Harriet Tubman
Moses of Her People · c. March 1822, Dorchester County, Maryland - March 10, 1913, Auburn, New York
Born into slavery as Araminta Ross, Harriet Tubman escaped to freedom and then returned to the South thirteen times to lead approximately seventy enslaved people to liberty through the Underground Railroad. She later served as a Union spy and scout during the Civil War, and as an activist for women's suffrage.
Life and legacy
Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross around March 1822 in Dorchester County on Maryland's Eastern Shore. She endured the full cruelty of slavery from childhood: she was hired out as a nursemaid at age five, beaten regularly, and as a teenager suffered a traumatic head injury when an overseer threw a two-pound lead weight at another enslaved person and struck her instead. The injury caused seizures, severe headaches, and vivid dreams and visions that she experienced for the rest of her life, which she interpreted as messages from God.
In 1849, Tubman escaped to Philadelphia, traveling nearly ninety miles on foot by night, guided by the North Star. But freedom for herself was not enough. Over the next eleven years, she made approximately thirteen trips back to the Eastern Shore, leading roughly seventy family members and other enslaved people to freedom through the network of safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. Slaveholders posted rewards for her capture totaling $40,000 - an enormous sum at the time. She never lost a passenger.
During the Civil War, Tubman served the Union Army in South Carolina as a nurse, cook, scout, and spy - the first woman to lead an armed assault in the war. In June 1863, she guided the Combahee River Raid, which liberated more than 700 enslaved people from plantations along the river. After the war, she settled in Auburn, New York, where she established the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, one of the first such facilities for elderly African Americans.
In her later years, Tubman was active in the women's suffrage movement, appearing alongside Susan B. Anthony and other leaders. She died on March 10, 1913, at approximately ninety-one years of age. During the Civil War, she had told an interviewer, "I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say - I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger." She is now recognized as one of the most courageous Americans who ever lived.
Key accomplishments
- Escaped slavery and returned thirteen times to lead approximately seventy people to freedom via the Underground Railroad
- Served as a Union spy, scout, and nurse during the Civil War
- Led the Combahee River Raid (1863), the first armed assault planned and led by a woman in the Civil War
- Established the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged in Auburn, New York
- Advocated for women's suffrage alongside Susan B. Anthony
Quotes
I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say - I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.
As reported by Edna Dow Cheney, Freedmen's Record (March 1865)