WhatWouldYouDoScenario2

**Scenario 1: ** ** What Really Happened? **
 * Back**

You have faced the same choices made by the legendary Harriet Tubman. In 1849, she made the 100 mile trek from Eastern Maryland to Pennsylvania. Strong willed and determined, Harriet was able to succeed in obtaining her freedom by running. She was assisted along the way by a series of people—part of the “underground railroad.” But once in Pennsylvania, she came to a hurtful realization, “I was free, but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land.” Through roughly 13 trips south, she strove to provide her family the same freedom she enjoyed. In a cruel twist, she returned to free her husband 2 years after her initial flight, only to learn that he had taken a new wife.

Next: Scenario 2  You live in a Northern town in a free state just a stone’s throw from the slave states opposite the river from your home. Your home sits high on a hill, overlooking the river. You do not approve of slavery. It seems to defy the laws of nature and of god. However, you also have a rather large family to consider. You know that it is illegal for you to help fugitives and that the penalties are stiff. You also know that slave catchers can be rather violent in their efforts to obtain runaways. One day, you observe a woman and her child crossing the frozen river, breaking through the cracking ice. She is under the observation of slave catchers on the opposite bank.

What do you do?  1. Ignore her, knowing that the slave catchers are too close. You will put yourself and family at too great a risk if you act. 2. Shelter the woman for several days, hiding her in your attic, helping her regain her strength. 3. Comfort the woman with simple aid for the night, then rush her to friends in the next time, where slave catchers will be less likely to find her. 4. Help this woman to the best of your ability this time only, but don’t make a habit of it. 5. Help this woman and any other fugitive who needs your assistance.

 On your paper, write the decision you made and why. You must have at least 3 sentences to justify your answer.

 When you are done, click here to see what really happened and to find out about the next scenario.