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Rattus sends Frederick Douglass on a daring rescue mission with Harriet Tubman!

The writers and cast behind Horrible Histories wonder what it might be like if the famous mixed race abolitionist Frederick Douglass went on a ride along with the Black former slave and emancipator Harriet Tubman, on a mission to the South to rescue a group of enslaved people.

Douglass meets Harriet on the road for his ‘interview podcast’ called I’m Freddy to Talk. Before he quite realises what’s going on she has him hiding in bushes, jumping at wolves and avoiding confederate soldiers by disguising himself as a little old lady.

There is an American Civil War era mock recruitment advert for the Union Army. There is also a quiz question about the shocking number of enslaved people there were in the American South.

The pair make it all the way to a plantation and manage to free the enslaved people they find there, disguising the directions to freedom in song (a tactic which was really employed). The gratitude he receives leaves Douglass quite speechless.

Rattus offers some context at the top and tail of the episode, which also features two songs from the TV series – Who Changed the World and They Were the Heroes.

The minipod that goes with this episode features a deleted scene in which Douglass spots a wanted ad in the paper offering a reward for Tubman and discovers her original name was Araminta – or Minty for short.

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16 minutes