Harriet Tubm A Brief Biography

Harriet Tubman was among the greatest fighters for justice in her time and was an inspiration to others to fight for what they believe in, but she along with many others who fight experienced it themselves. When she was younger, “She knew that her brothers and sisters, her father and mother, and all the other people who lived in the quarter, men, women and children, were slaves. At the same time, someone had taught her where to look for the North Star, the star that stayed constant, not rising in the east and setting in the west as the other stars appeared to do; and told her that anyone walking toward the North could use that star as a guide. She knew about fear, too. Sometimes at night, or during the day, she heard the furious galloping of horses, not just one horse, several horses, thud of the hoofbeats along the road, jingle of harness. She saw the grown folks freeze into stillness, not moving, scarcely breathing, while they listened. She could not remember who first told her that those furious hoofbeats meant the patrollers were going past, in pursuit of a runaway. Only the slaves said patterollers, whispering the word” (Petry). Living with her family as a slave, she learned all the things she needed to know to do her job in the future as the conductor of the Underground Railroad, she learned about the North star, and she learned about how you should not get caught by the patrollers. Perturbed by the thought of the fate of her family and her future, she escaped to Philadelphia but “Rather than remaining in the safety of the North, Tubman made it her mission to rescue her family and others living in slavery via the Underground Railroad” (Biography.com editors). She made it her mission to save others and take

Tubman was born into slavery. As a child, she was neglected and treated horribly. Even when she was supposed to be freed, her owner broke some laws and refused. Growing up, she

Rather than remaining free in the safety of the North, Tubman decided that her freedom had no meaning knowing that her family and her people were still enslaved. She made it her mission to rescue the rest of her family from slavery starting with her niece Kizzy, who was going to be sold to the South along with her two small children. Her husband, a free man named John Bowley, contacted Harriet, warning her of this troubling news and requested her help in rescuing his wife and children. Harriet organized for her return to Maryland and was able to help Bowley buy his wife’s freedom. They were then brought to their refuge and new home, Philadelphia. She then went back for her elderly parents and other family members on the Eastern Shore and brought them to Canada, which had abolished slavery for several years and was slowly becoming the home for several hundreds of fugitive slaves. This was the first of many trips made by Harriet Tubman, creating her reputation as the Moses of her people, leading them to the promised land. During the span of her 10 year career on the Underground Railroad, she made 19 trips to the South and, “never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger (192).” During this entire operation, Harriet Tubman’s identity remained a secret, being referred to by the alias “Moses”, and was never caught. Throughout these years, Tubman was also able to develop relationships with many other important abolitionist members of the Underground Railroad such

Harriet Tubman was an American bondwoman who escaped from slavery in the south to become a leading abolitionist before the American civil war. She was born in maryland in 1820, and successfully escaped in 1849. Yet she returned many times to rescue both her family members and non-relatives from the plantation system.

At first, In my research I couldn’t find any evidence on which exact day harriet was born but i could find that she was born around 1820’s near Dorchester County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, near the town of Cambridge (graceproducts.com). Harriet was given the name Araminta Ross later that year she had taken on her mother's name of Harriet. When she had turned six she had been taken ten miles to live with James Cook. His wife who was a weaver was to teach her the trade of weaving. Cook had her work on the trapline to help catch wild animals. He had to work the lines while she was ill with the measles, and catching cold from wading in the water in the condition, she grew very sick. I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty, or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other; for no man should take me alive; I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted, and when the time came for me to go, the Lord would let them take me. --Harriet Tubman (graceproducts.com).

The second contribution of Harriet Tubman is that she was a conductor in the Underground Railroad, a network of antislavery activists who helped slaves escape from the south. On her first trip in 1850, Tubman bought her sister and her sister’s two children out of slavery in Maryland. In 1851, she helped her brother out of slavery, and in 1857 she returned to Maryland to guide her old parents back to freedom. Overall Tubman made about nineteen trips to the south and guided about three hundred slaves to freedom. But during those travels Tubman faced great danger in order not to get caught she would use disguises and carries a sleeping powder to stop babies from crying and also always carried a pistol in case one of the people back out once the journey has begun( Strawberry 1).

