Born into slavery in Maryland, Harriet Tubman escaped to freedom in the North in 1849 to become the most famous “conductor” on the Underground Railroad. Tubman risked her life to lead hundreds of family members and other slaves from the plantation system to freedom on this elaborate secret network of safe houses.
Who escaped with the Underground Railroad?
- A prominent figure associated with the Underground Railroad was Harriet Tubman, who escaped from slavery in Maryland in the late 1840s.
How was Harriet Tubman A leader?
In conclusion, Harriet Tubman was a great leader because she was optimistic, she had a dream, and she was trustworthy. She also helped over three hundred slaves escape to the North. This is why Harriet Tubman was a great leader.
What did Harriet Tubman do in 1850?
Abolitionist and suffragist Harriet Tubman, perhaps the most famous conductor for the Underground Railroad, engineered her first rescue mission in December of 1850.
What happened to Harriet Tubman in 1844?
Brodess refused to honor his mother’s will. 1844 – Araminta married a free black man, John Tubman. 1849 – Harriet fell ill. She changed her name to Harriet in honor of her mother and took her husband’s last name, Tubman.
What happened to Harriet Tubman in 1834?
c. 1834-36: An overseer throws a two-pound weight at another slave but hits Tubman’s head. She barely survives the devastating injury and experiences headaches for the remainder of her life. It’s possible this injury led to her suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy, which could explain her visions and sleeping spells.
What does it mean to lead like Harriet Tubman?
She dedicated herself to helping others accomplish that dream of freedom. Leadership is about what we do with others, not for ourselves. Harriet Models the Way having traveled the hard road and returning time after time to use her knowledge to help others in their quest for freedom.
Why is Harriet Tubman a hero?
Harriet Tubman was the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad. She seized her own freedom and then led many more American slaves to theirs. She is a hero of the Second American Revolution — the war that ended American slavery and that made American capitalism possible.
Is Gertie Davis died?
Harriet Tubman is perhaps the most well-known of all the Underground Railroad’s “conductors.” During a ten-year span she made 19 trips into the South and escorted over 300 slaves to freedom. And, as she once proudly pointed out to Frederick Douglass, in all of her journeys she “never lost a single passenger.”
How was Harriet Tubman involved in the Underground Railroad?
Harriet Tubman was an escaped enslaved woman who became a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, leading enslaved people to freedom before the Civil War, all while carrying a bounty on her head. But she was also a nurse, a Union spy and a women’s suffrage supporter.
How old would Harriet Tubman be today?
Harriet Tubman’s exact age would be 201 years 10 months 28 days old if alive. Total 73,747 days. Harriet Tubman was a social life and political activist known for her difficult life and plenty of work directed on promoting the ideas of slavery abolishment.
What age did Harriet Tubman escape slavery?
By age five, Tubman’s owners rented her out to neighbors as a domestic servant. Early signs of her resistance to slavery and its abuses came at age twelve when she intervened to keep her master from beating an enslaved man who tried to escape.
Where did Harriet Tubman Go Canada?
Tubman therefore changed her escape route so that it ended in Canada. She then began and ended her rescues in St. Catharines, Canada West (Ontario), where she moved in 1851.
What are 5 facts about Harriet Tubman?
8 amazing facts about Harriet Tubman
- Tubman’s codename was “Moses,” and she was illiterate her entire life.
- She suffered from narcolepsy.
- Her work as “Moses” was serious business.
- She never lost a slave.
- Tubman was a Union scout during the Civil War.
- She cured dysentery.
- She was the first woman to lead a combat assault.
What was significant about the group Tubman led to escape slavery in December 1851?
In December 1851, Tubman guided a group of 11 fugitives northward. Working for the Union Army as a cook and nurse, Tubman quickly became an armed scout and spy. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, she guided the Combahee River Raid, which liberated more than 700 slaves in South Carolina.
Harriet Tubman
As an escaped enslaved woman, Harriet Tubman worked as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, guiding enslaved individuals to freedom before the Civil War, all while a bounty was placed on her head. But she was also a nurse, a spy for the Union, and a proponent of women’s rights. Tubman is one of the most well-known figures in American history, and her legacy has inspired countless individuals of all races and ethnicities around the world.
When Was Harriet Tubman Born?
Harriet Tubman was born in 1820 on a plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland, and became well-known as a pioneer. Her parents, Harriet (“Rit”) Green and Benjamin Ross, gave her the name Araminta Ross and referred to her as “Minty” as a nickname. Rit worked as a chef in the plantation’s “large house,” while Benjamin was a wood worker on the plantation’s “little house.” As a tribute to her mother, Araminta changed her given name to Harriet later in life. However, the reality of slavery pulled many of Harriet’s siblings and sisters apart, despite Rit’s attempts to keep the family united.
Harriet was hired as a muskrat trap setter by a planter when she was seven years old, and she was later hired as a field laborer by the same planter.
