Discrimination and slavery filled our nation in the mid 19th century. African Americans were discriminated and seen as “property,” not human beings. Having been born as a slave, Harriet Tubman was no stranger to the harsh reality of slavery. Tubman’s childhood included working as a house servant and later in the cotton fields. With the fear of being sold, Tubman decided to escape for a better life. Harriet Tubman spent her life trying to save others from slavery, becoming one of the most famous women of her time who was able to influence the abolition of slavery, and effect the lives of many African Americans.
Harriet Tubman was born in 1820 as Aranminta Ross in Dorchester County, Maryland. She later changed her name to Harriet after her mother, and when she married a free black man named John Tubman in 1844, she took his last name. As a child since she was born into slavery, she had jobs such as working as a house servant and later on she worked in the cotton fields. “Physical violence was a part of daily life for Tubman and her family. The violence she suffered early in life caused permanent physical injuries” (Harriet Tubman Biography). At the age of twelve, Tubman has an incident that effected her severely. She had narcolepsy, also known as sleeping spells, which would make her be able to fall asleep at any time or place, that was caused by a severe hit to the head by a two pound iron weight that was thrown at another slave. The weight hit Tubman in the head though, disabling her. “The line between freedom and slavery was hazy for Tubman and her family. Harriet Tubman’s father, Ben, was freed from slavery at the age of 45, as stipulated in the will of a previous owner. By the time Harriet reached adulthood, around half of ...
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..., she was able to bring over three-hundred slaves to freedom. Even with her life on the line she stopped at nothing to save her family and others. On Harriet Tubman’s tombstone in Fort Hill Cemetery it reads, “Servant of God, Well Done.”
Works Cited
"Harriet Tubman." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
"Harriet Tubman Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
"Harriet Tubman - Leading Slaves into Freedom." Harriet Tubman - Leading Slaves into Freedom. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
"30 Facts about Harriet Tubman." 30 Facts about Harriet Tubman. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
"Abolitionist Movement." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2014.
"John Brown's Harpers Ferry." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2014.
"Fugitive Slave Acts." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2014.
Consequently, Harriet Tubman was born a slave into a slave family. As a slave, at five years old, Tubman was "rented" to families where she was put to work winding yarn, checking animal traps, cleaning the houses and nursing children among many more laborious tasks. When she was older, she decided she prefered to work outside of the house as opposed to laboring inside the house with domestic chores. As a teenager, she would upset her owners and often was reprimanded and sent home because of her rebellious attitude. Later on in Tubman’s life, she married a free man and also found out that her mother was freed by her owner, but her mother was never informed of her freedom. This directly affected Tubman because her mother’s freedom also meant that Tubman was b...
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...
Many people do not know what Harriet Tubman’s greatest achievement was. Harriet Tubman was born in Dorchester County, Maryland around 1822. When she was born she was first named Araminta Ross and was like every other African-American, born into slavery. In 1844 Araminta married a free black man named John Tubman and later changed her name to Harriet Tubman, her first name from her mother and her last name from her husband. Five years later Harriet’s master died which gave Harriet a decision, she could be free or dead. Harriet decided to run, this decision had led herself down a dangerous path. However, Harriet had chosen to help other slaves, by doing so she had accomplished various achievements, but which one was her greatest? During Harriet’s lifetime, she had worked as a nurse, she had created the underground railroad, and had worked as a spy freeing many slaves.
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.
“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.
Harriet Ross Tubman was an African American who escaped slavery and then showed runaway slaves the way to freedom in the North for longer than a decade before the American Civil War. During the war she was as a scout, spy, and nurse for the United States Army. After that she kept working for rights for blacks and women.
Servitude has been present in America since 1619 and has affected the lives of countless Americans. Slavery was the underlying cause to the American Civil War, which led to tremendous consequences within the United States. Slaves were being sold to work on cotton farms in the southern parts of the United States where cash crops generated money. Many of these slaves tried to escape from slavery, and were unsuccessful. However, Harriet Tubman was one of the few people to individually accomplish freedom and escape the horrors of enslavement. She is a remarkable individual who accomplished incredible tasks through her own bravery, intelligence, and strength. She is acknowledged as one of the most influential and passionate women in American history. Motivated by her own unjust past, Harriet Tubman became an active abolitionist, a respected conductor in the abolitionist movement known as the Underground Railroad, and served as a nurse and a spy in the American Civil war.
