Katelyn Blose

Honors US History I
Mr. Purdue
23 February 2004
Courage

After reading “John Quincy Adams” and “John Lewis” from Profiles in Courage for Our Time, I now have a much better understanding of the word “courage.” Courage is a form of bravery. It is risking one’s own safety to help others. Courage is also the ability to stand up for what is right and for what one believes in no matter what. Even if others strongly disagree, a courageous person would not give up his or her beliefs.

There are tons of people who have displayed courage in their lives. One example is the firefighters of the tragedy on September 11, 2001. These people knew the dangers involved with going into the World Trade Center, yet they showed great courage and went in anyway. They did this in order to try and save the lives of others. These courageous firefighters knew it was the right thing to do.

In a way, the firefighters displayed courage much like that of John Quincy Adams. John Adams always stood up for what he believed in even when people disagreed. The firefighters believed that going into the building to save people was the right thing to do. Because they believed this, they went in even though others might have thought they shouldn’t risk their lives.

The firefighters of September 11, 2001 were also much like John Lewis. John Lewis, like the firefighters, risked his life to help other people. Lewis went on a march to fight for the rights of colored people, and he was beaten on this bridge along with others. He also was arrested when he was fighting for his cause. The firefighters also risked their lives when they went into the building, therefore, both they and Lewis put themselves in danger to help other people.

Kevin Gowen
Honors US History 1 (Period 8/9)
Mr. Purdue
24 February 2004

Courage

The American Heritage Dictionary describes courage as “a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear.” My own personal definition of courage goes beyond this. I believe that a truly courageous person is one that considers doing something, realizes the possible dire effects of the action, and follows through with it anyway to support what they believe is right. For example, it could be argued that police officers are risking their lives on the street every day. Though the chance of them being killed is not very large, it is certainly a possibility. However, besides a select few, police officers are not performing these duties simply for the greater good of their community. Their own personal interests are invested in their job. It is the course of life they have selected to pursue, and they are paid for their service. I do not believe someone who is paid to put his or her life at risk is necessarily a courageous person. I believe a courageous person is someone who, despite facing great danger, confidently risks everything dear to them for the sole purpose of helping a moral cause.

Perhaps the most well known female slave in American History, Harriet Tubman is famous for her lifelong efforts to help escaped slaves travel to the North through the Underground Railroad. Tubman was born into slavery in Bucktown, Maryland, in 1820. From an early age, she put herself at risk to try to help others. At the age of thirteen she was struck over the head with an iron weight after attempting to save another slave from punishment. At the age of 29, Tubman escaped over the Mason Dixon line using the Underground Railroad, a secret series of houses, tunnels, and roads set up by abolitionists to help slaves to freedom. A year later the Fugitive Slave Act was passed, making it illegal to help a runaway slave. It was then, when members of the Underground Railroad faced much harsher punishments than they ever had before, that Tubman decided to join. On her first expedition in 1851, she rescued her sister and her sister’s children and successfully brought them to the North. Between 1851 and 1861, Tubman rescued almost 300 slaves. She was never caught, and never abandoned any of the slaves she attempted to rescue. During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman served as a nurse and spy for the Union Army, and fought in a campaign that freed 756 slaves. After the war, Tubman became involved in the women’s rights movement, and also opened a home for elderly African-Americans.

Harriet Tubman led a courageous life. After achieving her freedom from slavery, she did not simply settle down and enjoy her life as a free woman. Instead, she unselfishly and continuously returned to the South to help others escape. By doing this, she risked the two most important things that she had: her hard-earned freedom, and her life. In this respect, Harriet Tubman is very similar to both John Lewis and John Quincy Adams. Like Tubman, John Lewis also risked his life many times to support what he believed was right. In many of his peaceful protests for racial equality and an end to segregation, he was injured by police and/or jailed. Despite this happening repeatedly, John Lewis did not give up. He was well aware of the risk that club-wielding police officers posed on his life, yet he continued his struggle for what he believed was the morally correct thing. John Quincy Adams was also very courageous. As a Senator for the Federalist Party, he repeatedly clashed with the rest of his party by taking very different views than them. Though he did not risk his life in the fashion that Harriet Tubman and John Lewis did, he certainly had a lot to lose. Being the son of John Adams, the second President of the United States, he had a very big name to live up to. By repeatedly causing stirs in Congress with his beliefs, such as when he was the only member of his party to support the Louisiana Purchase, Adams risked his reputation and high political status. Though he was aware that his political career could be ruined by his public display of his beliefs, he continued to do what he believed was right. Adams later caused even more of a commotion when he made public his abolitionist standpoint on slavery.

I believe that courage involves more than just keeping cool in the face of danger. I believe that true courage comes from a person willing to do anything to support a cause that they truly believe in. This sort of courage is present in people such as Harriet Tubman, John Lewis, and John Quincy Adams, who risked their most precious things in order to devote themselves to a moral cause.