A Good Deed Gone Bad
Harriet’s yearning for justice first manifested itself when she was 12 years old and witnessed an overseer prepare to hurl a heavy weight at a runaway. Harriet took a step between the enslaved person and the overseer, and the weight of the person smacked her in the head. Afterwards, she described the occurrence as follows: “The weight cracked my head. They had to carry me to the home because I was bleeding and fainting. Because I was without a bed or any place to lie down at all, they threw me on the loom’s seat, where I stayed for the rest of the day and the following day.” As a result of her good act, Harriet has suffered from migraines and narcolepsy for the remainder of her life, forcing her to go into a deep slumber at any time of day.
She was undesirable to potential slave purchasers and renters because of her physical disability.
Escape from Slavery
Harriet’s father was freed in 1840, and Harriet later discovered that Rit’s owner’s final will and testament had freed Rit and her children, including Harriet, from slavery. Despite this, Rit’s new owner refused to accept the will and instead held Rit, Harriett, and the rest of her children in bondage for the remainder of their lives. Harriet married John Tubman, a free Black man, in 1844, and changed her last name from Ross to Tubman in honor of her new husband.
Harriet’s marriage was in shambles, and the idea that two of her brothers—Ben and Henry—were going to be sold prompted her to devise a plan to flee. She was not alone in her desire to leave.
Harriet Tubman: Underground Railroad
On September 17, 1849, Harriet, Ben, and Henry managed to flee their Maryland farm and reach the United States. The brothers, on the other hand, changed their minds and returned. Harriet persisted, and with the assistance of the Underground Railroad, she was able to journey 90 miles north to Pennsylvania and freedom. Tubman got employment as a housekeeper in Philadelphia, but she wasn’t content with simply being free on her own; she desired freedom for her family and friends, as well as for herself.
She attempted to relocate her husband John to the north at one time, but he had remarried and preferred to remain in Maryland with his new wife.
Fugitive Slave Act
The Runaway Slave Act of 1850 authorized the apprehension and enslavement of fugitive and released laborers in the northern United States. Consequently, Harriet’s task as an Underground Railroad guide became much more difficult, and she was obliged to take enslaved people even farther north into Canada by leading them through the night, generally during the spring or fall when the days were shorter. She carried a revolver for her personal security as well as to “encourage” any of her charges who might be having second thoughts about following her orders.
Within 10 years, Harriet became acquainted with other abolitionists like as Frederick Douglass, Thomas Garrett, and Martha Coffin Wright, and she built her own Underground Railroad network of her own.
Despite this, it is thought that Harriet personally guided at least 70 enslaved persons to freedom, including her elderly parents, and that she educated scores of others on how to escape on their own in the years following the Civil War.
More information may be found at The Little-Known Underground Railroad That Ran South to Mexico.
Harriet Tubman’s Civil War Service
In 1861, as the American Civil War broke out, Harriet discovered new methods of combating slavery. She was lured to Fort Monroe to provide assistance to runaway enslaved persons, where she served as a nurse, chef, and laundress. In order to assist sick troops and runaway enslaved people, Harriet employed her expertise of herbal medicines. She rose to the position of director of an intelligence and reconnaissance network for the Union Army in 1863. In addition to providing Union commanders with critical data regarding Confederate Army supply routes and personnel, she assisted in the liberation of enslaved persons who went on to join Black Union battalions.
Despite being at just over five feet tall, she was a force to be reckoned with, despite the fact that it took more than three decades for the government to recognize her military accomplishments and provide her with financial compensation.
Harriet Tubman’s Later Years
Following the Civil War, Harriet moved to Auburn, New York, where she lived with her family and friends on land she owned. After her husband John died in 1867, she married Nelson Davis, a former enslaved man and Civil War soldier, in 1869. A few years later, they adopted a tiny girl named Gertie, who became their daughter. Harriet maintained an open-door policy for anyone who was in need of assistance. In order to sustain her philanthropic endeavors, she sold her homegrown fruit, raised pigs, accepted gifts, and borrowed money from family and friends.
- She also collaborated with famed suffrage activist Susan B.
- Harriet Tubman acquired land close to her home in 1896 and built the Harriet Tubman Home for Aged and Indigent Colored People, which opened in 1897.
- However, her health continued to deteriorate, and she was finally compelled to relocate to the rest home that bears her name in 1911.
- Schools and museums carry her name, and her life story has been told in novels, films, and documentaries, among other mediums.
Harriet Tubman: 20 Dollar Bill
The SS Harriet Tubman, which was named for Tubman during World War I, is a memorial to her legacy. In 2016, the United States Treasury announced that Harriet Tubman’s portrait will be used on the twenty-dollar note, replacing the image of former President and slaveowner Andrew Jackson. Later, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (who previously worked under President Trump) indicated that the new plan will be postponed until at least 2026 at the earliest. President Biden’s administration stated in January 2021 that it will expedite the design phase of the project.
Sources
In fact, the SS Harriet Tubman was named for Tubman and served in World War IILiberty. Andrew Jackson’s picture on the twenty-dollar bill will be replaced with Harriet Tubman’s image on the twenty-dollar bill in 2016, according to the United States Treasury Department. President Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin indicated later that the new legislation will be postponed until at least 2026. As of January 2021, the government of President Biden declared that the design process will be accelerated.
