Harriet Tubman And The Underground Railroad

Some of the African Americans that lived back in the 1800's was Harriet Tubam, she was was an Conductor of an underground Railroad. When she was born she actually had a different name, but then later on she had adopted into a different name. Her first name that when she was born and was named until she adopted the new name was Araminta Ross. She got the name Harriet from her mother. Which she had adopted into the name. When she was born, she was actually born, she was actually a slave in Maryland, in the eastern shore. Harriet, was married, and she also had one daughter, but she was adopted. Later on Harriet started having some very sever health issues, and then died a few years later.

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 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.

When we think of African American history we often forget about the people before the civil rights movement. The people who paved the way for future leaders. Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, and Rosa parks are often who we think of. We forget about individuals that made a significant impact that led us to the present place we are today. Harriet Tubman's contribute to history was that she was the conductor of the Underground Railroad, which helped bring slaves to freedom. Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist and was part of the woman's suffrage move.

The underground railroad is a secret network for helping slaves escape from the South to the North and to Canada in the years before the Civil War ("Oxford Dictionaries | The World's Most Trusted Dictionary Provider"). It is called this because although the Underground Railroad was neither underground, or a railroad, the system worked in a similar fashion to a railroad("Fast Facts - The Underground Railroad"). The passengers followed a route; there were many stops; a conductor led the way, which explains the “railroad” part("Fast Facts - The Underground Railroad"). It was underground because it had to be a secretive operation in order to succeed, and the runaway slaves often had to hide to stay safe("Fast Facts - The Underground Railroad").

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).

Two of the most well-known, moving women in history are Harriet Tubman, the slave freer, and Rosa Parks, the brave rebel. Many people know about these two women, but have more than likely not drawn a connection between the two of them. There are a few different areas that can help to develop one’s perception about the impact of these two women. As children these two women were raised to be strong, independent, and influential. These childhoods led to their participation in two massively important movements in American history. On top of all of these areas, an understanding of the similarities and differences between the two can help one to realize the relationship that they share. The last facet to the understanding of these historic leaders is to comprehend their involvement in society and their movements at a detailed level. Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman are two highly influential women in United States history who have some noticeable similarities and differences.

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.

Along the way, there were those who decided at some point along the journey that the cost of freedom was too high. The fear of the flight to freedom became too great. They would rather turn back to the plantation life of slavery. Well, somebody should have told them about our ancestor Tubman. As one of the original conductors of the Underground Railroad, the passage on her train was a one-way ticket. No stop overs and no return tickets.

"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

Harriet Tubman is probably the most famous “conductor” of all the Underground Railroads. Throughout a 10-year span, Tubman made more than 20 trips down to the South and lead over 300 slaves from bondage to freedom. Perhaps the most shocking fact about Tubman’s journeys back and forth from the South was that she “never lost a single passenger.”

In 1849, Tubman set her mind of escaping to the north. On September 17, 1849, Tubman with her two brothers, Ben and Harry, left Maryland. After seeing runaway notice offering $300, Ben and Harry had reconsiderations and returned to the plantation. Tubman, with her strong will, continued to escape nearly 90 miles to Philadelphia for her freedom using the secret network known as the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was neither a rail road nor underground. The routes taken at night to were called “lines” and at places they stopped to rest were called “stationed”. “Conductors” such as Harriet Tubman and Quaker Thomas used their knowledge and luck to securely free slaves from slave states to the Free states. (Biography, 2017) As she cross the state line into Pennsylvania she recalled “When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold through the trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven”

Harriet Tubman was an important African American who ran away from slavery and guided runaway slaves to the north for years. During the Civil War she served as a scout, spy, and nurse for the United States Army. After that, she worked for the rights of blacks and women.

Harriet Tubman. We all know her as the woman that conducted the Underground Railroad, but there is much more to the story than just that. Each trip to Canada has its own story to tell. In the passage “ Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad”, Ann Petry tries to convey that idea through the eyes of Harriet herself, as she goes on a trip through the Underground Railroad, moving through obstacles in her path. In my opinion, Petry did a great job of explaining why she took the risks she did and the motives behind them.

The impact of the Underground Railroad on many is tremendous for how many lives it saved and how it affected the economy and the leader herself Harriet Tubman is an inspiration. “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” Abraham Lincoln. A few people helped make ending slavery a possibility.