Paper On Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman is one of the renowned civil rights activists in the history of America. She was an African-American who escaped slavery and ended up being a leading abolitionist. History reveals that she led numerous of enslaved people to freedom using the route of the Underground Railroad which was an elaborate secret network of safe houses which were specifically organized for that purpose. She was serving as a conductor during that time. She is termed as a bondwoman for the fact that she was able to escape slavery and become a prominent abolitionist before the civil war in America (Petry, 2015). Harriet Tubman is a widely known woman for the courageous risk she took to escape from slavery and later rescue hundreds of others from the same.

She was born and raised in slavery by enslaved parents in Maryland. She was originally known as Araminta Harriet Ross. Her mother was Harriet Green or “Rit”, and she was a slave to Mary Pattison Brodess. Her father was Ben Ross who was also a slave to Anthony

She decided to escape after her owner fell sick and later died. In addition, she escaped together with her two brothers. The escape was really risky because there was even a published notice offering a reward to anyone who would return them (Humez, 2006). Although her brothers had thoughts of returning to the plantation, Harriet had planned not to remain in bondage anymore. After she was convinced that her brothers were safe, she set off for Pennsylvania on her own. She used the Underground Railroad network to travel about 90 miles to Philadelphia. She could not believe if she crossed in the Free State which is revealed by her recalling later as she says: “When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold through the trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven (Petry,