Harriet Tubman 's background heavily impacted her beliefs as an adult. Harriet Tubman was born around the year 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland. “She was the child of Benjamin Ross, and her mother, Harriet Greene. Her master 's name at the time was Edward Brodas” (Lesson). She was born into slavery and as soon as she could talk and walk, she was put to work. She worked as a house servant when only 6 years old and started to work on the fields at the age of 13 (ELibrary). Harriet was very uneducated and never learned to read or write. She learned to be strong and independent at a very young age because of the way she was treated by her parents and owner (Social Leaders). When Harriet entered her teen years, she refused to tie up a runaway slave when her owner ordered her to. Her disobedience angered her owner and he then threw a heavy weight

One of nine children, Harriet Tubman grew up in Dorchester County, Maryland. She was born Araminta Ross, between 1820-1825. The exact date remains a mystery. Growing up, life wasn’t easy. Harriet’s family was separated from early on, three of her sisters sold to other plantations. Her father was freed at 45, yet had no choice but to continue working for his former owners. Her mother however, along with the rest of her siblings, were enslaved. Harriet worked hauling logs, driving oxen, and plowing fields.

She then became Minty Tubman and later changing her name to Harriet Tubman. Taking her mother’s first name to honor her and her husband’s last name. Harriet always dreamt of freedom, but her husband did not share her dreams, desires, or aspirations to go north. John was content living in the south as a free man and threatened to hang Harriet out to dry to her slave owner if tried to escape. Well, Harriet would not allow her husband or her slave master to keep her enslaved, about five years later she left her husband and slavery for freedom. That was the year 1849 when Harriet accomplished her goal of following the North Star toward the free states, singing hymnal songs with underlying messages for her family and friends. (Adler, 24-25; Grant

In 1849, Harriet’s owner came down with illness that ended in her death. In fear that she was going to be sold and her family was going to be torn part, Harriet Tubman decided to run away. She also feared for own her fate as an injured and sick slave of low economic value. She initially fled with two of her brothers, Ben and Henry, but they both changed their mind and returned to the planation after a notice was published in the Cambridge Democrat offering a $300 reward for the return of the runaway slaves. Harriet Tubman used the Underground Railroad to travel about ninety miles to Philadelphia, only walking at night to avoid being seen and to follow the North Star, she made her way to Pennsylvania and then Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, she found work and saved money. The

Harriet Tubman was a slave during the mid 1800’s who is well-known because of her activism in the movement towards freedom for all African Americans during that time period. Although she was initially born into slavery in the South, during her lifetime, she escaped to the North and was extensively involved in the Underground Railroad to help others to escape their fates of lifelong slavery.

In 1844 however she got married to a free black man. His name was John Tubman and she took his last name while also changing her first to be the same as her mothers and that is where Harriet Tubman came from. After 5 years of being together though Harriet was worried of being sold and tried to convince her husband to run away with her, but he said he would not go with her. So she decided to run away with two of her brothers being helped by people on the underground railroad. Eventually reaching freedom she felt empty because she was not able to enjoy being free with the people she loved. So to solve this conflict she decided to go back and rescue family and friends. William Lloyd Garrison nicknamed her “Moses”. Which is a biblical analogy because Moses attempted to take the Jews to the promised land and free from their

“When I found I had crossed that line. I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such glory over everything; the sun came like gold through the trees, And over the fields, and I felt like I as in heaven” (“Biography Harriet Tubman”). Harriet Tubman said that after she took a 90 mile route on foot to get to Pennsylvania. Tubman was a slave who escaped her owner and went to Philadelphia to earn some money so she could go back to Maryland and help her family escape. She was an important figure in history because she helped free slaves from their owners through the underground railroads. Harriet Tubman showed great dedication and bravery in her acts to help other slaves escape and start a new life.

She lived in Dorchester County, Maryland, and was no stranger to pain. Slaveowners would lash out at her multiple times, and one time, a man threw a two-pound weight that struck her in her head. For the rest of her life, she experienced occasional seizures, headaches, and narcoleptic episodes. In 1849, Tubman escaped slavery and made it to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rather than basking in freedom, Tubman made it her mission to rescue other people from slavery. She went back to slave states and led the slaves to the north, where slavery was prohibited and illegal. With her guidance, over 300 slaves became free. It was immensely dangerous, as if she were caught, she would have been hung, and if the slaves were found, they would be severely beaten. The reason she did she went back for slaves? She believed everyone had the right to freedom, and she knew from personal experience how atrocious the conditions of slavery were. The slaves were not strangers to her, they were

Harriet Tubman was a worker for the underground railroad who defended slavery and hoped to get more rights for African Americans living in the United States. “Tubman returned to the South again and again. She devised clever techniques that helped make her "forays" successful, including using the master's horse and buggy for the first leg of the journey…” (PBS). Tubman kept coming back to the South to free even more slaves, even though she was free. The author states, “Tubman had made the perilous trip to slave country 19 times by 1860, including one, especially challenging journey in which she rescued her 70-year-old parents” (PBS). Despite dangers within her journey, Tubman continued to save