Strong & Powerful Women: Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman was born in Dorchester County, Maryland, the exact date of her birth is unknown but her parents are Ben Ross and Harriet Green. She was born as Araminta Ross and started going by Harriet at the age of 11. She had eight siblings, Moses, Ben, Linah, Mariah Ritty, Henry, Robert, Rachel and Soph. She was born as a slave and had quite a few jobs on the plantation, she would load produce into wagons, ploughed fields, drove oxen, and hauling logs.
At the age of 12, Harriet was at a grocery store when she saw a slave trying to escape and his overseer saw this and tried to stop him by picking up a metal weight from the counter and tried to aim it to the slave as he ran away when Harriet stood in the doorway wanting to give the slave some time to escape when she got hit on the head with the metal weight. She was badly injured and nearly died because of this incident and she suffered from dizzy spells and blackouts which made it impossible for anyone to wake her up from. She unfortunately had to deal with this all her life.
At the time there were states where slavery was outlawed so slaves would try to escape to the north to be free. They would use the Underground Railroad, which were actually safe houses for them to use as they made their way to the north and those who helped them were called conductors. Slaves would hide in the woods and sneak onto trains until they reached freedom.
Harriet at one point decided that it was time that she escaped, and she did, in 1849 she took the not only long but terrifying trip to freedom and ended up in Pennsylvania. When she arrived in Pennsylvania she worked in club houses and hotels in order to save up money to return to her family to help them escape. Then in 1850, the Fugitive Act was passed meaning that the slaves that escaped could now be returned to their owners. So now slaves had to find another place for them to be safe and free and they escaped to Canada.
Harriet Tubman decided that she wanted to be a conductor so that she could not only help her family to escape but others too. Many of the Underground Railroad supporters helped her with funds and shelter to support her trips. She helped over 300 people including her family to escape and got so good at rescuing slaves that there was a reward of $40,000 for her capture.
During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman continued helping people, she would help nurse wounded soldiers, was part of a military campaign that rescued over 750 slaves, was a cook, laundress, scout and in addition to all that, she was a spy for the north.
Harriet later raised money to open schools for African Americans and also built a home for the elderly called the Harriet Tubman Home for the Elderly. She was also a huge supporter of women's rights and gave speeches for the cause.
Although Harriet Tubman lived a very difficult life she was a brave, strong and caring woman. She risked her life to help others escape from slavery and helped those in need.
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