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The Two Harriets: Tubman and Beecher Stowe with Dr. Richard Bell
Learn with Dr. Richard Bell

The Two Harriets: Tubman and Beecher Stowe with Dr. Richard Bell

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Explore the lives and legacies of two great American icons, Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin and Harriet Tubman as historian Dr. Bell’s go in-depth into the events during their lifetimes.
“So you’re the little lady who started this great war!” said President Abraham Lincoln in the fall of 1862 when he finally met Harriet Beecher Stowe. This “little lady” was the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin a roller-coaster anti-slavery novel that had become a huge best-seller after its tion in 1852. Lincoln and many other people at the time believed that Stowe’s novel had caused the Civil War by intensifying sentiment against slavery in the North and by spurring a reactionary surge of proslavery feeling in the states that would later secede from the United States to form the Confederate States of America.
But Lincoln might just have well have been talking to and about Harriet Tubman. Like Stowe, Tubman’s activism advanced the fight against slavery and edged this country closer to Civil War. As the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad, Tubman and her allies built an antislavery escape network that stretched from the bowels of the slave South all the way into British Canada. Richard Bell, a professor of history at the University of Maryland, explores the lives and impacts of these two American icons.

Dr. Richard Bell is Professor of History at the University of Maryland. He holds a PhD from Harvard University and has won more than a dozen teaching awards, including the University System of Maryland Board of Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has held major research fellowships at Yale, Cambridge, the Library of Congress and is the recipient of the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship and the National Endowment of the Humanities Public Scholar Award. Professor Bell is author of the new book "Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and their Astonishing Odyssey Home," which was shortlisted for the George Washington Prize and the Harriet Tubman Prize.

This conversation is suitable for all ages.

90 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.

Customer Reviews

Based on 7 reviews
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Suzette Shelmire (Oxford, US)
The Two Harriets

Once again Dr. Bell is a genius at comparing and contrasting 2 immortals of the slave era! they were both heroes in the abolitionist movement. - and now I WILL read "Uncle Toms Cabin" !

M
Muriel Dimock (Lakeville, US)

Guest did not leave comment

Reviewer avatar
Beth Ann from Michigan (Seal Beach, US)
I had NO IDEA that Harriet Tubman was such a Bad Ass American Hero!

We've all heard about Harriet Tubman's heroic efforts in the context of the Underground Railroad, but today I learned about her leadership during the Civil War. She led units of men on missions of espionage and battle and freed over 800 enslaved people in the process. Wow. Just another great example of the stuff they didn't put in our history books when we were growing up. I can't wait to see her face on the $20 bill. I can't think of more worthy figure. I also enjoyed all that we learned about Harriet Beecher Stowe and the impact that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" had, or didn't... on the war. As always with Dr. Bell the talk was well prepared, interactive and entertaining. Edjutainment at it's finest.

M
Marie Thomas (San Diego, US)
The Two Harriets: Another excellent seminar

"The Two Harriets: Tubman and Beecher Stowe," is a fascinating seminar about two women who fought against the institution of slavery in very different ways. As is true of all of Dr. Bell's seminars, this one was filled with interesting facts and stories all placed within the historical context. I highly recommend it!

K
Kelly Loeffler (Gilbert, US)
The Two Harriets

Excellent presentation by the awesome Dr. Richard Bell. Anything Dr. Bell teaches is amazing!!!

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Customer Reviews

Based on 7 reviews
100%
(7)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
S
Suzette Shelmire (Oxford, US)
The Two Harriets

Once again Dr. Bell is a genius at comparing and contrasting 2 immortals of the slave era! they were both heroes in the abolitionist movement. - and now I WILL read "Uncle Toms Cabin" !

M
Muriel Dimock (Lakeville, US)

Guest did not leave comment

Reviewer avatar
Beth Ann from Michigan (Seal Beach, US)
I had NO IDEA that Harriet Tubman was such a Bad Ass American Hero!

We've all heard about Harriet Tubman's heroic efforts in the context of the Underground Railroad, but today I learned about her leadership during the Civil War. She led units of men on missions of espionage and battle and freed over 800 enslaved people in the process. Wow. Just another great example of the stuff they didn't put in our history books when we were growing up. I can't wait to see her face on the $20 bill. I can't think of more worthy figure. I also enjoyed all that we learned about Harriet Beecher Stowe and the impact that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" had, or didn't... on the war. As always with Dr. Bell the talk was well prepared, interactive and entertaining. Edjutainment at it's finest.

M
Marie Thomas (San Diego, US)
The Two Harriets: Another excellent seminar

"The Two Harriets: Tubman and Beecher Stowe," is a fascinating seminar about two women who fought against the institution of slavery in very different ways. As is true of all of Dr. Bell's seminars, this one was filled with interesting facts and stories all placed within the historical context. I highly recommend it!

K
Kelly Loeffler (Gilbert, US)
The Two Harriets

Excellent presentation by the awesome Dr. Richard Bell. Anything Dr. Bell teaches is amazing!!!

12