Harriet Tubman
AMERICAN ABOLITIONIST
Alternative Title: Araminta Ross
Maryland, U.S.—died March 10, 1913, Auburn, New York), American bondwoman
who escaped from slavery in the South to become a leading abolitionist before the American
Civil War. She led hundreds of bondsmen to freedom in the North along the route of the
Underground Railroad—an elaborate secret network of safe houses organized for that
purpose.
who escaped from slavery in the South to become a leading abolitionist before the American
Civil War. She led hundreds of bondsmen to freedom in the North along the route of the
Underground Railroad—an elaborate secret network of safe houses organized for that
purpose.
Born a slave, Araminta Ross later adopted her mother’s first name,
Harriet. From early childhood she worked variously as a maid, a nurse, a field hand, a cook,
and a woodcutter. About 1844 she married John Tubman, a free black.
and a woodcutter. About 1844 she married John Tubman, a free black.
In 1849, on the strength of rumours that she was about to be sold,
Tubman fled to Philadelphia, leaving behind her husband, parents, and siblings.
In December 1850 she made her way to Baltimore, Maryland, whence she led her sister and
two children to freedom. That journey was the first of some 19 increasingly dangerous
forays into Maryland in which, over the next decade, she conducted upward of 300 fugitive
slaves along the Underground Railroad to Canada. By her extraordinary courage, ingenuity,
persistence, and iron discipline, which she enforced upon her charges,
Tubman became the railroad’s most famous conductor and was known as the
“Moses of her people.” It has been said that she never lost a fugitive she was leading to
freedom.
In December 1850 she made her way to Baltimore, Maryland, whence she led her sister and
two children to freedom. That journey was the first of some 19 increasingly dangerous
forays into Maryland in which, over the next decade, she conducted upward of 300 fugitive
slaves along the Underground Railroad to Canada. By her extraordinary courage, ingenuity,
persistence, and iron discipline, which she enforced upon her charges,
Tubman became the railroad’s most famous conductor and was known as the
“Moses of her people.” It has been said that she never lost a fugitive she was leading to
freedom.
Rewards offered by slaveholders for Tubman’s capture eventually
totaled $40,000. Abolitionists, however, celebrated her courage.
John Brown, who consulted her about his own plans to organize an antislavery raid of a
federal armoury in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now in West Virginia), referred to her as
“General” Tubman. About 1858 she bought a small farm near Auburn, New York,
where she placed her aged parents (she had brought them out of Maryland in June 1857)
and herself lived thereafter. From 1862 to 1865 she served as a scout, as well as nurse and
laundress, for Union forces in South Carolina. For the Second Carolina Volunteers,
under the command of Col. James Montgomery, Tubman spied on Confederate territory.
When she returned with information about the locations of warehouses and ammunition,
Montgomery’s troops were able to make carefully planned attacks.
For her wartime service Tubman was paid so little that she had to
support herself by selling homemade baked goods.
John Brown, who consulted her about his own plans to organize an antislavery raid of a
federal armoury in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now in West Virginia), referred to her as
“General” Tubman. About 1858 she bought a small farm near Auburn, New York,
where she placed her aged parents (she had brought them out of Maryland in June 1857)
and herself lived thereafter. From 1862 to 1865 she served as a scout, as well as nurse and
laundress, for Union forces in South Carolina. For the Second Carolina Volunteers,
under the command of Col. James Montgomery, Tubman spied on Confederate territory.
When she returned with information about the locations of warehouses and ammunition,
Montgomery’s troops were able to make carefully planned attacks.
For her wartime service Tubman was paid so little that she had to
support herself by selling homemade baked goods.
