The Heroic Slave Woman of America

The Heroic Slave Woman of America

Harriet Tubman, also known as “Moses,” was an American bondwoman who was able to escape from slavery, and fought the institution of slavery by being a political activist and abolitionist during the American civil war. Her heroic nature is revealed when she freed hundreds of slaves in the North by use of the Underground Railroad. Also, she was the first woman to be a frontrunner to an armed military task, where she was both a soldier and spy of the Union Army.

Birth and Childhood

The date of birth of Tubman is unknown, although it is circa March 1822. She had eight siblings and born by enslaved parents in the county of Dorchester, Maryland. Ben Ross, her father, was the property of Anthony Thompson, whereas her Mother, Harriet Gritt, was owned by Pattison Brodess. However, her original name was Araminta Harriet Ross, and she changed to Harriet to venerate her mother. Hardships characterized the early life of Turban. The family was first fractured when Brodess sold Tubman’s three sisters to a distant plantation. Tubman inherited the hero trait from her mother, which was evident when Rit resisted the selling of her son to Georgia traders. Furthermore, physical violence was a routine for them. The vehemence made her suffer permanent physical damages like the five lashes she received on a particular day before breakfast and being hit by a two-pound weight on her head by a store overseer. These two instances lead to undying scars and head problems (severe headaches, seizures, and episodes of narcoleptic), correspondingly (Bradford n.p.). Ross and Rit were entitled to be freed as it was stipulated in a will; nevertheless, only Ross was freed at the age of 45 in 1840.

Marriage

Tubman later married John Tubman in 1844. This couple was unusual as the man was free, and Tubman was enslaved. When it came to the expedition of the Underground Railway, John saw it best to sojourn in Maryland with his new spouse, whereas Harriet embarked on the voyage. Some two decades later, Tubman married Nelson Davis, a veteran of the Civil War, and in 1874 they adopted a baby girl known as Gertie (Bradford n.p.).

Tubman as an Abolitionist

From 1850 to 1860, Tubman made numerous trips between the North and the South using the Underground Railway Network. The underground railway was neither underground or a railway. It was termed “Underground” as it was an underground resistance and “Railroad” because that was the means of transportation in that era (Blackett 32). The network encompassed several dynamics, which are secret routes, meeting points, safe houses, and transportation, all maintained by the sympathizers of abolitionists.

Tubman’s first encounter with the Underground Railway was during her escape to Philadelphia in 1849 after the death of her owner. She was accompanied by two of her brothers. However, on seeing the notice printed in Cambridge Democrat on the three of them being wanted, her brothers returned while Tubman set off to Pennsylvania a distance of about 90 miles. Her first abolitionist act was in December 1850. It was after she heard the sale of her niece, Kessiah, and her two brothers. She assisted her entire family to escape into Philadelphia.

Unfortunately, on the implementation of the Fugitive Slave Act, Tubman faced challenges that led to her re-strategizing. The Congress of 1793 and 1850 passed the law, with the latter having provisions for harsher punishments. The law mandated the local governments to capture and return escaped slaves, even those who became free, to their owners, and persecute anybody who facilitated their escape (Emerson 1). In the novel approach, Tubman re-routed the Underground Railroad to Canada as it forbade slavery. The first group she guided through this route was the 11 fugitives in December 1851 and made a stop at Frederick Douglass (a former slave and abolitionist) home.

On becoming acquaintances with John Brown, she was persuaded to use violence to damage the institution of slavery. They recruited supporters and attacked Harper’s ferry that was filled with slaveholders. Tubman continued her lifelong quest up to the Civil War. In the Union Army, she started working as a nursemaid and cook then became a spy and armed scout. At this position, Tubman was able to free at least 700 slaves from South Carolina in the Combahee River Raid. Despite her economic grief, she continued with the fight of slavery and giving free land offered to her by prominent political abolitionists. She donated a piece of the land to a Methodist church and launched a home for the aged. On 10th March 1913, she succumbed to pneumonia and was buried with military admirations (Bradford n.p.).

Annotated Bibliography

Blackett, Richard JM. Making freedom: the Underground Railroad and the politics of slavery. UNC Press Books, 2013.

This book by Richard Blackett explains into detail how the slaves made their ways to freedom, the working of the Fugitive Slave Law, and the politics that were involved. Nonetheless, in the research paper, it helps in explaining the structure of the Underground Railroad, which is not underground or a railway.

Bradford, Sarah H. Scenes in the life of Harriet Tubman. e-artnow, 2018.

Bradford wrote this biography of Harriet Tubman four years after the end of the Civil War. One of her motives was to raise funds meant to support Tubman’s undertakings. The book is significant in this research paper as it helps in the writing of Tubman’s early and late-life.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “The fugitive slave law.” Speech. Concord. Emerson Among the Eccentrics. Print, (1851).