Aboard the Underground Railroad- Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged
| Images of the Harriet Tubman Home for theAged, Harriet TubmanNationalHistoric Landmarks photographs |
Harriet Tubman
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Harriet Tubman?
Some of the most common inquiries
Americans Who Tell The Truth
Underground Railroad (also known as the Underground Railroad System) Conductor, social reformer, nurse, spione: 1820? – 1913. I began with the notion that there are two things I have a right to, and that these are Death or Liberty – one or the other is what I intend to have in my possession. Many of the hundreds of slaves she assisted achieve their release, as well as the thousands of others she inspired, referred to her as “Moses.” Harriet Tubman rose to prominence as the most well-known leader of the Underground Railroad, a complex and secret network of houses, tunnels, and roads built by abolitionists and former slaves to aid slaves fleeing from slave states to free states and Canada during the abolitionist movement of the 1860s.
- Araminta Ross was born into slavery in Bucktown, Maryland, in the early 1820s, and later became Harriet Tubman.
- “When I realized I’d crossed the line, I glanced at my hands to make sure I wasn’t the same person,” she later explained.
- Following her emancipation, Tubman worked as a maid in Philadelphia and became involved with the city’s big abolitionist organization.
- During her first voyage, which took place in December 1850, she was able to make her way through the backwoods to Baltimore and then return north with her niece and her niece’s children, before being captured and executed.
- She was instrumental in bringing her parents to freedom in 1857.
- To ensure the success of each escape, Tubman monitored every step of the operation, from organizing the route to distributing tranquilizers to scared babies.
- As a healer, scout, and spy for the Union troops during the Civil War, Tubman played an important role.
- After the war, Tubman returned to Auburn and continued to be active in social concerns, particularly those pertaining to women’s rights.
The Harriet Tubman House served as a home for aged and poor Blacks, and it was named after her. On March 10, 1913, she passed away in the city.
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubmandanielled65142021-05-05T Harriet Tubmandanielled65142021-05-05 10:05:50-04:00 As part of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, visitors can learn about the life and times of Harriet Tubman – freedom seeker and Underground Railroad conductor, abolitionist and suffragist, human rights activist, and one of Maryland’s most famous daughters – as well as other notable figures from the state’s history.
Tubman, who was born about 1822 in Dorchester County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, is one of the most praised, known, and beloved persons in the history of the United States of America.
If this is the case, Harriet Tubman would become the first woman and the first African-American to be featured on U.S.
A courageous leader
Harriet Tubman was the middle child of nine enslaved siblings, and she was reared by parents who had to fight against overwhelming difficulties to keep their family together. In spite of her terrible impairment, she grew up to become an accomplished hunter, lumberjack, and fieldworker. Her athletic skills prepared her for the potentially hazardous road she would choose as an adult. Tubman was able to make it to Philadelphia in 1849 after a daring escape. Once free, she went on to become an operator of the Underground Railroad, a hidden network of people, places, and routes that gave sanctuary and support to fugitive slaves during the American Civil War.
By 1860, Tubman had gained the moniker “Moses” for her work in rescuing so many enslaved people while putting her own life in danger to do it.
Did youknow?
- The fact that she had never learned to read or write did not detract from her ability to be intelligent, cunning, and brave, and she was never caught during her 13 perilous trips to free her friends and family from slavery. In June 1863, she made history by being the first woman to command an armed military raid during the American Civil War. Additionally, Tubman served as a Union spy and nurse
- She was a suffragist who campaigned for women’s rights
- She founded an African-American Nursing Home on her farm in Auburn, New York
- And she came close to death as a young child after suffering a concussion and traumatic brain injury. She suffered from seizures, discomfort, and other health difficulties for the remainder of her life, despite the fact that she was devout. When she began seeing visions and intense dreams, she took them to be revelations from God
- Nevertheless, she later came to believe otherwise.
A dedicated humanitarian
As a result of her widespread admiration among abolitionists in the North, Tubman established herself as a valued friend and counselor to many, earning her a position in the Union Army as a scout, spy, nurse, and confidante of generals. After the Civil War, she relocated to Auburn, New York, where she devoted her time and energy to the misery of the poor, opening her house as a haven for the aged, the sick, and those who were physically handicapped. Even before the American Civil War, she was a tireless advocate for the rights of women, minorities, the crippled, and the elderly in general.
She went on to establish a nursing home for African Americans on her land in New York, which she owned at the time.
Tubman had already been the topic of a slew of articles, recollections, and an autobiography at that point.
It is only necessary to go along the Byway that bears her name to appreciate the significance of her humble origins and the scope of her accomplishment.
Her mission was to help others, combat tyranny, and make a difference in the world – all ideas that are recognized along the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, where ordinary individuals performed incredible feats of bravery.
