Harriet Tubman: A Biography African-American

Harriet Tubman: A Biography

African-American abolitionist Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) was also called the "Moses of Her People" (Anderson, 2006). She was originally a slave and she escaped from that life, making around 13 missions in order to rescue over 70 friends and family members that were still enslaved. She used her Underground Railroad to take these people to freedom up in Canada. She did many things throughout her life, working as a cook, a laundress, a nurse, and even as a lumberjack. Her most important role, however, was as an abolitionist during which time she liberated or helped to liberate countless slaves and served as the inspiration for the liberation of many, many more that gained their freedom independently. She was also quite active during the Civil War, working then as a nurse, a raid leader, a fundraiser, an intelligence gatherer, and a refugee organizer (Anderson, 2006).

Tubman was born with the name Araminta Ross, in Dorchester County in Maryland. She was fifth in a group of nine children which included four boys and five girls in the family of Harriet and Ben Ross (Anderson, 2006). Overall, the Ross family had a life that was relatively stable on a large plantation south of Madison which was owned by Anthony Thompson. Thompson owned Ben Ross, and he was also step-father to a man named Edward Brodess, who was the legal owner of Harriet (called Rit) and all of the children that she had with Ben (Anderson, 2006). Around 1823, when Edward was old enough, he left his step-father's home and moved to another farm close to Bucktown. However, this separated Rit and her children from Ben (Anderson, 2006).

This was naturally very upsetting, not only to the parents but to the children as well. Araminta was often hired out to masters of other plantations, beginning when she was six years old. She was treated well by some, and treated poorly and inhumanely by others, bearing scars from some of her beatings until her death at the age of 91 (Anderson, 2006). As a teenager, she received a severe blow to her head that almost killed her. This came from an overseer of a dry goods store who threw a weight, trying to capture another slave that had run away, and hit her instead. As a result of this she had epileptic seizures and other problems throughout the rest of her life, and it was also during that time that Edward Brodess sold some of her sisters -- Linah, Mariah, and Soph to other masters (Anderson, 2006).

As a very young adult she decided to take the name Harriet. It is not clear if this was done to honor her mother or if it was done as the result of a religious conversion of some type (Harriet, n.d.). In 1944, Harriet married a man by the name of John Tubman, who was a free black man. When she ran and headed for Maryland, John stayed behind and continued the free life that he had already acquired instead of accompanying his wife. In 1867 he was killed in a roadside argument (Harriet, n.d.).

When Harriet's master, Edward Brodess passed away in March of 1849 he left behind a wife and eight children who ended up in debt. In order to pay the debt and save her farm from being taken, she decided that it would be good to sell some of the slaves that the family owned. Fearing that she would be sent into the deep south, which was generally considered to be a death sentence for slaves, Harriet decided that the time to emancipate herself was now. In September of 1849 Harriet and two brothers, Henry and Ben, ran away from their farm, but they were so frightened and apprehensive that they returned after only a few weeks. She wanted her freedom so badly, though, that she ran away again, this time by herself, leaving her husband and brothers behind (Humez, 2003). On her way to finding freedom in Philadelphia, Harriet Tubman had help from the Abolitionist movement, both black and white, who were instrumental individuals in working to maintain the Underground Railroad.

After she ran away and freed herself from her master, Tubman went back to Maryland so that she could rescue more people in her family. Some believe that she helped around 300 people find freedom by heading north (Humez, 2003). There were many tales told of the exploits that she was involved in, and all of those exploits showed the spiritual nature that she had as well as how much determination she had to take care of the people that she helped and make sure that they got safely away from the slavery and imprisonment that they were being forced to endure (Humez, 2003). She always showed a great deal of confidence that God would take care of her and her charges, and she also threatened that she would shoot any of them that decided that they were going to turn back.

In 1871, a man named William Still published a work entitled the Underground Railroad, and in it he included a thorough description of Tubman and the work that she did. Still's work captured the seriousness of the issue and how much effort and time Tubman actually put into what she was doing (Humez, 2003). It also told first-hand accounts of some of the people that she had helped and how this had taken place. Arrangements were made at night and Harriet would go with a group of others to rescue individuals that were put in carriages and other transportation and spirited away. The operation was carried out quickly and quietly, with a well-organized plan and a minimum of fuss, which ensured that it worked well and put the people in as little danger as was possible given what they were doing (Humez, 2003).

Harriet Tubman was considered their "Moses," but not in the same way that Andrew Johnson had been termed to be the "Moses of the colored people." Instead, Tubman had faithfully gone and delivered the people that she saved through heroism that was her very own, instead of simply saying what should or should not be done and leaving it to others to then carry it out. It is not to say that this is not also admirable, but only that Tubman was willing to risk her own self for what she believed in and the people that she wanted to help (Humez, 2003). She was completely unpretentious and was considered to be very ordinary in appearance, demeanor, and all other aspects.

Her extraordinariness lie in the way that she cared for others with so much devotion and willingness (Larson, 2004). She was generally considered by most to be without equal when it came to shrewdness and courage, and the love that she had for her fellow men and women in need of rescuing. Because of this, her success rate was also very high and she made many trips to Maryland from which she came back safely and brought rescued people with her into the freedom of the north. So many people worried for her safety each time she left on a mission, but she did not seem to be afraid in any way. She had the courage of her convictions and believed that she would be protected, and she was. Being captured or injured never seemed to cross her mind, or if it did she was good at pushing the thought away and going on with what she needed to accomplish (Larson, 2004).

The road between Rochester and Syracuse contained many Quakers that were sympathetic to the cause and it also contained many abolitionists that had settled near Auburn. A former New York Governor, William Seward, also lived in that area, and he met Tubman and befriended her, even providing a home for her favorite niece after Tubman helped her escape from Maryland. A home was also provided for Tubman and her parents by the Sewards (Larson, 2004). Later, the home was sold to her for very little money and was used as her base of operations when she had a break from being on the road aiding those that had run away from slavery and speaking out in support of the freedoms that were so desperately needed (Larson, 2004).