Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad Harriet Tubman was like a conductor on a train. Running the underground railroad to free innocent slaves from certain neglect. What do people think when they hear the name Harriet Tubman. some might think of her as a dirty black others might call her a hero, or moses. Harriet Tubman was a very brave, and courageous woman. In this paper we will explore the childhood, life of slavery, and how she came to be known as the women called moses.
Araminta was born into slavery in 1820 in Dorchester Maryland. She was one of nine children born to her mother Harriet Rit Green, and her father Ben Ross. Mrs. Green was owned by Mary Brodess, and Mr. Ross was owned by Anthony Thompson, were the two owners soon married (“Harriet Tubman Biography”). At the age of only six Araminta was deemed old enough to be able to work. She was not yet old enough to work in the fields, so her owners would send her to other plantations to do housework. While at work she was beaten frequently (“Harriet Ross Tubman”). Because she was a slave Araminta did not receive the education she needed which gave her limited opportunities (“Zenitha”). Many things were different if you were a slave. Violence was also part of a daily routine. When Araminta was only a teenager around thirteen, she was sent to a goods store to get some things needed by her master. While at the store she was met by a runaway slave. The overseer ordered Araminta to help stop the young man, but
Her intentions were pure and for the people that were in need. She only wanted for everyone to be treated with equal respect and rights. Though she went through her entire life without being able to read or write, she still managed to lead a self-fulfilling life. This woman is Harriet Tubman. In the book, Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad, Ann Petry goes through her major stages of her life.
The escaping African-America slaves were known as passengers or cargo. The people involved with helping the slaves were known as conductors and these people were generally members of the free black community (including former slaves like Harriet Tubman who helped +-300 slaves to escape), Northern abolitionists, philanthropists (people who seek to promote welfare of others, especially by generous donation of money to good causes) and church leaders. The conductors helped the slaves to move from one place of safety to the next. The slaves would be moved from "safe house" to "safe house", known as stations until they could live in places of freedom which did not allow slavery. The people who ran the safe houses were known as station masters,
Around 1820, Arminta Minty Ross was born into a slave family and was one of 8 children. When she was around five or six, she was put to work as a house servant. As she grew to be 12-13, she started working in the field with everyone else. At this point, she had become very independent. She would suffer the rest of her life due to an event that happened soon after she started working in the fields. A slave owner was very angry at a slave and was going to hurt him. Instead of being a bystander, Arminta (Harriet) blocked the doorway to protect her fellow field worker. This caused the overseer to be even more furious. The overseer then threw a two-pound weight, and it ended up hitting Arminta in the head. She never recovered from
The Underground Railroad was arranged to help the slaves escape north to have the freedom. Harriet Tubman was famous in African-American History, she was known as the leader controlling the idea of the Underground Railroad. She helped 300 slaves escape from the south to the north. Her birth date is unknown because slaves were not allowed to record their birth date. She worked as a nurse and a spy for the northern army. According to the secret history of the Underground Railroad magazine, it states that the railroad was not hidden, and a group of people made a little secret about runaways. The reason why they wanted to escape was that they had bad living conditions and they were forced to work although they did not get paid.
Harriet Tubman, the Moses of the slaves, was an unlettered individual who was brutally abused but fought through her life’s cruel challenges and struggles, saved countless lives along the way (risking her own), and wholeheartedly supported what she believed. Since a very young age Harriet, being a slave, was mercilessly mistreated by her master. On one occasion, she was hit in the head with a sack by a slave owner when she refused to help him find one of his slaves that had run away from him. The blow to the head caused lifelong head trauma and seizures. In addition, she would have sporadic visions that she believed were sent from God. As evident, Harriet Tubman’s life was full of hardships and difficulty.
James A. McGowan and William C. Kashatus the authors of Harriet Tubman :A biography focused on telling the remarkable story of Harriet Tubman the biography tells the story about her early years as young Arminta Ross, how she escape slavery, her duties as the Underground Railroad Conductor, and her roles in the Civil War. I feel like the authors purpose of writing this books was to educate and inform readers about the times of Harriet Tubman and what she had to endure and also to give a understanding on why Harriet Tubman is so legendary amongst the time she lived and why she still is today.
