Harriet Tubman

1482 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Harriet tubman during the civil war

Harriet Tubman

In the 1840¹s and 1850¹s American abolitionist¹s were a small minority in every part of the country. Harriet Tubman was one of the women who joined the attack on slavery. She stood out from most of the other abolitionists. The evidence that I will present to you shows how she wasn¹t satisfied merely to be free or even to give speeches against slavery. Harriet Tubman was important to the abolition movement because she put her ideas to action.

Harriet was born a slave in Bucktown, Maryland 1. From the time she was born she was taught to be wary of the white men. Two of her sisters had been sold to a slave trader and she vowed that she would never let that happen to her.2 From my reading, Harriet Tubman seemed different from most of the other slaves around her. She had a rebellious nature, always getting into trouble. Her parents introduced her to religion, thinking maybe it would crush her rebellious nature.

One way to deal with a difficult child was religion. Ben and Rit [Harriet¹s parents] were regular churchgoers and Harriet learned Bible verses. Her favorite was ³Lo¹, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.² She also liked the Bible verses about deliverance. If she heard of a fugitive slave on his way north, she thought of the verse ³Hide the outcast; betray him not that wandereth. (Bentley p.16) 3

So, even as a young girl, Harriet was already thinking about deliverance and fugitive slaves going north. She had heard of revolts and rebellions against slavery, and knowing how Harriet was, I¹m sure she cheered them on.

Harriet went to great lengths to protect her fellow slaves. Like every other slave, obviously, she too hated slavery. But I think there was more to slavery than just hate, for Harriet. In one case, she put her life on the line to protect a slave named Jim from getting beaten. She refused to move when a white supervisor asked her to help him tie up Jim for a whipping. When Jim made a run for it, Harriet blocked the supervisor from chasing after Jim. So, he grabbed a 2lb. weight and threw it towards Jim. The weight hit Harriet in the forehead instead, and Jim got away.4 Luckily, Harriet survived her near-death experience. ³The mark on Harriet¹s forehead remained a visible scar of the brutality of slavery. The wound went deep into her heart.² (Bentley p.24)

In 1849, Harriet¹s master, Edward Brode...

... middle of paper ...

...f the inspiration and hope she gave to her people. Harriet was even nicknamed ³Moses² by the people she saved. She did what others were too scared to do. It wasn¹t guaranteed that Harriet would be successful on every single mission. In my eyes she had a lot to lose if she was caught, but I think to her she felt like at least she had saved some slaves. What sacrifice!

Harriet Tubman was more than an ex-slave turned abolitionist. She was also a nurse and a spy for the Union Army. Always one to turn dreams into action, she joined the war effort in 1861. Harriet was probably the first women, black or white, to go to the battle front. 9 The army used her as a spy, liaison, and a nurse. So even when she wasn¹t taking groups of slaves up north, she was still helping others.

What an incredible woman! Harriet¹s diligence to do right, and her determination to keep with it until her purpose was fulfilled, still inspires me today. I do admire Martin Luther King, Jr. and many other abolitionists, but not as much as Harriet Tubman. I don¹t know of any other woman that accomplished as much as she did, in one lifetime. Harriet Tubman truly is the ultimate hero of the abolition movement.

Show More
Related

  • Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl: Harriet Jacobs

    1478 Words  | 3 Pages

    From 1813 to 1879, lived a woman of great dignity, strong will, and one desire. A woman who was considered nothing more than just a slave girl would give anything for the freedom for herself and her two children. Harriet Jacobs, who used the pen name Linda Brent, compiled her life into a little book called Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Mrs. Jacobs' story, once read, will leave nothing but pity and heart ache for her readers as they discover the life she had to endure. She however boldly states, "[I] earnestly desire to arouse the women of the North to a realizing sense of the condition of two millions of women at the South still in bondage, suffering what I suffered, and most of them far worse. I want to add my testimony to that of abler pens to convince the people of the Free States what Slavery really is."(preface 1) Harriet Jacobs wanted to show the people who were not experiencing slavery exactly was going on in hopes that it would influence them to bring a stop to it. Though you cannot help but pity Harriet Jacobs, you can also take her story and the hard ships she endured and realize how strong a woman she truly was.

    Read More

  • Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

    1478 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the earliest part of Harriet?s life the whole idea of slavery was foreign to her. As all little girls she was born with a mind that only told her place in the world was that of a little girl. She had no capacity to understand the hardships that she inherited. She explains how her, ?heart was as free from care as that of any free-born white child.?(Jacobs p. 7) She explains this blissful ignorance by not understanding that she was condemned at birth to a life of the worst kind oppression. Even at six when she first became familiar with the realization that people regarded her as a slave, Harriet could not conceptualize the weight of what this meant. She say?s that her circumstances as slave girl were unusua...

