The Two Harriet’s Heroines of the Civil War

What is this passage mostly about?

• two women named Harriet and their roles in helping to end slavery

• two women named Harriet and their lives during the Civil War

• how Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book helped start the Civil War

• how Harriet Tubman led slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad

Read the following sentences: “But her book angered people in the South, and historians believe it helped lead the Southern states to break away from the North a decade later, which marked the beginning of the Civil War. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was so influential that when President Abraham Lincoln met Stowe in 1862, he is supposed to have said: ‘So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.’”As used in this sentence, what does the word “influential” mean?

• not having a say in something

• uninteresting, boring, or unengaging

• having power to cause change

• scared or hesitant to do something

Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.Harriet Tubman and Harriet Beecher Stowe had many things in common; ___________, they were both abolitionists, they both fought for women’s rights, and they were both one of eleven children.c

• however

• specifically

• meanwhile

• consequently

Approximately how many slaves did Harriet Tubman help escape to freedom?

How was Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin influential in the period leading up to the Civil War?

“But Harriet Tubman and Harriet Beecher Stowe are now recognized for their different but important roles in ending slavery in the United States of America.” Explain how each of the Harriets helped to end slavery. Support your answer using information from the passage.