Harriet Tubman

Harriet Ross was born as a slave in 1820 or 1821 (no one is sure of the exact date). Her family lived on the large Brodas plantation, which produced lumber in Bucktown, Maryland. Her father, Benjamin, and her mother, Harriet, were from the Ashanti tribe of West Africa and were parents of eleven children. The entire family worked as slaves. Life was difficult, and Harriet was hired out as a laborer at the age of five.

Harriet was often beaten because she didn't like to work indoors. By her early teens, she was hired out as a field hand. She was a hard worker but was considered to be defiant and rebellious. When Harriet was 15 years old, she tried to help a runaway slave. Her angry overseer hit her in the head with a lead weight, putting the young girl in a coma. It took months for her to recover, and for the rest of her life, Harriet suffered from blackouts.

Harriet married a free black man named John Tubman in 1844. Harriet remained a slave, but she was allowed to stay in Tubman's cabin at night. Even though she was married, Harriet lived in fear of being sold and shipped to the deep South. Her fears were realized when the Brodas plantation owner died in 1849, and many of the slaves were scheduled to be sold. When she heard this, Harriet decided to escape that very night. She told only her sister.

Harriet made the 90-mile trip to the Mason-Dixon Line with the help of contacts along the Underground Railroad, a system of people that secretly helped slaves get to freedom. She had to hike through swamps and hide in woods, but she was able to reach Philadelphia and settle there. She worked as a dishwasher and made plans to rescue her family. The next year, Harriet traveled back to Maryland and rescued her sister's family. She transported her brothers to the North on her next trip. She went back for her husband, but he had remarried and did not want to follow her. In 1857, Harriet finally returned for her parents and settled them in Auburn, New York.

By this time, Harriet was quite well-known, and huge rewards were offered for her capture. She was nicknamed the "Moses of her people" for leading them to freedom. Harriet made 19 trips on the Underground Railroad and freed more than 300 slaves.

With the arrival of the Civil War, Harriet spied for the Union army and later worked in Washington, D.C., as a government nurse. At the end of the war, Harriet went to live with her parents in Auburn. She was extremely poor, and her only income was the profits from a book written about her.

In 1870, Harriet married Nelson Davis, a man she had met at a South Carolina army base. They were happily married for 18 years, until Davis' death. Harriet purchased land in 1896 to build a home for sick and needy blacks. However, when she was unable to raise enough money to build a house, she gave the land to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. The church completed the home in 1908, and Harriet moved there several years later. She spent her last years in the home telling stories of her life to visitors. On March 10, 1913, Harriet died of pneumonia at 93 years old.

Harriet Tubman was courageous in fighting for the rights of black Americans and was honored by many people during her lifetime. In 1897, her bravery even inspired Britain's Queen Victoria to award her a silver medal, and she is still remembered today by her countrymen.

---

Resources: www.americaslibrary.gov; www.nyhistory.com; World Book Encyclopedia