Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad in short

Harriet Tubman.

Harriet was an American abolitionist and an armed scout and spy for  the United States Army during the Civil War. She is most famous for supporting and freeing black slaves in the Southern parts of the US, through a concept known as the Underground Railroad. This slide show concerns her work, as well as her individual background. 

Harriet Tubman's birth name was Araminta Ross, and her nickname was Minty. 

Her birth name was Araminta Ross. She was nicknamed “Minty” by her mother.

Harriet had eight siblings: Linah (1808), Mariah Ritty (1811), Soph (1813), Robert (1816), Ben (1823), Rachel (1825), Henry (1830

Harriet Tubman was married to John Tubman when she was about 24 years old. John was a free black man. Born in Dorchester County, Maryland.

Harriet Tubman was a disabled person. She had Narcolepsy or sleeping spells. She could fall asleep any time and any place. This was caused by a severe blow to the head by a 2-pound iron weight thrown at another enslaved African, but it hit Harriet in the head when she was about 12 years old.

 She suffered from hypersomnia for the rest of her life.

In 1849, Harriet and her two brothers, Harry and Ben, attempted to escape. Harry and Ben, two brothers had second thoughts and returned to the plantation, however Harriet decided to continue and successfully made it to Pennsylvania, a free state.She was during this period owned by Edward Brodess, who she was in debt and ready to sell several of his slaves, such as three of Tubman’s sisters. In fear of being sold and facing an even darker future, she prepared the journey by changing her name from Araminta to her mother’s first name, Harriet, and adopting her husband’s last name, Tubman. Many slaves did this to leave as few traces as possible. Most fugitive slaves from Maryland had to cross the Mason-Dixon Line to be free, although Harriet’s exact route is unknown. On Monday, September 17, 1849, she and her brothers escaped the Poplar Neck Plantation but as mentioned, the two men refused after part of the journey had been performed. 

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Railroad

Harriet Tubman, often called the “Conductor of the Underground Railroad, or “The Moses of her people”.

After Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery, she returned to slave-holding states many times to help other slaves escape. She led them safely to the northern free states and to Canada. It was very dangerous to be a runaway slave. There were rewards for their capture, and ads put up in public spaces described slaves in detail. Whenever Tubman led a group of slaves to freedom, she placed herself in great danger. There was a large amount of money offered for her capture because she was a fugitive slave herself, and she was performing an illegal action in certain states by freeing other slaves.

Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad

Tubman made 19 trips to Maryland and helped 300 people to freedom. During these dangerous journeys she helped rescue members of her own family, including her 70-year-old parents. At one point, rewards for Tubman's capture totaled $40,000. Yet, she was never captured and never failed to deliver her "passengers" to safety. As Tubman herself said, "On my Underground Railroad I'd never run my train off the track and I'd never lost a passenger." 

The Underground Railroad was formed in the early 19th century and reached its peak between 1850 and 1860. Much of what we know today comes from accounts after the Civil War and accurate statistics about fugitive slaves using the Underground Railway may never be verifiable. It is believed that around 100,000 slaves between 1810 and 1860 escaped using the network. The majority of the slaves came from the upper south states that bordered free states such as Kentucky, Virginia and Maryland; very few escaped from the lower South.

During the Civil War, Tubman served as a nurse, cook, laundress, spy and scout.

Minty gathered her brothers, Harry and Ben, and convinced them to escape with her. On Monday, September 17, 1849 they escaped the Poplar Neck Plantation but Harry and Ben changed their minds and decided t...