    Read More

  • Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad

    1559 Words  | 4 Pages

    “I freed thousands of slaves, and could have freed thousands more, if they had known they were slaves.” (History.com) This Harriet Tubman quote is a great representation of the kind of person she was. Harriet Tubman was a great woman, not only did she escape slavery; she went back several times to save more people. She conducted the Underground Railroad and did great things that have changed our history in one of its darkest times in our history. Being a slave was not easy but that didn’t stop her.

    Read More

  • Harriet Tubman's Life and Accomplishments

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    demanded her voice to be heard. Because she believed every person had a right to be free, Harriet Tubman risked her life to save others.

    Read More

  • Harriet Tubman Bibliography

    1221 Words  | 3 Pages

    Harriet Tubman was born in the year 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland. Her parents were Harriet Green and Ben Ross. She is known by the name Harriet Tubman, but her real name was Araminta Ross. She had ten brothers and sisters who helped her with her work. Her family's nickname for her, as said by Elish, was “Minta” (9). She was born into a slave family which meant one thing: she was going to have a difficult life. She was abused and beaten by hard-hearted white people even when she was little. Her most difficult injury to overcome happened when she was only thirteen. A slave started to escape, so her master picked up a brick and threw it at him. Harriet stepped in front of the brick, trying to give the slave a chance to escape, and, in doing so, was hit in the head, knocking her out. Because of this injury, she had seizures and extremely painful headaches her entire life. When she was old enough, she was rented out to the Cook family. They disregarded her as a person or as an equal, making her sleep and share food with the dogs. The Cooks did not have enough money to keep her, so they gave her back. She was then rented to a woman named Miss Susan, who beat her mercilessly with a whip over the tiniest mistake. When she got the chance, she ran away from her, but ended up almost starving. She was returned to the plantation and started to work in the fields, gathering strength. Her father, hearing about her almost ...

    Read More

  • Biography of Catherine the Great

    3547 Words  | 8 Pages

    One of the most interesting, hard-working and powerful people to grace the pages of history during the eighteenth century was Catherine II, Empress of Russia. Historians have not always been so kind to her memory, and all too often one reads accounts of her private life, ignoring her many achievements. The stories of her love affairs have been overly misinterpreted and can be traced to a handful of French writers in the years immediately after Catherine's death, when Republican France was fighting for its life against a coalition that included Russia.

    Read More

  • The Life and Achievements of Harriet Tubman

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first contribution of Harriet Tubman is that she served as a spy for the union army, because she wanted freedom for all the people who were forced into slavery not just the people she could help by herself. One day Tubman took one of the most dangerous and dramatic roles she helped Colonel James Montgomery plan to free slaves from a plantation along the Combahee River in South Carolina. They helped seven hundred and fifty Negroes into the free lines. The river is now known as the “Jordan River” it is the symbol of bondage and freedom. It is also a sign of significance of the military in America...

    Read More

  • The Rise of Nazism During World War Two

    1964 Words  | 4 Pages

    To this day it remains incomprehensible to justify a sensible account for the uprising of the Nazi Movement. It goes without saying that the unexpectedness of a mass genocide carried out for that long must have advanced through brilliant tactics implemented by a strategic leader, with a promising policy. Adolf Hitler, a soldier in the First World War himself represents the intolerant dictator of the Nazi movement, and gains his triumph by arousing Germany from its devastated state following the negative ramifications of the war. Germany, “foolishly gambled away” by communists and Jews according to Hitler in his chronicle Mein Kampf, praises the Nazi Party due to its pact to provide order, racial purity, education, economic stability, and further benefits for the state (Hitler, 2.6). Albert Speer, who worked closely under Hitler reveals in his memoir Inside the Third Reich that the Führer “was tempestuously hailed by his numerous followers,” highlighting the appreciation from the German population in response to his project of rejuvenating their state (Speer, 15). The effectiveness of Hitler’s propaganda clearly served its purpose in distracting the public from suspecting the genuine intentions behind his plan, supported by Albert Camus’ insight in The Plague that the “townsfolk were like everybody else, wrapped up in themselves; in other words, they were humanists: they disbelieved in pestilences”(Camus, 37). In this sense “humanists” represent those who perceive all people with virtue and pureness, but the anti-humanist expression in the metaphor shows the blind-sidedness of such German citizens in identifying cruel things in the world, or Hitler. When the corruption within Nazism does receive notice, Hitler at that point given h...