- She was born into slavery as Araminta “Minty” Ross in Dorchester County, Maryland, most likely around the year 1822. Her parents, Harriet (“Rit”) Green and Ben Ross, were both enslaved
- She was born into this situation. A family member of Harriet’s mother’s “ownership,” the Brodess family, rented Harriet out and assigned her to do various jobs, including caring for children, checking muskrat traps, agricultural and forest labor, driving oxen, plowing, and moving logs. During her childhood, most likely in the 1830s, she had a serious brain injury that required surgery. Seizures, migraines, and visions plagued the victim for the rest of his life. Around the time of her marriage to John Tubman, a free Black man, in 1844, she changed her name from Araminta to Harriet, and so became known as Harriet Tubman 1849: She managed to escape slavery and make her way to Philadelphia on her own, primarily through the darkness of the night.
- Following her emancipation, she spent more than a decade making secret return journeys to Maryland in order to assist her friends and family members who were also fleeing slavery. With each journey, she put her life in danger. Tubman’s last rescue expedition took place in 1860
- When the Civil War broke out, she joined the Union Army, first as a cook and nurse, then as an armed scout and spy, among other roles. With the liberation of more than 700 slaves in 1863, she made history as the first woman to command an armed expedition during the war. The next year she relocated to a home she had acquired in Auburn, New York (where she cared for her aged parents) that she had purchased in 1859. She was active in the suffrage campaign, advocating not just for the rights of women, but also for the rights of minorities, the crippled, and the elderly
- And On March 10, 1913, she passed away. Tubman is buried in Auburn, New York
- On April 20, 2016, the United States Treasury Department announced a plan for Tubman to replace Andrew Jackson as the portrait gracing the $20 bill
- And on April 20, 2016, the United States Treasury Department announced a plan for Tubman to replace Andrew Jackson as the portrait gracing the $20 bill.
Dispelling the myths about Harriet Tubman
Her covert return journeys to Maryland to assist her friends and family in escaping slavery continued for more than a decade after she had fled. Her life was in danger with each journey she took. Tubman’s last rescue attempt took place in 1860, and when the Civil War broke out, she joined the Union Army, first as a cook and nurse, then as an armed scout and spy, among other roles. With the liberation of more than 700 slaves in 1863, she made history as the first woman to command an armed expedition in the war.
As part of the suffrage movement, she fought for the rights of women, as well as the rights of minorities, the crippled, and the elderly, among other causes.
The United States Treasury Department announced on April 20, 2016, that Harriet Tubman would replace Andrew Jackson as the picture adorning the $20 dollar; she is buried in Auburn, New York.
Learn Harriet Tubman’s Story at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center
The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center, located in Church Creek on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, first opened its doors to the public in March 2017. Several locations surrounding the visitor center were used by Harriet Tubman during her childhood as a slave in Dorchester County. She lived, worked, and prayed in these locations. The place is where she originally fled slavery, and it is where she returned around 13 times over the course of a decade, risking her life time and time again in order to free over 70 friends and family members.
- Located at 4068 Golden Hill Road in Church Creek, Maryland.
- Donations are accepted in lieu of admission to the tourist center, which is free.
- The magnificent visitor center, which is located near the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and about 25 minutes from Cambridge, Maryland, has an exhibit hall with compelling and thought-provoking multimedia exhibits, a theater, and a gift shop, among other amenities.
- There is also a huge picnic pavilion with a stone fireplace that may be rented out for special occasions.
- In addition to the visitor center, there are more than 30 historical sites along the Maryland part of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, which is a self-guided, beautiful driving tour of the Underground Railroad.
- NOTE: The Harriet Tubman Visitor Center is not to be confused with the Harriet Tubman MuseumEducational Center, which has been in operation for more than 20 years and is maintained entirely by volunteers in the heart of Cambridge’s downtown.
The museum’s founders were instrumental in preserving Tubman’s legacy. Visit the Tubman Visitor Center website for additional information, or call or email them at 410-221-2290 or [email protected] to learn more about their programs and services.
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park
As a result of an executive order issued in March 2013, the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument was established and the landscape of Dorchester County, Maryland was designated as a historical landmark for its association with Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. When the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park was established a year later, the National Park Service designated area in Dorchester, Talbot, and Caroline Counties for possible future acquisition by the National Park Service.
It also maintains a sister park, Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn, New York.
At the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center, you may get stamps for your passport that will allow you to visit all of the National Parks.
