In many heroes and legendary Americans, many seek to acquire a complete knowledge over him or her. They seek the characteristics of their greatness. One side they try to see them is their own religion because it highlights their belief in worldly and spiritual matters along with an outline of their morals. Unlike famous Americans like George Washington for which there is little information on his religious belief, Harriet Tubman’s spirituality is a huge core of her actions and reputation. But how does Harriet’s belief compare to that of her admirers’ like Bradford’s Protestantism belief?(Sernett, 132) Jean Humez observes : “The surviving sources suggest that Tubman’s view of relationship of human beings to God was very different from Bradford’s” (Sernett, 138). Harriet’s belief seems to be a mixture of Christianity and that of African traditions.
Harriet’s belief is similar to that of her admirers’ Christianity. She believes in God and the power of prayers. However, her “God” is a very personal entity and her prayers were a way to communicate directly with him.(Sernett, 138) One demonstration of this personal conversation is seen in her recollections: ‘O,Lord, I can’t-don’t ask me- take somebody else.’ To which He replies: ‘It is you I want, Harriet Tubman’ (Sernett, 137) It is worth noting that this view of God was common among ex-slaves and “have been associated with black revolutionaries such as Nat Turner and Gabriel Prosser”. Many other Christians saw God in the nineteenth century “as being relatively remote and possessing two faces….:the kind savior…..and the stern, intimidating judge.” They certainly didn’t claim that prayer allowed them to converse directly with God. (Sernett,137-138)
Many native African religious traditions were transferred to America and preserved in the South. One of the beliefs that survived was the belief of supernatural powers. It suggested that some individuals were born with unusual seer-like powers. One example is Nat Turner who was reported to have unnatural abilities due to him being born with a caul.(Sernett, 144) Harriet Tubman was also famous for her visions which foretold the Civil War, her own freedom (Sernett, 135) and the Emancipation Proclamation (Sernett, 145). Other ex-slaves believed that some led a “charmed” life which gave them the power to avoid capture. Harriet was suggested to have thought she had these powers courtesy of the Lord. One man is reported to have said ‘Moses is got de charm…..De whites can’t catch Moses, kase you see she’s born with de charm. De Lord has given Moses de power.” (Sernett, 134) Another link to Harriet’s tie with native African traditions was her openness to them. Many northerners were mystified by the mysterious dancing and singing of the southern slaves. However, Harriet participated in these traditions with these slaves during the civil War and was able to recall those years afterwards. (Sernett, 139)
But if there are some who believed in Harriet’s divine sight, there were others who tried to find other causes of it. Earl Conrad, Tubman’s second major biographer, attributed the cause of her visions to her blow to the head along with her erratic sleep pattern. However, Conrad was inclined not to believe in the spirituality of Harriet’s vision. He was a believer of Marxist policies and described God as “a piece of heavy artillery, employed by the rich to keep the poor content.” (Sernet, 145) On the other hand, Dr. Riley of Battle Creek Sanitarium disagreed and hypothesized that her visions came from trauma and the brutality of the slave life, giving her a mental disease. Whichever the case, the lack of data has not been able to prove either argument. (Sernett, 141)
It is difficult to explain the source of Tubman’s visions without going into personal beliefs. However, there is little doubt that Tubman thought of herself as a Christian and a servant of God even if her view was different than that of other believers. It is interesting to note how the views of Tubman’s religion change over the years though. Sernett notes “many nineteenth-century Americans trafficked in spiritualism, including Harriet Beecher Stowe and Abraham Lincoln.” It is probably at that time period that the largest amount of people saw her as a true Moses.(Sernett, 145) But as time went on, Marxist Earl Conrad tried to explain her visions and belief in an atheistic sense through the science of her injuries. Even Dr. Riley attributed her belief to another abstract field of knowledge: psychology and mental disease. (Sernett, 140-141) So what does this pattern tell us? It reveals that sometimes history can be bent by the historians who write it. They may not silence it but they might twist or manipulate the words to fit the social values or personal beliefs at that time. It is a caution of how easily it is to believe the history that is told over the “true” history.