Meanwhile, Ben is still hopeful that they will all be freed by the master. The overseer shows up and tells them that the slave trader from Georgia is there, looking for strong field hands. David is still talking about his escape, and Harriet has decided that she is going to marry John Tubman, a slave who was freed. The family of slaves is out in the cornfields. He has every intention of running away to freedom in the North. Ben is optimistic about being set free, while David is angry and speaks of how there is no such thing as freedom for a slave. Harriet runs back home.īack home with her family, Harriet's mama worries what will happen to her if she can't prove her worth, while her brother is proud that she ran. Cook scolds her and tells her that she deserves to be whipped. While this goes on, Rit, who has sent her baby out to work, sings a spiritual about Mary and her baby ("Mary Had a Little Baby"). Cook is overwhelming Harriet with responsibilities that are clearly too much for one person at one time. Rit, Harriet's mother, sees housework as a great opportunity, but David is trying to put ideas about escaping and heading north into everyone's heads. The whole family talks about their future. Harriet, who is a little girl, is being sent to a neighboring plantation to learn to do housework. The master calls Ben a good and honest man but warns that he must get his boy, David, under control. The master assures him that he is going to sign papers to set him and his family free. Ben, a slave and Harriet's father, passes by and greets the master. A Georgia slave trader is due any day, and the master expects to get some good money for his slaves. He and Master Broda convene and discuss how to handle runaways and enforce the laws. They are not to learn to read, may not study the Bible, may not congregate without the presence of a white man and may not set foot on the highway without a pass. The overseer is reading the laws to the slaves. She saw her older brothers hired off to neighboring farms. He was a rich master who owned many things. It was what she calls "A Freedom Train to the North." Harriet was born on Master Broda's plantation in Maryland. The Underground Railroad was a special, secret train. She was a conductor on the Underground Railroad. She talks of the past, back before the North won the Civil War. As Harriet Tubman enters, the entire cast sings about being led to freedom ("Drinking Gourd").
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