Harriet Tubman Research Paper

In 1844, Harriet received permission from her master to marry John Tubman, a free black man. For the next five years Harriet lived in a state of semi-slavery: she remained legally a slave, but her master allowed her to live with her husband. Since Harriet was still a slave she knew there was a chance that she could be sold and her marriage split apart. Harriet dreamed of traveling north. There, she would be free and not have to worry about her marriage being split up by the slave trade. But John did not want her to go north. He said he was fine where he was and that there was no reason for moving north. He told her that if she ran off, he would tell her master. She did not believe him until she saw his face and then she knew he meant it.

Harriet Tubman was among the greatest fighters for justice in her time and was an inspiration to others to fight for what they believe in, but she along with many others who fight experienced it themselves. When she was younger, “She knew that her brothers and sisters, her father and mother, and all the other people who lived in the quarter, men, women and children, were slaves. At the same time, someone had taught her where to look for the North Star, the star that stayed constant, not rising in the east and setting in the west as the other stars appeared to do; and told her that anyone walking toward the North could use that star as a guide. She knew about fear, too. Sometimes at night, or during the day, she heard the furious galloping of horses, not just one horse, several horses, thud of the hoofbeats along the road, jingle of harness. She saw the grown folks freeze into stillness, not moving, scarcely breathing, while they listened. She could not remember who first told her that those furious hoofbeats meant the patrollers were going past, in pursuit of a runaway. Only the slaves said patterollers, whispering the word” (Petry). Living with her family as a slave, she learned all the things she needed to know to do her job in the future as the conductor of the Underground Railroad, she learned about the North star, and she learned about how you should not get caught by the patrollers. Perturbed by the thought of the fate of her family and her future, she escaped to Philadelphia but “Rather than remaining in the safety of the North, Tubman made it her mission to rescue her family and others living in slavery via the Underground Railroad” (Biography.com editors). She made it her mission to save others and take

     Harriet Tubman was really named Araminta Ross, but she later adopted her mother’s first name. She was one of eleven children of Harriet Greene and Benjamin Ross. She was five when she worked on a plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland. She was first a maid, and a children’s nurse before she started working as a field hand when she was twelve. While she was thirteen, her master hit her head with a heavy weight. The hit put permanent

A reward of $300 was posted for both Harriet and her two brothers by the Cambridge Democrat (Biography.com). Not only that happened, but also in 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law was passed. The law was that if you were an escaped slave and was caught, you would get sent back to slavery (Math.buffalo.edu). Not to mention that before she accomplished all the things she did, she had a severe injury that affected her whole life. In her early years she was hit by a 2-pound weight, which caused her to have severe headaches and narcolepsy (nwhm.org). Even though all these things happened, mostly everything she did lead to success.

The early 1850’s, Harriet started to help the enslaved escape and lead them to freedom. Harriet started out by rescuing family members, which she knew the location of. She also went back to her get her husband, only to find out that he was remarried and did not want to see her. Even though her husband was free she still felt the need to save him from the south. From that point on she vowed not to waste another trip, and rescue other enslaved people. She helped reunite families and loved ones despite her disappointment with her own husband. Harriet rescued the enslaved during the winter, when nights were longer and people were less likely to be outside. Often runaway slaves felt they could no longer make the journey and wanted to return, for that reason Harriet carried a pistol. She threatened those to continue the journey, because if they were caught they; there was a possibility they could expose what they saw on the trip. Once on a journey Harriet developed an infection in her mouth, and was able to take her pistol and knocked out the tooth that was infected taking others teeth. She was strong enough to deal with the pain and continue on her journey. For some time Harriet lived in Canada since she was at in risk in America, but she come back to bring her parents to Canada even though they were living free.

Harriet Tubman was an American bondwoman who escaped from slavery in the south to become a leading abolitionist before the American civil war. She was born in maryland in 1820, and successfully escaped in 1849. Yet she returned many times to rescue both her family members and non-relatives from the plantation system.

Harriet Tubman was born as Araminta Ross in 1820 or 1821, on a plantation in Dorchester County, Buckton, Maryland, and the slave of Anthony Thompson. She was one of eleven children to

(Harriet Tubman was originally born Araminta Ross and then later changed her first name to Harriet, after her mother.) In 1849, Tubman ran away in fear that she, along with many other slaves on the plantation were going to be sold off. Harriet Tubman left on foot. Luckily, Tubman was given some assistance from a white woman, and was able to set off on her journey to freedom. Tubman used the North Star in order to find her direction during the night, slowly inching her way to Pennsylvania. Once Tubman had reached Pennsylvania, she found a job and began to save her money. The following year after arriving to Philadelphia, Tubman returned to Maryland and to lead her family to freedom. Among the people she took was her sister and her sister’s two children. Tubman was able to make the same dangerous trips months later back to the South to rescue her brother and two other men that her brother knew. On Tubman’s third return to the South to rescue her husband, she found that he had found another wife. Undeterred by her husband’s actions, she rescued other slaves wanting freedom and lead them Northward.

“I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I couldn’t have one, I would have the other.” Harriet Tubman was born into slavery and was a tough girl who always tried to help others. Once she helped another slave when she was twelve, and she got hit on the head with a two pound weight. Throughout her lifetime she will face reoccurring blackouts from this. She escaped to freedom in 1849 after her master died. She returned at least eight times to the South through the next 11 years after she escaped to help other slaves to freedom, usually her family or people she knew. She helped rescue at least 38 slaves using a secret network of trails and safe houses leading from the Southern United States to Canada. Harriet Tubman’s work as a conductor on the Underground Railroad is her greatest achievement.

We know her as the “Moses” of her people; she left a remarkable history on the tracks of the Underground Railroad that will never be forgotten. Harriet Tubman born into slavery around 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland, Harriet Tubman was a nurse, spy, social reformer and a feminist during a period of economic upheaval in the United States. For people to understand the life of Harriet Tubman, they should know about her background, her life as a slave, and as a free woman.

Many years ago slavery among African Americans was not uncommon. The enslaved Africans were tortured and put through years and years of grueling pain and work. Harriet Tubman was a major conductor in the Underground Railroad, leading hundreds of slaves to freedom in the mid 1800s. Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist who was born into slavery. When Tubman was born her original name was Araminta Harriet Ross (Simon 61).

African Americans faced unbelievable hardships in the South during the 1800’s, and as tensions grew throughout the country surrounding the issue of slavery, many people, called abolitionists, opposed slavery and wanted to eliminate it. One of the most famous abolitionists of the time was a former slave named Harriet Tubman. Tubman was born into slavery, and after escaping in her adulthood, returned South in order to rescue enslaved friends and family several times using the network known as the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman exhibited immense courage and contributed greatly to the abolitionist movement in her time, and later became a symbol of American freedom and bravery. Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland in 1822.

Harriet was also being loyal by killing anyone who would turn back and go to the slave camp. If anyone went back and allegedly said something it could reveal the secret underground railroad. If that were to happen, that means slaves will be caught, restrained and

“I freed a thousand slaves, I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” This is a very touching, inspirational quote by Harriet Tubman herself, it is about the troubles she feels towards others. Her life was very uncommon, she had a large family and a hard childhood. However, her adulthood was a great turn around for the better, and she was always a caring family person. During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman helped the Union Army and still had a bold life after the war as well. Even after her death, Harriet Tubman’s prided name was not and never will be forgotten.

This can be inferred from the fact that Harriet held the bravery to return to plantations over and over again; if Harriet did not believe this statement was true, she never would have risked her life in such a seemingly foolish and dangerous mission. She valued human life so much that she put hers on the line to save others.