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Harriet Tubman
| Harriet Tubman is perhaps the most well-known of all the Underground Railroad’s “conductors.” During a ten-year span she made 19 trips into the South and escorted over 300 slaves to freedom. And, as she once proudly pointed out to Frederick Douglass, in all of her journeys she “never lost a single passenger.” Tubman was born a slave in Maryland’s Dorchester County around 1820. At age five or six, she began to work as a house servant. Seven years later she was sent to work in the fields. While she was still in her early teens, she suffered an injury that would follow her for the rest of her life. Always ready to stand up for someone else, Tubman blocked a doorway to protect another field hand from an angry overseer. The overseer picked up and threw a two-pound weight at the field hand. It fell short, striking Tubman on the head. She never fully recovered from the blow, which subjected her to spells in which she would fall into a deep sleep.Around 1844 she married a free black named John Tubman and took his last name. (She was born Araminta Ross; she later changed her first name to Harriet, after her mother.) In 1849, in fear that she, along with the other slaves on the plantation, was to be sold, Tubman resolved to run away. She set out one night on foot. With some assistance from a friendly white woman, Tubman was on her way. She followed the North Star by night, making her way to Pennsylvania and soon after to Philadelphia, where she found work and saved her money. The following year she returned to Maryland and escorted her sister and her sister’s two children to freedom. She made the dangerous trip back to the South soon after to rescue her brother and two other men. On her third return, she went after her husband, only to find he had taken another wife. Undeterred, she found other slaves seeking freedom and escorted them to the North.Tubman returned to the South again and again. She devised clever techniques that helped make her “forays” successful, including using the master’s horse and buggy for the first leg of the journey; leaving on a Saturday night, since runaway notices couldn’t be placed in newspapers until Monday morning; turning about and heading south if she encountered possible slave hunters; and carrying a drug to use on a baby if its crying might put the fugitives in danger. Tubman even carried a gun which she used to threaten the fugitives if they became too tired or decided to turn back, telling them, “You’ll be free or die.”By 1856, Tubman’s capture would have brought a $40,000 reward from the South. On one occasion, she overheard some men reading her wanted poster, which stated that she was illiterate. She promptly pulled out a book and feigned reading it. The ploy was enough to fool the men.Tubman had made the perilous trip to slave country 19 times by 1860, including one especially challenging journey in which she rescued her 70-year-old parents. Of the famed heroine, who became known as “Moses,” Frederick Douglass said, “Excepting John Brown – of sacred memory – I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than.” And John Brown, who conferred with “General Tubman” about his plans to raid Harpers Ferry, once said that she was “one of the bravest persons on this continent.”Becoming friends with the leading abolitionists of the day, Tubman took part in antislavery meetings. On the way to such a meeting in Boston in 1860, in an incident in Troy, New York, she helped a fugitive slave who had been captured.During the Civil War Harriet Tubman worked for the Union as a cook, a nurse, and even a spy. After the war she settled in Auburn, New York, where she would spend the rest of her long life. She died in 1913.Image Credit: Moorland-Spingarn Research Center |
Harriet Tubman Biography
She was known as the “Moses of her people” because she was enslaved and then fled to become a “conductor” of the Underground Railroad, where she assisted others in gaining their freedom. Aside from being a scout, spy, and guerilla fighter for the Union Army during the Civil War, Tubman also worked as a medic for the army. She is widely regarded as the first African-American woman to serve in the United States armed forces. Tubman’s precise birthdate is uncertain, however it is believed to have occurred between 1820 and 1822 in Dorchester County, Maryland, according to some estimations.
- She had eight siblings, all of whom survived.
- Early indications of her opposition to slavery and its abuses appeared when she was twelve years old and intervened to prevent her owner from striking an enslaved man who attempted to flee.
- However, despite the fact that slaves were not permitted to marry, Tubman entered into a marriage partnership with John Tubman, a free black man, in 1844.
- Tubman did not construct the Underground Railroad, contrary to popular belief; rather, it was built in the late eighteenth century by both black and white abolitionists.
- The man she married refused to accompany her, and by 1851, he had married a free black lady from the South.
- As a result of her achievement, slaveowners have offered a $40,000 reward for her arrest or murder.
- She also took part in various anti-slavery campaigns, including assisting John Brown in his failed attack on the Harpers Ferry arsenal in Virginia in 1859, which she helped organize.
As a spy and scout for the Union army, Tubman frequently disguised herself as an elderly woman.
Tubman assisted a large number of these people in obtaining food, housing, and even employment in the North.
During her time as a nurse, Tubman administered herbal cures to black and white troops who were dying of sickness or illness.
Anthony, looked after her aging parents, and collaborated with white writer Sarah Bradford on her autobiography, which she hoped would be a source of income.
She lived in Auburn, New York, and cared for the elderly in her house.
In 1895, as Davis’s widow (he died in 1888), she was ultimately given a $8 per month military pension, followed by a $20 pension in 1899 for her service in the army.
In 1896, she donated land near her home to the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, which is still in operation today. Tuberculosis was discovered in 1913 and Tubman was interred at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, New York, with full military honors.
Learning from History: Harriet Tubman and Leadership
In The Leadership Challenge, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner reveal the results of more than 30 years of study as well as tales about leaders who are performing at their highest levels. The authors of the best-selling book detail 30 behaviors as well as Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in their work.
- Model the Way
- Inspire a Shared Vision
- Challenge the Process
- Enable Others to Act
- Encourage the Heart
- These are just a few of the things you may do to help.
These principles, as well as the behaviors that make them up, are visible in leaders all around the world, and we can find numerous examples throughout history that demonstrate them. Harriet Tubman was one of these leaders, and her life exemplifies these principles. Examine some of the links that may be made between Harriet Tubman and these traditions. She managed to escape enslavement only to return time and again to assist others in escaping to freedom. She was a renowned abolitionist who used the Underground Railroad to release a large number of enslaved individuals from their enslavement.
The internal strength and tenacity she has demonstrated throughout her life is a shining example of what is possible when a person devotes themselves completely to a noble cause.
