Get to know Harriet Tubman

Hello and welcome back to the third edition of my Get to know series! Today we will be getting to know Harriet Tubman.

Please note that I will be writing about the information I find most interesting and beneficial to the post! These will be shorter biographies on historical & cultural figures. If you’re interested in all of the details, please see my citation list at the bottom of the post. With that being said, I hope you enjoy this post and series. As always, please share and subscribe. Thank you for reading!

Early Life

Between 1820 and 1822, Harriet Green and Benjamin Ross had a little baby girl – Araminta Ross (aka Harriet Tubman) (2). Her exact birthdate is unknown, but there is speculation it took place within the time period above. Although there is not much information about her family ancestry, biographyonline.net states Harriet was born “to slave parents who lived on plantation in Maryland” and “…her maternal grandmother came to the US on a slave ship from Africa (possibly from modern – day Ghana).” 

Together, her parents had nine children all – together, but unfortunately three of Harriet’s sisters were sold by their owners when they were young, and she never saw them again (1). Can you imagine that? Never seeing your family again because they were sold off like they were nothing. It’s very sad.

Even when she was a child, Harriet was a leader. She often cared for her siblings when her mother was busy working as a cook (1). However, when she was not taking care of her family, she was working for her family owner, as well as neighboring families (2). From these experiences, she was beaten often, which would leave scars that lasted her whole life. (1). While she was “rented” out to neighbors, she learned how to check “muskrat traps – and later farming tasks, such as ploughing and moving logs. (1)” 

One time, according to womenshistory.org, Tubman started showing “early signs of her resistance to slavery” when, at age twelve, she “intervened to keep her master from beating an enslaved man who tried to escape. She was hit in the head with a two – pound weight, leaving her with a lifetime of severe headaches and narcolepsy.” That takes a lot of courage for a child to do. Not many people would have stood up to slave owners like she did. Unfortunately, she paid a price for it. It’s amazing that even at a young age, she was fighting this evil and that she really never stopped.

Adult Life

In 1844, Harriet married John Tubman, who was a free Black man (3). Now, at the time, remember her name was Araminta. However, after marrying she changed it to Harriet (her mothers maiden name) (1). A few years later, Harriet’s “owner”, Edward Brodress, passed away, and this was troubling for her because it significantly raised the chances of Tubman being sold, which would ultimately split up her family (1). Once again taking charge and trying to do what is right, Harriet and her brothers escaped from the Caroline Country plantation (1). However, after weeks and weeks of traveling, her brothers decided they needed to return and be with their children, which forced Tubman to follow them (biographyonline.net). 

Although her first attempt to be free didn’t work out, Harriet was not going to give up so easily. For the second time, she escaped with the help of the Underground Railroad which, contrary to popular belief, was not created by Tubman, but was “established in the late eighteenth century by black and white abolitionists” (2). Harriet traveled a “ninety – mile route northeast along the Choptank River towards Pennsylvania (1).” 

According to Biography Online, when Tubman arrived in Pennsylvania, she said “When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such glory over everything; the sun came like gold through the trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven.”  The trip, and all the risks that came with it, were worth it for her freedom. While she was in Philadelphia, Harriet took some jobs to earn money. With this money she planned to return to Maryland and rescue the rest of her family (1). 

With some help from abolitionists, Harriet was able to make multiple trips throughout the years to rescue members of her family (1). Sadly, her husband did not want to join her. In Harriet’s absence he married a “free black woman” and left Harriet (2). Over time, Tubman went back and forth rescuing people from slavery. Eventually, slaveowners put a forty – thousand dollar bounty on her head, that’s how successful she was (2). However, even with the bounty and people looking for her, she was “never caught and never lost a “passenger” (2).” 

“I was conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say – I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger” – Harriet Tubman, per Biography Online. As the years went on, and racial tensions grew, America’s Civil War broke out, and Harriet served as a nurse in Port Royal, believing that a Union victory would “advance the cause of abolition” (1). 

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which motivated Tubman to become even more involved with the northern army (1). Throughout her time with the Union army, Harriet “offered her services as a guide for scouting trips in South Carolina – using her skills to travel undetected. She also became the first woman to lead an armed assault during the Civil War, when she guided three steamboats to an assault on plantations on the Combahee river (1).” She did many great things throughout this time. The raid mentioned help save “around 750 slaves (1)”.

End of Life

Once the war had ended, Harriet Tubman continued to look after her family, as well as ex – slaves (1). She never stopped caring for people and for freedom. Harriet also began “supporting the women’s suffrage movement, supporting the work of Susan B. Anthony and others (biographonline.net).” She used her heroic efforts throughout the war to promote equality between men and women, which brought her even more national recognition (1). Although she was in her later years, Harriet Tubman never stopped advocating for freedom and equality. She was a true warrior and saved so many lives. In 1913, surrounded by her family and friends, Harriet passed away. According to Biography Online, her last words were: “I go to prepare a place for you.” Even in death she continued to do what she did throughout her life – make a place for people. Whether it was through the underground railroad, or in Heaven, Harriet Tubman was making sure everyone was going to eventually be free and have their own special place.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of my Get to Know series. If you did, please share and subscribe!

If you are interested in Harriet Tubman, and would like more details regarding her life, please see my citation list below.

Peter

Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, YouTube

Works Cited

1. https://www.biographyonline.net/women/harriet-tubman-biography.html
2. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/harriet-tubman
3. https://harriettubmanbyway.org/harriet-tubman/