CYOA #6- Harriet Tubman Biography

Harriet Tubman is an american abolitionist who escaped slavery and assisted other enslaved Africans in the Underground Railroad. She was born in Maryland in 1820 to enslaved parents. Originally named Araminta Harriet Ross, she was called "Minty".

Her parents were Ben Ross and Harriet Green. Both worked as slaves in Maryland. Ben was a woodsman managing the timber work on a large plantation owned by Anthony Thompson, while Harriet was a cook owned by Marry Pattison Brodess. The couple had nine children together, but three of their daughters were sold by Mary’s son Edward, separating them from their family. Since Tubman’s mother had little time for her family, Tubman used to take care of her younger siblings.Tubman worked at James Cook’s home where she had to check the muskrat traps even after she contracted measles. She became very ill and Cook sent her back to Brodess.

Harriet married a free black man named John Tubman in 1844. Their marriage was complicated due to her slave status. The status of a slave mother dictated that of her children, so any children born to the couple would become slaves. Such marriages were popular in the eastern part of Maryland, where more than half of the black population already was free at this time. Immediately after her wedding, Tubman changed her name to Harriet from Araminta. She wanted to travel north where she thought she would be free and her marriage would not be split up by the slave trade. Her husband opposed the idea, but Tubman decided to go by herself anyway.

From 1847 to 1849, Harriet Tubman worked for Dr. Anthony Thompson, Jr., a Methodist clergyman, physician, and a real estate speculator.At this time, Tubman had started becoming ill again, following her head injury in her teenage years. Due to this reason, her value as a slave became diminished and no one wanted to buy her. Tubman, together with her two brothers: Ben and Henry, finally escaped from slavery on September 17, 1849. After leaving, the two brothers started to have second thoughts and finally opted to go back, and forced Tubman to return with them.Tubman settled in Philadelphia and was able to support herself doing odd jobs. But in 1850, word came that her niece and her two children were to be sold. Tubman was determined to help, and went back to Maryland. With the assistance of her brother-in-law, Tubman was able to bring her niece and the two children back safely to Philadelphia. This was the first of many trips that Tubman would make to lead family members and others to freedom.

Tubman later escaped for the second time soon afterward but without her brothers. She used the Underground Railroad, a well-organized system/ secret network consisting of white abolitionists, enslaved and free blacks and other activists. It helped move escaped slaves from the South to the North and into Canada. Over the course of eleven years, Tubman rescued over 70 slaves from Maryland, and assisted 50 or 60 others in making their way to Canada. During this time, her reputation in the abolitionist community grew, and she became acquainted with Frederick Douglas and John Brown. She became known as "Moses" because like in the bible, she led her people to freedom.

During the Civil War, Tubman worked for the Union army as a nurse, a cook, and a spy. Her experience leading slaves along the Underground Railroad was especially helpful because she knew the land well. She helped heel many people and even saved a sick mans life when she boiled water lily roots and geranium for a remedy brew.

After the war, Tubman returned to Auburn, New York, and continued to help blacks to freedom. She took care of her parents and other needy relatives. This turned her house into the Home for Indigent and Aged Negroes. Her lack of money continued to be a problem, and she financed her home by selling copies of her biography and giving speeches. Her most memorable appearance was at the organizing meeting of the National Association of Colored Women in 1896 in Washington, D.C.

Harriet Tubman died on March 10 1913, in the town of Auburn where she lived following the Civil War. She died of pneumonia and was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn. She was 93 years old and placed on her grave were numerous military hours. Since her death Tubman continues to receive awards and honors.

She is a well respected individual because she saved the lives of numerous individuals. Her courage and strength helped hundreds of lives. She was the first woman in American history to lead a military expedition and she created her own nursing center for the aged and poor. I think she is a very important person in United States history because she risked her life and family to go help many, many other lives and families. Slavery is a terrible thing and throughout her life she helped end slavery and is probably an inspiration to many people. I think she definitely deserves to be on the twenty dollar bill as a women and a leader.