Early life
During the early 1820s, Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in the state of Maryland. Araminta “Minty” Ross was her given name when she was born. She began working as a nursemaid when she was approximately five years old, and she was punished for allowing the infant to scream in one of the households where she worked. The next day, she was sent out to set muskrat traps, but she became unwell and was forced to return to her owner. She had a traumatic brain injury when she was hit in the head with a large weight that had been thrown at a fugitive slave when she was around 13 years old.
She married John Tubman, a free man, when she was 24 years old.
Escape to Freedom
When Harriet was 29, the plantation’s owner passed away, and three of her sisters were sold to make way for new owners. Harriet and her two brothers were forced to flee the plantation in order to prevent the family from being further divided. At this point, she changed her name to Harriet and married into her husband’s family. There was a prize offered in exchange for the return of the three siblings, and Harriet’s brothers opted to accept it. Harriet resumed her journey, going 90 miles on the Underground Railroad to reach Pennsylvania and her ultimate goal of freedom.
Despite being faced with an extremely difficult circumstance, she was able to overcome tremendous obstacles and achieve her objective of freedom. Harriet had a taste of independence, and she believed that it should be available to everyone who desired it.
The Underground Railroad
This could have been the conclusion of a narrative about striving for and achieving the goal of independence, but that was not the case for Harriet Bingham. Harriet didn’t just sit about and enjoy the freedom she had gained, though it would have been acceptable if she had done so. She worked hard for it. She committed her life to assisting others in realizing their dreams of independence. Leadership is defined by what we do with others, rather than what we do for ourselves. Harriet is a role model for others because she has walked the difficult path and has returned time and time again to share her experiences and wisdom to assist others in their search for freedom.
- When the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made the free states of the union a dangerous destination for escaped slaves, Harriet began collaborating with abolitionists Thomas Garret and Frederick Douglass on a plan to relocate them.
- She returned to Maryland in order to persuade her husband to accompany her, but he opted to remain with his new wife instead of joining her.
- In response to the Fugitive Slave Act, Harriet relocated her center of operations to Canada and redirected the Underground Railroad to aid slaves in their journey to freedom in the Canadian provinces.
- She was able to adapt her approach and direction in response to changes in the environment, ensuring that she and her passengers would achieve success in their mission.
The Civil War
Even her triumph with the Underground Railroad did not bring her to the end of her ordeal. As the American Civil War got begun, Harriett volunteered to help the Union Army as a nurse and a cook, among other things. She assisted in the recruitment of former slaves for a regiment of African American troops under the command of General Hunter. She subsequently went on to work as a spy and scout for the army for a while. As part of her ongoing efforts to Challenge the Process, Harriet continues to serve in various roles and take on new tasks.
Following the conclusion of the Civil War, Harriet went to upstate New York, where she owned a tract of property that had been sold to her by US Senator and abolitionist William H.
Sarah Hopkins Bradford released a biography of Harriet Tubman in 1869, titled Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman, which was based on her life. Almost two decades later, Bradford wrote the second biography of Tubman, Harriet, the Moses of her People, which was based on her life.
A Leader to the End
Later in her life, Harriet continued to Inspire a Shared Vision and Challenge the Process, as she had done throughout her life. Tubman became active in the women’s suffrage movement thirty years after her experiences on the Underground Railroad and during the Civil War. She delivered talks in a number of places about the need of granting women the right to vote. She also continued to allow others to act for the remainder of her life, which was a great honor for her. Harriet donated her land to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church so that it might be transformed into a home for the elderly when she was 80 years old.
Harriet Tubman is a remarkable example of someone who had a vision for what needed to happen in the world and was driven to see that goal through to completion.
It is the scope and clarity of our ambitions, as well as the tenacity, imagination, and strength required to bring them to fruition.
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad: how one woman saved hundreds from hell
She had managed to get away from hell. Slavery in the United States was a hellish experience characterised by bondage, racist treatment, terrorism, degrading conditions, backbreaking labor, beatings, and whippings. Harriet Tubman escaped from her Maryland farm and walked over 90 miles by herself to reach the free state of Pennsylvania, where she died in 1865. In order to make the perilous voyage, she had to go at night through woods and through streams, with little food, and dreading anybody who would gladly give her back to her masters in order to receive a reward.
Her 1849 escape from slavery was described as follows: “When I realized I had crossed the border, I glanced at my hands to check if I was the same person.” “There was such a radiance in everything.” I had the feeling that I was in heaven as the sun filtered through the trees and over the meadows.” Tubman was transferred to a region where she could live somewhat free of bondage thanks to the Underground Railroad; but, while others endured cruelty and misery, she would risk her life as the network’s most renowned conductor.
Tubman made it out of hell just to turn around and walk right back into it.
When and where was Harriet Tubman born?
Araminta Ross, Tubman’s given name, would have been put to work on her family’s plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland, practically as soon as she began to walk, according to family legend. It was the same terrible initiation to slavery that she and her eight siblings endured when they were born into it. Her rigorous outdoor job, along with long hours of domestic employment as a maid and then as a cook, resulted in her being underweight and unwell at times. The little Minty, like millions of other slaves in America, became all-too familiar with the awful physical and mental torture she suffered at the hands of her owners.
