Harriet Tubman
no one could wake her. During
these episodes she claimed to
commune with God and learn His
plans for her life. Her physical
bravery was thus augmented by a
Christian spirituality that girded
her throughout her future work.
In 1844, she married freedman
John Tubman, and took her
mother’s name, Harriet. She
escaped from slavery in 1849, and
resolved to bring as many kinsmen
and friends to freedom as possible.Passport to freedom
Maryland’s eastern shore was
only 90 miles (145km) from
Pennsylvania, and with her intimate
knowledge of the swamps, estuaries,
and woodlands of her home state,
Tubman brought hundreds of slaves
across them to freedom in the North
along the “Underground Railroad.”
Traveling mainly at night, and
preferably during the winter, she
fast gained a reputation among
abolitionists, including John Brown,
who called her “General Tubman.”
She may also have conferred with
Brown in planning his famous
attack on Harpers Ferry. She often
deposited her “passengers” as far
north as Canada after the lower
Northern states became unsafe
when the Fugitive Slave Law was
passed. To the many ex-slaves
who owed their freedom to her
in the later prewar period, she
was simply “Moses.”
When the Civil War broke
out, Tubman was overjoyed
at the prospects for the
abolition of slavery, but
became disappointed whenA
s with many slaves, the exact
date of Tubman’s birth is not
known. What is certain is that
she was born Araminta (“Minty”)
Ross on a plantation in Dorchester
County, Maryland. She often found
herself in the wrong place at the
wrong time and was beaten by her
master, Edward Brodess, who saw
her as a nuisance and regularly
hired her out to other abusive
neighbors. Gaining a strong sense
of self-reliance, she grew fearless in
the face of physical punishment.
One day, while Minty was running
an errand in a local dry goods store,
an overseer from another plantation
demanded she help restrain a runaway
slave. Tubman refused and the slave
broke free, running out of the store.
While trying to stop the slave, the
overseer threw a two-pound metal
weight from the counter. The weight
hit Minty’s forehead, fracturing her
skull, and for the rest of her life she
suffered from severe headaches,
seizures, and deep sleeps from whichABOLITIONIST AND ACTIVIST Born c.1820 Died 1913
THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP 1863“God won’t let master Lincoln
beat the South till he does
the right thing.”
HARRIET TUBMAN ON LINCOLN’S INITIAL RELUCTANCE TO EMANCIPATE SLAVES, 1862Tubman’s hymn book
On the Underground Railroad, Tubman sang hymns to
alert slaves of their imminent departure. Her well-worn
hymn book bears her name inscribed in pencil.Tubman’s iron resolution
With grim determination and knowing no fear, Tubman
escorted more than 300 slaves to freedom—including
most of her own family. She would later note with pride
that on all her journeys, she “never lost a passenger.”