrick Douglas escaped to New York he couldn’t even trust anybody do to his experience growing up. He said “The motto which I adopted when I started my from slavery was this-“Trust no man!” I saw in every white man an enemy, and in almost every colored man cause for distrust.” So even though they escaped to freedom, they had to be careful. They had to stay in hiding. One place I did see the American dream was in their heroism. To be a hero of your people is an American dream. Fredrick Douglas and Harriet Tubman did it in different ways but they...