She was spanked and flogged as punishment anytime the baby screamed when she was working as a nursemaid when she was just five or six years old — believed to have been around 1825-30.
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Minty’s harsh upbringing resulted in a fervent Christian faith, which she developed as a result of hearing Bible tales read to her by her mother, as well as extraordinary strength, courage, and a desire to put herself in danger in order to save others. These characteristics helped her so effectively in the Underground Railroad, yet they almost resulted in her death when she was a little girl. Once, as Minty was on her way to get supplies from a dry goods store, she found herself stuck between an overseer who was looking for a slave who had fled his property without permission and the slave’s pursuing master.
What was the Underground Railroad?
The term does not allude to genuine trains that went up and down the length of America in tunnels (at least not in the early nineteenth century), but rather to a system of clandestine routes that were designed to assist runaway slaves in reaching the free states of the North or Canada. In order to escape discovery, guides guided them down the circuitous routes, which frequently required trudging into the woods, crossing rivers, and climbing mountains to reach their destination. Although it was not always the case, a route may have involved conveyance, such as boats or carts.
- It was all done in secret, thus the term “underground,” and it made use of jargon from the booming railway industry.
- It was common for those participating – which included everyone from runaway slaves to rich white abolitionists and church officials – to congregate in small groups.
- ‘vigilance committees’ formed established in the bigger cities of the North, such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, to support the railroad.
- It struck Minty in the head, knocking her out cold and leaving her in a pool of blood.
- These remained constant throughout her life (although she claimed them to be premonitions from God).
- There was no reprieve from the horrendous conditions as the years passed, yet all of Minty’s hours of hard labor had given her a surprising amount of strength for her small five-foot body.
Despite the fact that she became Harriet Tubman in approximately 1844 – after marrying a free black man called John Tubman and choosing to use her mother’s first name – it would be another five years before she made her first steps toward freedom.
How did Harriet Tubman escape from slavery?
What makes Tubman’s escape from slavery even more remarkable is that she had to accomplish it twice before she was successful. When Mary left the plantation with two of her brothers on September 17, 1849, Harry and Ben had second thoughts and returned to the plantation with her mother and father. Instead of continuing without them, Tubman made sure they returned before attempting a second time to save her life. The 90-mile trek could have taken her anywhere from one to three weeks if she had done it on foot.
- As a result, in 1850, she returned to Maryland to pick up her niece Kessiah and her husband, as well as their two kids, and bring them back to Pennsylvania.
- (some accounts say she went as many as 19 times).
- It is estimated that she personally freed roughly 300 slaves – including some of her brothers and their families, as well as her own parents – and gave instructions to dozens of others in the process.
- An advertising for the ‘Liberty Line’ in 1844, which was a thinly veiled allusion to the Underground Railroad, and which promised “seats free, regardless of race,” is seen below.
- It only grew more perilous after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, which made it possible for runaway slaves to be apprehended in the North and returned to their original owners.
- As a result, Tubman had to find a way to get to Canada, which was under British control.
When Tubman was a conductor, her colleague William Still remarked, “Great anxieties were expressed for her safety, yet she appeared to be completely devoid of personal dread.” With her success in exploiting and growing the network to transport escaped slaves to safety, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison dubbed Tubman the ‘Moses of her people’ for her efforts.
She would frequently travel during the winter, when the nights were longer, and would leave with her ‘passengers’ on a Saturday evening – since runaway notices would not appear in newspapers until the following Monday – in order to avoid being discovered.
“Either you’ll be free or you’ll die,” she declared emphatically.
‘General Tubman’ was contacted before to his failed 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry in the hopes of igniting a slave insurrection, and it is said that he wanted her to take part in the attack as a member of the armed forces.
Seward was so impressed with Tubman’s work that she purchased a small plot of land near Auburn, New York – where she lived with her elderly parents, whom she had rescued during one of her final journeys – from her friend and admirer.
On the Underground Railroad, did coded songs aid people in their attempts to elude enslavement and find freedom? In connection with the Underground Railroad, there is a widespread idea that songs had hidden messages in the lyrics that either assisted slaves in finding their path to freedom or served as a warning. To summarize: The expression “follow the Drinkin’ Gourd” actually refers to the North Star, “Wade in the Water” is an instruction to hide, and the phrase “I am bound for Canaan” could be used by a slave to announce his or her intention to flee and seek refuge in Canada, which would serve as their Canaan in the new world.
Tubman would subsequently vary the speed of the song in order to shift the meaning of the message.
According to a related notion, specific patterns in quilts were created in order to symbolize secret instructions, however this theory has also been called into doubt.
In spite of this, songs formed an important part of the culture of those in bondage, whether employed as prayers (known as’spirituals’), to provide a rhythm to their work, or as oral history in a society where many people were illiterate.
Harriet Tubman and the American Civil War
Although the Underground Railroad came to a close with the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, it did not mark the end of Tubman’s heroic efforts on the Underground Railroad. She worked in the Union Army as a cook, laundress, and nurse, caring for wounded troops and escaped slaves, who were referred to as ‘contrabands,’ without regard for her own well-being. Tubman led a troop of scouts into Confederate territory after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, laying the groundwork for the abolition of slavery.
