Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad “On my Underground Railroad, I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger” (Petry, 15). The story of Harriet Tubman began when she was born into slavery in 1820 on the plantation of Edward Brodas. Tubman was born on a plantation on the eastern Maryland shore during a time that was being plagued with economic uncertainty. More slaves were living with increased anxiety during this time. Along with the economic hardships, slaves were being sold to traders further south leaving their families behind (Petry, 17). Many of the slaves that lived on Brodas’ plantation lived on the words that they would be freed when he died. Many of the stories written describe Harriet Tubman’s early years as the ones of a typical slave life. Harriet’s mother, who was known as Old Rit, was one on those promised freedom when Brodas died along with her children (Petry, 28). Old Rit had ten children not including Harriet. Like any mother who had children in that time line, Old Rit worried that her children would be sold into slavery before Brodas died still leaving them as slaves once she was freed (Petry, 36). There was talk amongst the slaves that a movement was taking place that would restrict their freedom. Denmark Vesey, who was already a free slave, was planning a rebellion when he was caught and hanged (Petry, 42). When Harriet was a mere six years of age, she was told by the over looker of the children that she would
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
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery and had eight siblings. She was a domestic servant but preferred to work out in the fields to escape her overbearing mistresses and the the sexual advances of her masters. but field work did not entirely spare her from pain
Harriet Tubman was born in the year of 1820 into a family of 8 children and two parents of who were all slaves. Harriet’s real name was Araminta Harriet Ross yet she later changed her name to Harriet around the time she was married to John Tubman. Harriet’s life as a slave was hard like many other slaves lives during that time. When Harriet Tubman was around 12 years old she was hit in the head by a two pound weight when she refused to hold down a runaway slave, because of this she suffered through sleeping spells and sever headaches throughout her life, this was called Narcolepsy. Harriet was married in 1844 to a free black man named John Tubman. She ran away in 1951 using the underground railroad. Once she was freed
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in Dorchester County Maryland in 1820. She was called Araminta Harriet Ross she was one of the 11 children of Benjamin and Harriet Green Ross. At the age of twelve Harriet Tubman was instructed to tie up a fellow slave for a whipping. Harriet Tubman refused to tie up the slave and in Harriet’s masters rage he threw a two pound weight at Harriet’s head. Harriet Tubman was in a coma for weeks and there was a dent in her forehead for the rest of her life. This resulted in headaches and episodes of narcolepsy all throughout her life. Harriet Tubman’s mother was freed from slavery by a previous owner which in result also made Harriet free. Harriet Tubman was advised not to go to court because of how long ago the freeing of her mother was. Harriet Tubman married John Tubman a free black man who lived near the Brodas Planation on which Harriet lived in 1844. Even though she was married to a free man she still was a slave
Harriet Tubman, a runaway slave, helped so many blacks escape to freedom that she became the ‘‘Moses’’ of her people. She was born in 1820 in Bucktown, Maryland and died in 1913 in Auburn, New York. During the civil war, she served the union army as a nurse, cook scout, and spy for four years. In 1844, Harriet married a free black man, John Tubman. She left him in 1849. She married Nelson Davis in 1870 and stayed with him.She traveled at night and day guided by the underground railroad a secret network of secret routes and safe house’s. She built the Tubman Home in 1870. She receives honor from queen Victoria for bravery (1893) Harriet Tubman is a hero because of her Determination, Sacrifice and Loyalty. Here’s why,
At the age of 12 Harriet would face her biggest challenge of her life. While attempting to protect a fugitive slave she would be struck by a piece of metal that would break her skull. Harriet Tubman would reflect on this incident saying, “The weight broke my skull and cut a piece of that shawl clean off and drove it into my head. They carried me to the house all bleeding and fainting. I had no bed, no place to lie down on at all, and they laid me on the seat of the loom, and I stayed there all day and the next” (Harriet Tubman Historical Society, "Early Life"). It would take many months for Harriet to recover and would have seizures for the rest of her life. Even after recovering she needed a strong support system behind her to be able to become the person before the injury.
(Harriet Tubman was originally born Araminta Ross and then later changed her first name to Harriet, after her mother.) In 1849, Tubman ran away in fear that she, along with many other slaves on the plantation were going to be sold off. Harriet Tubman left on foot. Luckily, Tubman was given some assistance from a white woman, and was able to set off on her journey to freedom. Tubman used the North Star in order to find her direction during the night, slowly inching her way to Pennsylvania. Once Tubman had reached Pennsylvania, she found a job and began to save her money. The following year after arriving to Philadelphia, Tubman returned to Maryland and to lead her family to freedom. Among the people she took was her sister and her sister’s two children. Tubman was able to make the same dangerous trips months later back to the South to rescue her brother and two other men that her brother knew. On Tubman’s third return to the South to rescue her husband, she found that he had found another wife. Undeterred by her husband’s actions, she rescued other slaves wanting freedom and lead them Northward.
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
Tubman was a very successful abolitionist; she led hundreds of slaves to freedom and never lost a single follower nor was she ever caught. When Tubman was born around the year 1820 she was born into slavery, both her mother and father were slaves. In the year 1849, Harriet and two of her brothers had fled from slavery leaving behind the rest of her family. She made the decision to flee after the death of her owner in 1849. Her brothers made the decision to go back to the plantation, while she refused to return to being a slave she decided to make sure her brothers made it home safely. She then proceeded to make her way to the “free states” in order to make sure that she was free. After making her way to the northern states, she started to make her way back down to the slave states to where she
This injury handicapped her as a young girl, and her value as a slave depreciated, which resulted in poor treatment from her owners, and a grim outlook on her future as an enslaved woman. In 1849, Harriet Tubman made her initial escape from slavery. She had fallen ill once again, and no longer had any value as a slave in the eyes of her “owner.” Edward Brodess, the slaveowner tried to sell her, but was unable to find someone willing to make the purchase.
Harriet made a significant difference while helping with the Underground Railroad. Regardless of Harriet not being able to read or write, she was able to aid slaves towards the north where they would be able to be free. Around 1850, Harriet helps her brother and sister escape, along with her brother’s wife and her sister’s two children (“Tubman”). It is outstanding how many slaves Harriet ended up taking up north without being caught. Though she was never caught, that did not mean that there were people looking for her. Harriet became so notorious for helping slaves, in which plantation owners began
Discrimination and slavery filled our nation in the mid 19th century. African Americans were discriminated and seen as “property,” not human beings. Having been born as a slave, Harriet Tubman was no stranger to the harsh reality of slavery. Tubman’s childhood included working as a house servant and later in the cotton fields. With the fear of being sold, Tubman decided to escape for a better life. Harriet Tubman spent her life trying to save others from slavery, becoming one of the most famous women of her time who was able to influence the abolition of slavery, and effect the lives of many African Americans.
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland. Her birth name was Araminta Ross. She had ten brothers and sisters and as a child worked as a nursemaid for a small baby. She had to stay up all night long to make sure that the baby would not cry and wake up the mother. If Harriet ever fell asleep the mother would whip her. This experience is what made Tubman want to fight for her freedom. She also went through situations that scarred her for life. One of them was when she was told to help punish another young slave because he had gone to the store without permission. She refused to help. The young slave returned home and started to run away so the owner threw an iron weight at him. He missed, and the weight hit Tubman and
No way was I going to be tricked into doing the work for someone else’s greediness.