Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman, née Araminta Ross, (born c. 1820, Dorchester county, Maryland, U.S.—died March 10, 1913, Auburn, New York), American bondwoman who escaped from slavery in the South to become a leading abolitionist before the American Civil War. She led hundreds of enslaved people to freedom in the North along the route of the Underground Railroad—an elaborate secret network of safe houses organized for that purpose.[1]
History
Araminta Ross was born in the winter of 1819 or 1820 to Benjamin and Harriet (Greene) Ross, who were slaves on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Araminta or "Minty" was born into a large family of slaves with origins in Africa—her grandparents may have been from the Ashanti tribe in what is now Ghana. The exact date of her birth is unknown because she was a slave and owners did not often record their slave’s birthdates. Before she reached adulthood, Araminta changed her first name to Harriet, after her mother.
Although some of her siblings were illegally sold to out of state buyers, at five or six years old, Harriet was loaned out to another plantation, where she was put to work checking muskrat traps in rivers. She became too sick to work and was returned, malnourished and suffering from exposure to cold. After she recovered, she was lent out again to another plantation where she worked as a nursemaid to the planter’s child.
By her early teens, she was working as a field hand, plowing and hauling wood. During this time, she defended a fellow field hand who had tried to run away. Harriet came between the angry overseer and the field hand. The overseer threw a two-pound weight at the field hand, but it fell short and hit Harriet in the head, she had life-long headaches, seizures, and narcolepsey as a result.[2]
In 1844, Harriet was married to John Tubman although their marriage never produced children. In 1849, after the death of her owner, Harriet learned she was going to be forcibly separated from her family. She made a plan to escape. Her husband refused to go with her and threatened to report her to the new master. Harriet and her brothers fled the plantation. But, after a short distance, her brothers decided to return, leaving Harriet to make her way alone. She traveled at night and hid by day, her only guide is the North Star.[3]
Harriet settled in Philadelphia and worked as a cook, laundress and maid to support herself and save money for her family. She met William Still, an abolitionist, the son of an escaped slave, and a leader in the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee (also called the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society). In this city, Harriet learned of the Underground Railroad with its secret network of black and white abolitionists who utilized an elaborate series of secret tunnels, houses and roads. In 1850, when Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act making it illegal to assist a runaway slave, Harriet joined the Underground Railroad. She began to lead her charges to Canada for safety.[4] Tubman became politicized very early on, attending antislavery meetings, black rights conventions, and women’s suffrage meetings throughout the latter part of the 1850s[5]
Contribution
During the Civil War, Tubman worked for the Union army as a nurse, a cook, and a spy. Her experience leading slaves along the Underground Railroad was especially helpful because she knew the land well. She recruited a group of former slaves to hunt for rebel camps and report on the movement of the Confederate troops. In 1863, she went with Colonel James Montgomery and about 150 black soldiers on a gunboat raid in South Carolina. Because she had inside information from her scouts, the Union gunboats were able to surprise the Confederate rebels.[6]
What really helped Harriet accomplish the amazing act of freeing 300 slaves was Harriet's tactics. She came up with many clever ways to not be caught ever and to never lose a slave. A huge example of this is that she came up with coded songs to send messages to slaves. One song she said was “In Wade of the Water,” which told slaves to hide in the water. Another example of this is how when they arrived to a house they could stay at she would say “A Friend with Friends” so they would know it was her. Also because she was called “Moses” the slave owners thought that she was a man. This made them even more terrified of her even though she was a “her.” These are all genius ideas that contributed to her success in the Underground Railroad.[7]
Here are the several accomplishments of Harriet Tubman :
She Served as a "Conductor" of the Underground Railroad for 11 Years
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in US which was used by African-American slaves to escape into free states and Canada with the aid of free blacks, white abolitionists and other activists who were sympathetic to their cause. Tubman made use of this network during her escape. Risking her own freedom, she became a “conductor” of the Underground Railroad and returned to Maryland many times to help rescue other slaves. For 11 years, from the time of her escape till 1860, Tubman served in this capacity. In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law was passed in US which stated that "escaped slaves could be captured in the North and returned to slavery". Tubman thus re-routed the Underground Railroad to Canada.
Harriet Tubman Guided at Least 70 Slaves to Freedom
During her time as conductor of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman made around thirteen expeditions and rescued at least 70 slaves which included her family members. She also provided specific instructions to 50 to 60 additional fugitives who escaped to the north. Her journeys put her at tremendous risk and required her to be inventive to handle difficult situations. Harriet Tubman was nicknamed “Moses” due to her courage and the nature of her work. She was never captured and neither were the people she guided. Tubman later said: “I can say what most conductors can’t say – I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”[8]
She Assembled a Spy Ring
Tubman took steps to bridge the distance between herself and the newly freed locals. Because they resented the fact that she received army rations while they had no such support, she gave hers up. To make ends meet, she made pies and root beer to sell to soldiers, and operated a washing house; she hired some formerly enslaved people to help her do laundry and distribute her wares.
Tubman ended up assembling a group of trusted scouts to map territory and waterways; she also did some scouting herself. Having received $100 in Secret Service funds in January 1863, Tubman was also able to pay those who offered useful information, such as the location of Confederate troops or ordnance.[9]
External Link
See more her contribution here
Reference
- ↑ Harriet Tubman American abolitionist. December 17, 2020. Britannica. Retrieved January 31, 2021
- ↑ Information and Articles About Harriet Tubman, a famous women In history. Historynet. Retrieved January 31, 2021
- ↑ Paula B. Nelson. Tubman, Harriet. Learningtogive.org. Retrieved January 31, 2021
- ↑ Paula B. Nelson. Tubman, Harriet. Learningtogive.org. Retrieved January 31, 2021
- ↑ Kate Clifford Larson, Ph.D. Bound For the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero. Retrieved January 31, 2021
- ↑ Activists & Reformers Harriet Tubman. Americaslibrary. Retrieved January 31, 2021
- ↑ Shaycee Renn. The life and accomplishments of Harriet Tubman. February 18, 2016. Moabsunnews.com. Retrieved January 31, 2021
- ↑ Anirudh. 10 MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF HARRIET TUBMAN. May 3, 2017. Learnodo-newtonic.com. Retrieved January 31, 2021
- ↑ Sara Kettler. Harriet Tubman's Service as a Union Spy. October 1, 2020. Biography,com. Retrieved January 31, 2021

