Throughout history, women have affected change in tremendous ways. Even with the constraining barriers of sexism and, for some, racism many succeed. Their names are called upon with admiration of their bravery and conviction. Harriet Tubman is certainly one such woman. Born into slavery in Maryland in 1822, Harriet Tubman escaped alone in 1849 to the free state of Philadelphia. Fleeing was a brave feat on its own but Tubman proceeded to make about a dozen more arduous trips in order to lead her relatives and approximately sixty other slaves to freedom. Tubman is perhaps best known for her involvement in the Underground Railroads, where she helped lead hundreds of enslaved people to freedom over the span of her lifetime.
