Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman
by Addie


This is Harriet Tubman pointing to the North Star and escaping to the North. This painting is by Jacob Lawrence.

Harriet Tubman was born in the year 1820 in Dochester, Maryland, and died in 1913 in Auburn, New York. Harriet’s birth name was Araminta. All the slaves and masters on the plantation where she was born called her "Minty". When Minty was older people called her "Harriet" after her mother. After Harriet ran away and joined the Underground Railroad, people started to call Harriet, General Tubman (nickname by John Brown.) Then she had another nickname which was "Moses," after Moses from the Bible. Moses in the Bible led his people out of slavery, like Harriet led her people to freedom by going north.

Harriet had many experiences with oppression. Here are a few examples. When Harriet was born she and her family were owned by a man named Edward Brodas on a tobacco plantation. When Harriet was between six and seven years old she was sold and separated from her family to work for a woman named Mrs. Cook. Harriet rolled yarn; if it broke she would be punished. One day in 1835, when Harriet was a teenager, she saw a slave walking slowly and the overseer nearby saw him too. The slave started running. The overseer nearby followed the slave. Harriet ran after the two men into a building. Later the overseer cornered the slave. The overseer said to Harriet, “Help me tie him down.” Harriet was standing in the doorway and shook her head and said, “NO!” Then the slave ran out the door. Harriet blocked the door from the overseer. After the slave ran out the door, the overseer picked up a two pound item and threw it at the freedom seeker but it missed and hit Harriet on the forehead. People on the plantation thought Harriet would die. But Old Rit, Harriet's mother, took good care of her. The hit by the overseer left a deep scar that injured her, causing sleeping spells (it’s when you fall asleep at anytime).

Harriet freed slaves from 1850 to 1861 and went back to the South 19 times and freed more than 300 slaves. She never lost a passenger. On December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment was ratified and it said that slavery no longer existed. That was when Harriet’s work was done.

Harriett knew many people in the abolitionist world. She also had a husband. One of Harriett’s close friends was John Brown, a white abolitionist (an abolitionist is a person who fights to get rid of slavery), who planned a raid on Harper’s Ferry. Harriett would have gone to Harper’s Ferry, but she became ill and could not go. If she did, she would have been killed. Another one of Harriet’s close friends was Fredrick Douglass, who was very famous for his speeches and for being an abolitionist. Another friend was Susan B. Anthony. She was famous for fighting for women’s rights. Thomas Garrett and William H. Seward helped Harriet and the freedom seekers by giving them money for their trips to freedom. Harriet had a husband named John Tubman, a free African American man. She married at the age of 28. John did not want Harriet to run away after she told him her dream to run free. John said that he would tell the master if she did run away. One night, in 1849, she ran away without telling anyone. Her dream came true.

When Harriet was young. Her father taught her how to find North, and how to travel through the woods. He also taught her to walk softly and quietly. After she ran away in 1849, she joined the Underground Railroad. Sometimes, when slave catchers were nearby, she dressed up as an old woman to trick them. Later in her life, she moved to Auburn, New York, and died in 1913 after she helped slaves to freedom.

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