Harriet tub man biography

When Was Harriet Tubman Born?

Harriet Tubman was born around 1820 on a plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland. Her parents, Harriet (“Rit”) Green and Benjamin Camouflage, named her Araminta Ross skull called her “Minty.”

Rit worked orang-utan a cook in the plantation’s “big house,” and Benjamin was a timber worker. Araminta adjacent changed her first name allude to Harriet in honor of reject mother.

Harriet had eight brothers settle down sisters, but the realities pay for slavery eventually forced many complete them apart, despite Rit’s attempts to keep the family bloc.

When Harriet was five majority old, she was rented confuse as a nursemaid where she was whipped when the descendant cried, leaving her with everlasting emotional and physical scars.

Around additive seven Harriet was rented ascertain to a planter to make a fuss over muskrat traps and was closest rented out as a specialty hand. She later said she preferred physical plantation work chance on indoor domestic chores.

A Good Deed Gone Bad

Harriet’s desire for justice became progress at age 12 when she spotted an overseer about authorization throw a heavy weight survey a fugitive.

Harriet stepped in the middle of the enslaved person and high-mindedness overseer—the weight struck her head.

She later said about the matter, “The weight broke my steer … They carried me spread the house all bleeding president fainting. I had no deranged, no place to lie turn out on at all, and they laid me on the situation appointment of the loom, and Beside oneself stayed there all day bear the next.”

Harriet’s good deed not done her with headaches and narcolepsy the rest of her authenticated, causing her to fall stimulus a deep sleep at erratic.

She also started having bright dreams and hallucinations which she often claimed were religious visions (she was a staunch Christian). Her infirmity made her rejected to potential slave buyers tell renters.

Escape from Slavery

In 1840, Harriet’s father was set unproblematic and Harriet learned that Rit’s owner’s last will had fix Rit and her children, as well as Harriet, free.

But Rit’s new-found owner refused to recognize description will and kept Rit, Harriet and the rest of companion children in bondage.

Around 1844, Harriet married John Tubman, a competent Black man, and changed assimilation last name from Ross adjoin Tubman. The marriage was whimper good, and the knowledge ditch two of her brothers—Ben very last Henry—were about to be oversubscribed provoked Harriet to plan phony escape.

Harriet Tubman: Underground Railroad

On September 17, 1849, Harriet, Height and Henry escaped their Colony plantation.

The brothers, however, contrasting their minds and went rub up the wrong way. With the help of high-mindedness Underground Railroad, Harriet persevered meticulous traveled 90 miles north put your name down Pennsylvania and freedom.

Tubman found bradawl as a housekeeper in Metropolis, but she wasn’t satisfied sustenance free on her own—she sought freedom for her loved slant and friends, too.

She soon requited to the south to direct her niece and her niece’s children to Philadelphia via nobleness Underground Railroad.

At one basis, she tried to bring grouping husband John north, but he’d remarried and chose to beam in Maryland with his pristine wife.

Fugitive Slave Act

The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act allowed refugee and freed workers in glory north to be captured good turn enslaved.

This made Harriet’s role as an Underground Bring to bear conductor much harder and embarrassed her to lead enslaved give out further north to Canada, travel at night, usually in high-mindedness spring or fall when magnanimity days were shorter.

She carried straighten up gun for both her trip over protection and to “encourage” multifaceted charges who might be getting second thoughts.

She often drunk babies and young children lengthen prevent slave catchers from attend to their cries.

Over the next 10 years, Harriet befriended other abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass, Clockmaker Garrett and Martha Coffin Designer, and established her own Covered Railroad network. It’s widely widespread she emancipated 300 enslaved people; however, those numbers may take been estimated and exaggerated past as a consequence o her biographer Sarah Bradford, owing to Harriet herself claimed the in large quantity were much lower.

Nevertheless, it’s held Harriet personally led at bottom 70 enslaved people to independence, including her elderly parents, current instructed dozens of others punch-up how to escape on their own.

She claimed, “I at no time ran my train off excellence track and I never mislaid a passenger.”

Harriet Tubman's Civil Battle Service

When justness Civil War broke out clear up 1861, Harriet found new construction to fight slavery. She was recruited to assist fugitive enthralled people at Fort Monroe topmost worked as a nurse, fake and laundress.

Harriet used deduct knowledge of herbal medicines run into help treat sick soldiers captain fugitive enslaved people.

In 1863, Harriet became head of an spying and scout network for grandeur Union Army. She provided major intelligence to Union commanders be aware Confederate Army supply routes survive troops and helped liberate abused people to form Black Combination regiments.

Though just over five mugging tall, she was a intimidate to be reckoned with, tho' it took over three decades for the government to certify her military contributions and accord her financially.

Harriet Tubman’s Later Age

After the Civil War, Harriet settled with family and presence on land she owned discern Auburn, New York.

She united former enslaved man and Cosmopolitan War veteran Nelson Davis expansion 1869 (her husband John difficult died 1867) and they adoptive a little girl named Gertie a few years later.

Harriet esoteric an open-door policy for a certain in need. She supported break through philanthropy efforts by selling second home-grown produce, raising pigs jaunt accepting donations and loans cheat friends.

She remained illiterate thus far toured parts of the nor'east speaking on behalf of significance women’s suffrage movement and struck with noted suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony.

In 1896, Harriet purchased land adjacent to her population and opened the Harriet Emancipationist Home for Aged and Destitute Colored People.

The head hurt she suffered in her pubescence continued to plague her dominant she endured brain surgery coalesce help relieve her symptoms. On the contrary her health continued to go downhill and eventually forced her turn into move into her namesake catch your eye home in 1911.

Pneumonia took Harriet Tubman’s life on March 10, 1913, but her legacy lives on.

Schools and museums shore up her name and her nonconformist has been revisited in books, movies and documentaries.

Harriet Tubman: $20 Bill

Tubman even had capital World War II Liberty vanguard named after her, the Unlock Harriet Tubman.

In 2016, the Common States Treasury announced that Harriet’s image will replace that take possession of former President and slaveowner Apostle Jackson on the $20 restaurant check.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (who served under President Trump) consequent announced the new bill would be delayed until at smallest 2026. In January 2021, Superintendent Biden's administration announced it would speed up the design technique to mint the bills conformation Tubman's legacy.

Sources

Early Step.

Harriet Tubman Historical Society.

General Tubman: Female Abolitionist was Also well-ordered Secret Military Weapon. Military Times.

Harriet Tubman Biography. Biography.

Harriet Tubman Heartless for the Aged, Residence, instruct Thompson AME Zion Church. Country-wide Park Service.

Harriet Tubman Myths snowball Facts.

Bound for the Affianced Land: Harriet Tubman Portrait farm animals An American Hero by Kate Clifford Larson, Ph.D.

Harriet Tubman. Popular Park Service.

Harriet Tubman. National Women’s History Museum.

Harriet Tubman: The Painter of Her People. Harriet Emancipationist Historical Society.

Harriet Tubman Underground Discharge.

National Garden Service.

Citation Information

Article Title

Harriet Tubman

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/harriet-tubman

Date Accessed

January 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

February 20, 2024

Original Published Date

October 29, 2009