Harriet Tubman

Improved Essays
Harriet Tubman was a beautiful and strong African American. She is known for helping slaves to escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad. She escaped slavery in the 1849. The Underground Railroad was a route where fugitive slaves escape to the north and get to Canada. By having the Underground Railroad was help plan to help slaves become free. Now Harriet Tubman is an important figure in Africa American history. Harriet Tubman birth name was Araminta Ross. She was born in March 1822 in Dorchester County, Maryland. Harriet was the eleventh child between her parents Harriet Green and Benjamin Ross. He parents were full-blooded African American believed to be Ashanti, a West African warrior people. Her family lived as slaves on the …show more content…
Her master would not let her work in the fields. He lent her to James Cook who had her weaving, check muskrat traps, and do housekeeping. She became ill and James sent her back to Brodas, her mother nursed her back to health. When she turned six Brodess hired her as a nursemaid to a lady named Susan. She had to watch Susan child. She would be whipped it the child woke up or even cried. One day she was whipped five times before breakfast One day she stole a lump of sugar, when Susan turn her back. Harriet was going to get whip but she ran away. When she came back she got whipped severely. After that she learn a way to resist getting whipped by running away for days, wearing layers of clothing as protection, and fighting back. When she got older she started to work as a field hand. One day working in the field she saw slave running across the filed and was in the way of the guard and ended up getting hit with two-pound lead block in the head. She was in a coma for weeks. By getting hit in the head the injury caused seizures, headaches, visions, and dream experiences. Sometimes when she would be having seizures she would fall …show more content…
She always changed her route so it would be harder for her to be caught. She sang hymns and used the lyrics as a code among the slaves. She also provided specific instructions to 50 to 60 additional fugitives who escaped to the north. Her dangerous work required tremendous ingenuity. She mostly worked during winter months, to minimize the likelihood that the group would be seen. When helping escaping other slaves she made sure that they would always lean town on Saturday’s evenings, since newspapers would not print runaway notices until Monday morning. She carried a revolver on her trips. She also purportedly threatened to shoot any escaped slave who tried to turn back on the journey since that would threaten the safety of the remaining group. She never ran her train off the track and never lost a passenger. In 1887 she received word that her father had harbored a group of eight escaped slaves, and was at risk of arrest. She traveled to the Eastern Shore and led them north to St.

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