Also known as the feminist before feminism, the Moses of people, and one of America’s most famous conductors, Harriet Tubman is the greatest American. She conducted the most influential and revolutionary railroad of all times, even though there was no engine or caboose. Escaping her own life of inborn slavery and rescuing over seventy families from the same inhumanity is just the beginning of her fascinating legacy.
Harriet had a tough life even when she was young. Slave children had to start working when they were five years old, they did not have a very long childhood (Schraff 15). When Harriet was old enough to be a slave,
Her true name was Araminta but she changed it to Harriet, her mother’s name, after her mother died. She was one of nine children. Harriet had many hardships in her life, especially in her childhood. One of these came when her owner, Mary Brodess’s son sold three of her sisters to a different plantation. However when a slave owner
"Oppressed slaves should flee and take Liberty Line to freedom." The Underground Railroad began in the 1780s while Harriet Tubman was born six decades later in antebellum America. The Underground Railroad was successful in its quest to free slaves; it even made the South pass two acts in a vain attempt to stop its tracks. Then, Harriet Tubman, an African-American with an incredulous conviction to lead her people to the light, joins the Underground Railroad’s cause becoming one of the leading conductors in the railroad. The Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman aided in bringing down slavery and together, they put the wood in the fires leading up to the Civil War. The greatest causes of the Civil War were the Underground Railroad
Araminta married a white man named Richard Tubman when she was in her twenties. She still worked as a slave for her master but at night she was allowed to stay with her husband. She tried to talk to her husband about escaping but he just got mad and said that he would turn her in, so without Harriet telling him, she and three of her brothers decided to escape. Her brothers became scared and turned back but Harriet made it to Philadelphia. When Harriet Tubman arrived in Philadelphia she later remembered feeling that “I had crossed the line of which I had so long been dreaming. I was free. She said she felt as if she were in heaven.” (Harriet Tubman Moses of the Underground Railroad 35) She got a job in Philadelphia and saved as much money as she could so that she could help other slaves to
Harriet Tubman was really named Araminta Ross, but she later adopted her mother’s first name. She was one of eleven children of Harriet Greene and Benjamin Ross. She was five when she worked on a plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland. She was first a maid, and a children’s nurse before she started working as a field hand when she was twelve. While she was thirteen, her master hit her head with a heavy weight. The hit put permanent
Sometime between 1819 and 1823, Harriet Tubman, born Araminta Ross, came into this world under the bondage of slavery on the Brodas Plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland. By her mid-20s, Tubman had escaped and taken hold of her own freedom. As a fugitive slave and, more importantly, the most successful “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, Tubman was called by many names and aliases. Captain John Brown referred to her as “General” Tubman but, most symbolically and impactful, the slaves that she sparked hope in referred to her as “Moses.”
Araminta was the first of nine children born to Harriet ‘Rit’ Green, owned by Mary Pattison Brodess, and Ben Ross, owned by Anthony Thompson (Biography). During her childhood years, Harriet’s family was sold and split up many times. When Harriet was thirteen years old, she witnessed a failed escape attempt and was ordered to stop the slave. When she refused, the slave owner hit her in the head with a two-pound weight. “Harriet suffered from narcoleptic seizures and severe headaches for the rest of her life as a result of this beating (Bradford).” Years later, Harriet married John Tubman and out of fear of being sold, she decided that they would run away. When John declined, Harriet went on her way to the north with two of her brothers. On their journey, her brothers become aware of the dangers and turned back, but Harriet continued on and reached Philadelphia (Tubman).
“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.” (Background Essay) Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross in 1822 in Dorchester, Maryland. She was born a slave and would be, until she ran away in 1849. After she ran away she did many great deeds, but how do you define greatness. Based off the length of time, risk, and number of people helped, there is a clear outline for greatness. Harriet Tubman had many great achievements throughout her life. She was a spy, a nurse, and a caregiver. However her greatest achievement was working in the Underground Railroad.