Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman's life was a monument of courage and determination that continues to stand out in American history. She was born into slavery around 1820 in Maryland. Her birth name was Araminta Ross. She married a free black named John Tubman around 1844, she took his last name and eventually changed her first name to Harriet, her mother's name. As an adolescent she was whipped by the masters that hired her. She eventually freed herself and played a role in freeing many slaves. She made 19 journeys to the South to help slaves escape. She used the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. After the Civil War she joined her family in Auburn, New York where she founded the Harriet Tubman Home. She died of pneumonia on March 10, 1913.

At the age of five or six, she would work as a house servant. Seven years later she went to work in the fields. She would be whipped a number of times by some of the different masters she worked for. While an adolescent, she suffered an injury that would follow her the rest of her life. She was the type of person to stand up for someone else. She had blocked a doorway to protect another field hand against an angry overseer. The overseer picked up, threw a two-pound weight at the field hand, but missed him. Instead, it struck Tubman in the head. As a result she would later suffer seizures and even sometimes fall into a deep sleep. Around 1844, she married John Tubman. In 1849, in fear of being sold along with the other slaves on the plantation, Tubman decided to run away. She set out on foot one night with the assistance from a friendly white woman. She followed the North Star by night, making her way to Pennsylvania and soon to Philadelphia, where she worked and saved her money. The following year she escorted her sister and her sister's two children to freedom. She made the dangerous trip back South soon after to rescue her brother and two other men.

On the third return, she went after her husband, only to find he had taken another wife. Undeterred, she found other slaves seeking freedom and escorted them to the North. She returned to the South again and again. She devised clever techniques to make her journey successful, including the master's horse and buggy for the first leg of the journey. She would leave on a Saturday evening, since runaway notices couldn't be placed in newspapers until Monday morning. She would turn back and head South if she encountered possible slave hunters. She would carry a drug to use on a baby if its crying placed the fugitives in danger. She also carried a gun and threatened to use them on the fugitives if they became too tired or decided to turn back the other direction. She exclaimed, "You'll be free or die." There was no turning back once the decision was made to escape. There was a notice for her capture. By 1856, her capture would've brought a $40,000 reward from the South. Given the fact she was illiterate, she would feign reading a book if she overheard anyone mentioning her name.

Tubman made the perilous journey to slave country nineteen times by 1860, including one challenging journey in which she rescued her 70 year old parents. She was a famed heroine, who became known as "Moses," Frederick Douglass said, "Excepting John Brown--of sacred memory--I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than (Harriet Tubman)." John Brown, who conferred with "General Tubman" about his plans to raid Harper's Ferry, once said she was "one of the bravest persons on this continent."

After 1860 she would involve herself with antislavery causes. She would make friends with abolitionists and during the Civil War she would work as a cook, nurse, and even a spy. She was the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war. She guided the raid on the Combahee River, which liberated more than 700 slaves. In the post-war era, she fought for women's suffrage. She died of pneumonia on March 10, 1913. She was definitely a courageous lady during the slave years.