Araminta Harriet Ross, formally known as Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in March of 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland (Civil War, 2014). As a child, Tubman was “hired out” to various masters who were mean and cruel to her (Civil War, 2014). She suffered a terrible head injury at the hands of one of these cruel slave masters that caused her to have seizures and “visions” for the rest of her life, which she believed were sent from God (Civil War, 2014). In 1840, Tubman’s father was granted freedom as a results of a stipulation of his master’s will, but continued to work for his former owner’s family (Civil War, 2014). Araminta and the rest of her family were supposed to be granted freedom as well, but the law was ignored and kept the rest of the family enslaved (Civil War, 2014). In 1844, Araminta married a free black man and changed her name from Araminta Ross to Harriet Tubman (Civil War, 2014). In 1849, Tubman became critically ill with complications from her head injury, which led to her owner deciding to sell her, but he could not find a buyer (Civil War, 2014). After his own sudden death, the family began selling all of their slaves (Civil War, 2014). Not wanting the rest of her family to be separated, Tubman was determined to escape (Civil War, 2014).
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 ...
A historic phenomenon known as the Underground Railroad left an immense impact on the history of slaves and abolitionists. A notorious woman by the name of Harriet Tubman had a paramount role in this audacious and venturesome event. She was even nicknamed Moses from the Bible! Multitudinous slaves had followed Harriet, trusting her as their leader to guide them through the routes of the Underground Railroad; therefore, it is suitable and appropriate to say Harriet Tubman was an extraordinary heroine. Her fervid and passionate determination made her capable of traveling to the Underground Railroad. Using that driven motivation, she assisted countless slaves to their freedom.
Tubman’s intense desire for freedom can be traced back to her earliest days as a child. Born in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tubman never knew her birthdate. It is thought that she was born in either 1820 or 1821, however, there are no formal records stating the exact date due to the fact that slave owners did not find it necessary to document the birthdate of their property (“Harriet Tubman”). At the age of seven, Tubman was hired out to a woman named Miss Susan. Living under Miss Susan, Tubman was no stranger to whipping and other cruel punishments whenever she did not complete her job as it was demanded. Even at such a young age, Tubman knew t...
Numerous are mindful of the considerable deed that Harriet Tubman executed to free slaves in the south. Then again, individuals are still left considerably unaware about in which the way they were safeguarded and how she triumphed each and every deterrent while placing her life at risk of being captured. She is deserving of the great honor she has garnered by todays general society and you will find out her in the biography. The title of this biography is “Harriet Tubman, the Road to Freedom.” The author of this piece is Catherine Clinton. ”Harriet Tubman, the road to Freedom” is a charming, instructive, and captivating book that history appreciates and is a memoir than readers will cherish. The Target audience of the biography is any readers
...rica. Harriet not only accomplished to lead the people who were hungry for freedom into the arms liberty, but gave herself self-contentment to feel that she did something for her people. Harriet Tubman was a very noble, warm hearted and extremely brave person. For the fact that she was willing to not only risk her life leading the slaves into freedom even though she had already reached liberty. She decided to risk her life various times by going back into the danger of getting captured while she was guiding all the other 300 slaves into liberty. Harriet Tubman’s life was one of the harshest and one of the gloomiest ever known. It’s astonishing to realize that besides the fact her life was so devastating and filled with tragic happenings she managed to do something about her imprisonment as a slave, and not only that, but also help out all the other salves as well.
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland around 1820. By the time Tubman had reached the age of 5 or 6, she started working as a servant in her master’s household. Approximately seven years after she began working as a servant, Tubman was sent to work out in the fields. While Tubman was still a teenager, she sustained an injury that would affect her for the rest of her life. One day, Tubman stood up for another slave and blocked a doorway in order to protect them from an upset overseer. The overseer threw a weight at one of the field hands, missing them and instead hitting Tubman on the head. Tubman was never able to fully heal from the wound she sustained from the overseer. This injury caused a chroni...
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.