    Read More

  • Catherine The Great Story: Catherine The Great

    534 Words  | 2 Pages

    Catherine the Great was an empress of Russia who ruled from 1762 to 1796, the longest reign of any female Russian leader. Although her reign is clouded in rumors and legends she was still able to greatly expand her country's empire. Catherine the Greats story begins like most others, born of two parents, her Father Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst and her Mother Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. But don’t let that fool you. Her story consists of many twists and turns that sets her apart from others, with the outcome of greatness. Catherine the Great also known as Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst was born May 2, 1729, in Szczecin, Poland. Not much is said on her education but it is believed that she acquired formal education. The year is 1744, and a 15-year-old Sophie was just invited to Russia by Elizabeth who had assumed the throne three years earlier. Elizabeth eventually choosing her nephew Peter as heir was now looking for a bride. Their marriage took place on August 21, 1745. Catherine and Peter had a rocky marriage from the start so when eight long years passed without...

    Read More

  • Catherine the Great

    871 Words  | 2 Pages

    Catherine II (a.k.a. Catherine the Great) Catherine II, or Catherine the Great, empress of all Russia, did much to continue the process of Westernization reforms began by Peter the Great. Catherine was devoted to art, literature, science, and politics. Many people say she had a great gift and was a great leader, thus she was awarded with the name “the Great” She helped develop schools, hospitals, and many other organizations for the country. She was a shrewd leader and autocrat and helped to continue and further reforms made by Peter the Great, finally making Russia a permanent European power. Originally named Sophie Frederick Augusta, Princess of Anholt-Zerbst, she was born in Stettin on May 2, 1729, the daughter of the German prince of Anholt-Zerbst . At the age of fifteen she went to Russia and married Grand Duke Peter of Holstein, heir to the Russian throne. The marriage was despondent, but intelligent and ambitious Catherine soon managed to assemble up a liaison of supporters. On October 1, 1754, Catherine gave birth to her son, the future emperor, Paul Petrovich Romanov, and three years later on December 20, 1957, she gave birth to her daughter, Anna Petrovna Romanov. Elizabeth died on December 25, 1761, and Catherine’s husband succeeded as Peter III. Erratic, unstable, and contemptuous of his Russian subjects, the new ruler soon made himself unpopular, especially with certain German officers. Led by Alexei Orlov (whose brother Grigori was Catherine’s lover) the officers staged a coup in June 1762. Peter was deposed (and subsequently murdered) and Catherine was placed on the throne in his place. Catherine was fascinated with the philosophies and theories of the Enlightenment, and was well acquaint...

    Read More

  • Difference Between Harriet Jacob And Sojourner Truth

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    Harriet Jacob had spent seven years in hiding in hopes to make it to the northern states to be free. She finally achieved it when the Dr. Flint had died and way followed by his daughter’s husband in Boston to have her buy her freedom. I have heard her say she would go to the ends of the earth, rather than pay any man or woman for her freedom, because she thinks she has a right to it. Besides, she couldn't do it, if she would, for she has spent her earnings to educate her children."(Incidents, pg. 180). She would never give up and there was no way that she would give in and pay for her own freedom. She had devoted her life to raising her children and educating them. While Sojourner Truth continued to persuaded people about the women’s rights. These women worked to get the truth out about the treatment they had received while in slavery. The Life and Incidents of a Slave Girl would be more convincing then the speeches of Sojourner Truth. Harriet had been fighting for a case for herself and a better life of her children where they would not have to live like she

    Read More

  • Harriet Tubman

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    Harriet Tubman was a selfless woman, who devoted her life to save others. Many other slaves from the South escaped to freedom in the North like Tubman. Many of these people stayed where they were free, frightened to go anywhere near the South again. However, that was not Tubman, she was different. She wanted everyone to have the feeling of freedom that she had newly discovered. Harriet was known “to bring people of her race from bondage to liberty,” (S Bradford et al 1869). Harriet Tubman was known as a hero to lots of people during the Civil War.

    Read More

  • What Is Harriet Tubman's Role In Civil Disobedience

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    Civil rights activist, Harriet Tubman once said, “Always remember, you have within you the strength the patiences, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” (Tubman). Harriet Tubman had the courage to save hundreds of propel through the underground railroad. She had faith in her beliefs, and knew that even though she was risking jail time, she was doing the right thing. Civil disobedience is is when people are trying to bring attention to a law. They break that law knowing that they might go to jail, but to them it is worth it. Harriet Tubman’s involvement in Civil Disobedience was done to influences she chose to participate in Civil Disobedience to protest slavery, and she did achieve success using the controversial method of standing up for what she strongly believes to be right.

    Read More

  • Women´s Roles in hings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    protagonist of the novel ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the

    Read More

  • Catherine The Great Accomplishments

    597 Words  | 2 Pages

    Over the period of 67 years, Catherine the Great- a former Empress of Russia in the 1700’s- used various methods in order to implement foreign policy unto her nation and the nations around her. Her accomplishments in foreign policy not only caused drastic changes in her own country for her own people, but also in surrounding countries and their people. The most impressive and life-altering achievement of Catherine the Great was the way in which she intelligently and manipulatively went about her way in seizing control over one-third of Poland.

    Read More

More about Harriet Tubman

Open Document