1820 was one fantastic year for African Americans everywhere. This was the year that the stunning, Harriet Ross Tubman was born. She was born in Dorchester County. Her mother was pregnant with Harriet while living as a slave. So, Harriet was born straight into slavery. Harriet’s name was originally Araminta. Then she soon adapted the name Harriet, after her mother. (I personally like Araminta better, though:) Harriet was one among the 11 other children that her parents had! (Holy cow, that is a lot of kids!) I guess her parents really liked children!
Harriet had a hard life while growing up. She went through a lot of pain and suffering. For example, one harsh day, Harriet saw her master brutally attacking a fellow kid slave. Harriet’s first instinct was to jump in, and save the kid. Sadly, that was a mistake. Harriet’s skull got fractured because her owner had bashed her in the head with a metal weight. After that incident, Harriet had always suffered from black outs, which she perceived as “messages from God.”
While working for her owner, Harriet met a wonderful man, by the name of John Tubman. They fell in love, and got married. Aaawww! Although, that marriage fell apart, in the year of 1848, once Harriet finally escaped from the cruel living conditions under her owners care, leaving her husband behind. I guess freedom always comes with a price.
Although Harriet did escape, she always had intentions of returning, and freeing other slaves. Harriet needed help first, and she got just that. After escape, Harriet met a man by the name of Thomas Garrett. Thomas absolutely admired Harriet and her plan to help free slaves. So, he helped her. He provided her with anything she would need between her trips through the underground railroad. This included, a shelter, food, money, and anything else Harriet desired. The shelter Thomas provided for her was especially important because Harriet’s former owner had offered up 40,000 dollars for anybody that could bring Harriet back to him. So, she would need a place to stay and hide out in.
Between the years 1850 and 1860, Harriet returned to the South a maximum of twenty times! With the help of Thomas and a few Quaker friends, she successfully freed over three hundred slaves. What an accomplishment! The whole thing was not as easy as it sounds, though. Harriet found herself running into many problems along the way. Harriet had to go through many occupations along the way, to keep her true identity a secret. Harriet worked as a spy, a nurse, feminist, and even a social reformer. Although, Harriet still found herself nearly getting caught each time she returned to the South. One time while an attempted slave freedom, Harriet spotted her former owner (the one that was giving out money to anybody that could find her) and she would have been caught immediately, but Harriet was a quick thinker! She saw a coop full of chickens, and quickly released all of them right in front of her, and ran! She escaped once again.
Harriet had a long, hard life. She had inspired all slaves across the South, though. She was looked up too. People even called her the ‘moses’ of their time. After her tough work, Harriet settled down in Auburn, New York. Sadly, she knew that she was going to pass soon. So, right before Harriet died, she did even more good. Harriet turned her home into a nursing place for the elderly. Once she passed, on the date of March 10, 1913, elderly people were free to live there.
Works Cited
Bontemps, Arna A. "Harriet Tubman." Student Resource Center Gold. Gale, 1998. Web. 24 Feb. 2010.
Clavin, Matthew. "Harriet Tubman." World Book Student. World Book, 2010. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.
"Harriet Tubman." Student Resource Center-Gold. Gale, 2003. Web. 25 Feb. 2010
Harriet Tubman. Photograph. Media Assasin. Web. 3 Mar. 2010.
