When asked if she was sorry to have left the Washingtons, particularly because her life had been so difficult and sorrow-filled since she'd escaped to New Hampshire, she replied with strength and the calm wisdom of a woman who'd had the courage to do what was morally right: "No, I am free, and have, I trust, been made a child of God by the means.

As Burwell prattles on, Ona finds her resolve. When he finally finishes speaking, she looks him straight in the eyes. Her response is final, and fierce. "I am free now and choose to remain so.

Worse yet, human nature was allowed no outlet in the motional life of the enslaved. There was no acceptable place for the range of human emotions. If you were angry, you had to swallow your rage. If you were afraid, you had to pretend as if you were calm. If your mother and brother had died a month apart, you had to go to work without tears, without a break, without comfort.

Ironically, slavery's burdens - all that that she suffered while working with different yet demanding families - turned Harriet into a warrior, a warrior who was ready to slay the dragon of human bondage.