Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman escaped a life of slavery only to return south, at her own peril, time and again, to lead more than 300 fugitive slaves through the Underground Railroad to safety and freedom. After the Civil War, Tubman raised money to clothe and educate newly freed African-American children and established a home for and indigent African Americans.

"I had crossed the line of which I had so long been dreaming, I was free; ... to this solemn resolution I came; I was free, and they should be free also."

— Harriet Tubman

Born: circa 1820 Dorchester County, Maryland
Died: March 10, 1913 Auburn, New York

A legendary figure of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, a black woman born into slavery, made 19 trips into the South and successfully guided more than 300 fugitive slaves to freedom. Not one of these fugitives was ever recaptured on their way to freedom. During the Civil War, she served as a nurse, spy, cook, and scout for the Union soldiers. After the war, she crusaded for women's rights. She founded the John Brown Home for Aged and Indigent Colored People. She aided and housed the poor, aged and sick. Because she was once an illiterate, highly visible runaway slave, engaged in an illegal activity, few of Harriet Tubman's life achievements were documented. All recorded sources, however, agree that Harriet Tubman spent her life "leading her people out of bondage" and, as she once stated herself, serving as a "Moses" to her people.

Harriet Tubman, first called by her "cradle name" of Araminta Greene, was born to Harriet Green and Benjamin Ross in 1820. She eventually took her mother's name. Born a slave, she and her 11 siblings were the property of a Maryland plantation owner in Dorchester County, Maryland, 90 miles east of Washington, DC.

At age six, she was sent to work in the home of James Cook in order to learn the trade of weaving from Cook's wife. Tubman hated her mistress and was eventually sent back to her original owners. At age 13, she was sent to a farmer as a field worker. This experience ended unpleasantly as well. In anger one day, her master threw a two pound weight at her, breaking her skull and causing pressure on her brain. For the rest of her life, she suffered from chronic narcolepsy.

Following this incident, Tubman was again returned to her original owners who then hired her out to a man for field work. Tubman excelled at this hard labor and spent her time driving oxen, plowing fields and hauling lumber. Other slaves recounted that she could chop half a cord of wood in a day.

At the age of 25, she married John Tubman, a free black man. When Tubman's master died in 1849, she learned that she and other slaves, including some of her siblings, would be shackled and sold to the south. Her husband did not support her desire to escape and threatened to turn her in if she tried.

By this time, whispers of slave uprisings, a promise of a different life with abolitionists to the north, and something called the Underground Railroad had reached Dorchester County. Harriet Tubman knew it was time to start believing in the hope of freedom. She and her two brothers decided to escape. Fear of capture and retribution quickly convinced the brothers to turn back before they were discovered missing. She returned to her husband's bed undiscovered, but very disappointed.

Tubman's determination, however, remained. Two days later, she treaded into the darkness all alone on her journey to freedom. She walked for days, following the North Star, covering 90 miles to Philadelphia by way of the Underground Railroad, and aided by an unidentified "white lady" along the way without being apprehended.

In December 1850, Tubman made her first trip back into Maryland to lead a group to freedom. In 1851, she made two trips back into Maryland to lead fugitives to safety in Canada. Between 1851 and 1860, she made a total of 19 trips and brought to safety every one of the slaves in her care. Aptly named after the Hebrew prophet Moses, who led his people out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land, Tubman heroically guided more than 300 slaves to their freedom through the Underground Railroad during these years.

It is said that she energized her flock during the tiring journeys with spiritual hymns about Moses and his people's crossing. Conversely, those who had second thoughts were soon looking at the barrel of her gun and given only two choices: freedom or death.

Oftentimes, she would disguise herself as a man. "Moses'" success was such a threat to slave-owners that a reward was put on "his" head. The slave-owners did not think that a woman could carry out such a feat. Her tireless determination, sympathetic supporters, and her intimate knowledge of the land aided Harriet Tubman throughout the ten years she escorted runaway slaves to freedom. Her journeys almost always took her back to Maryland, where the danger of being recognized and captured was greatest.

In 1850, a clause was added to the Federal Fugitive Slave Law promising punishment to anyone who helped escaped slaves. She was wanted for breaking the law and a $40,000 reward was issued for Tubman's capture. Harriet Tubman ceased her Underground Railroad missions only at the insistent urging of friends. The danger of being captured and killed was immense and the threat of civil war imminent.

1857, she relocated her family to Auburn, New York, a strong abolitionist community located between Syracuse and Rochester. US Senator and former New York State Governor William H. Seward befriended Tubman and provided a home for her family. Tubman later bought the home and used it as a base while she continued her work as a conductor. In Auburn, she met anti-slavery crusader John Brown. Tubman helped him plan a raid at Harper's Ferry on the federal arsenal. Luckily, illness kept her from the raid where Brown was captured and his sons were killed.

When the Civil War began, Tubman took on many roles to help the Union soldiers. She was a nurse, a spy, a scout, and a cook. Tapped for her keen knowledge of the land and connections from the Underground, the Union also recruited her as a spy. With her help, Union forces succeeded in causing significant losses to Confederate troops.

During the war, she met and married Nelson Davis, a soldier. Following the war, she and Nelson returned to Auburn, New York, to care for her parents and hoping to fulfill her dream to set up a home for indigent and elderly African Americans. Unable to raise enough money to build such a home, she converted her own residence. She sold garden produce to support those living in her home.

Tubman did not receive her promised pension from the government for her service during the war. Finally, because of her alliances with prominent people of the day, she was able to receive a small pension.

During this time, she also worked as an outspoken supporter for black schools in the South and the Women's Suffrage Movement. She continued her work on reform movements and raised money for clothing and schools for newly-freed black children.

In 1896, she was able to acquire 25 acres of land and her dream of a home for aged and indigent African Americans became a reality. She spent the rest of her life managing this home. In 1908, she opened what later became known as the Harriet Tubman Home. Today, the Home is a memorial to her life, one lived selflessly serving others.

At her death from pneumonia in 1913, at the age of 93, she was buried with full military honors. The people of Auburn, New York officially named her home - the Harriet Tubman Home for Aged and Indigent Negroes. They also established a memorial in the city square in her honor.

Since her death, she has received numerous acknowledgments and honors for her service to others. These include a civic holiday; "Freedom Park" in Auburn, New York, dedicated in her honor; and in 1995, the federal government honored her with a commemorative postage stamp. In honor of her lifetime of unwavering principles and determination, President George Bush declared March 10 as Harriet Tubman Day in 1990.


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