Because of the intelligence she acquired, Colonel James Montgomery was able to launch a deadly attack on enemy fortifications, making her the first woman to command an armed assault in the United States history.
More than 750 slaves were liberated during the uprising.
What were Harriet Tubman’s actions during the American Civil War?
Sophie Beale, a journalist, investigates. The first bullets of the American Civil War were fired on April 12, 1861, in the state of Virginia. Tubman had a large number of abolitionist admirers by this time, and Massachusetts governor John Andrew funded her to travel to Port Royal, South Carolina, which had recently been liberated from the Confederates by Union forces. Her first assignment after the onset of war was as a volunteer with Union troops stationed near Fort Munroe in Virginia. Harriet worked wherever she was needed: nursing those suffering from disease, which was common in the hot climate; coordinating the distribution of charitable aid to the thousands of ex-slaves who lived behind union lines; and supervising the construction of a laundry house, where she taught women how to earn money by washing clothes for others.
Hunter delegated power to Tubman to assemble a group of scouts who would enter and survey the interior of the country.
This persuaded Union leaders of the value of guerrilla operations, which led to the infamous Combahee River Raid, in which Tubman served as scout and adviser to Colonel Montgomery, commander of the second South Carolina volunteers, one of the new black infantry regiments, during the American Civil War.
- In order to avoid rebel underwater explosives, Tubman escorted them to certain locations along the beach.
- Others seized thousands of dollars’ worth of crops and animals, destroying whatever that was left behind as they did so.
- As soon as everyone had boarded the steamers, they began their journey back up the river, transporting the 756 freshly freed slaves to Port Royal.
- Using the exact people the Confederates wished to keep subdued and enslaved, this well-coordinated invasion had dealt a devastating blow to the Confederates’ cause.
- She received such low salary that she was forced to sustain herself by selling handmade pies, ginger bread, and root beer, and she received no remuneration at all for more than three decades.
- A renowned icon of the anti-slavery movement today, she was the subject of two biographies (written in 1869 and 1866) with the revenues going entirely to assist her pay her debts to the institution of slavery.
- As a result of her lectures in favour of women’s suffrage, she was invited to be the keynote speaker at the first conference of the National Association of Colored Women, which took place in 1896.
- (When she was a conductor, she had returned to save John Tubman, but he had remarried by the time she returned.) Tubman and Davis became the parents of a newborn girl named Gertie, whom they adopted as a couple.
She died of pneumonia on March 10, 1913, in the presence of her family and close friends. Her dying words, spoken as a fervent Christian till the end, were, “I am going to prepare a place for you.”
- Sophie Beale, a journalist, looks into. The first bullets of the American Civil War were fired on April 12, 1861, in the state of Tennessee. With many abolitionist fans by this time, Massachusetts governor John Andrew supported Tubman’s journey to Port Royal, South Carolina, which had recently been liberated from the Confederates by Union forces. When war broke out, she first enlisted as a volunteer with Union forces stationed at Fort Munroe, Virginia. Her work took her everywhere, including nursing those suffering from disease, which was common in the hot climate
- Coordinating the distribution of charitable aid to the thousands of former slaves who lived behind union lines
- And supervising the construction of a laundry house, where she trained women to earn money by washing clothes. Because of her unusual position of trust with both former slaves and Union authority, Tubman was able to assist one General Hunter, who commanded troops in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina (the military Department of the South) in recruiting the first black battalions. Using his power, Hunter assigned Tubman the task of assembling a team of scouts to enter and survey the interior of the country. In March 1863, she delivered the information she had obtained from these spies to General Rufus Saxton, who used it to conquer the Florida city of Jacksonville. After this, the Union leadership realized the value of guerrilla operations, which resulted in the infamous Combahee River Raid, during which Tubman served as scout and adviser to Colonel Montgomery, commander of the second South Carolina volunteers, one of the new black infantry battalions. After dark on the 1st of June at the Combahee River, she led three steamers carrying 300 black men gently up the river as the clock approached midnight. Using underwater mines as a guide, Tubman led them to certain locations along the beach. Later, soldiers invaded plantations to flush out any remaining Confederate gunmen and warn the slaves of their pending arrival. Others grabbed crops and livestock worth thousands of dollars, destroying whatever that was left behind. When the whistles blew, the slaves dashed towards the tugboats that had been dispatched to meet them in the harbor. In order to transport the 756 freshly freed slaves to Port Royal, the steamers returned up the river after loading everyone on board. Critics could no longer make the claim that African-Americans were unsuitable for combat after the Combahee River Raid. Using the exact people the Confederates wished to keep subjugated and enslaved, this well-organized invasion dealt a devastating blow to their cause. In exchange for his three years of devoted labor, however, Tubman received nothing. She received such low salary that she was forced to sustain herself by selling handmade pies, gingerbread, and root beer, and she received no remuneration at all for more than three decades. Even though Tubman endured years of adversity, which was exacerbated in 1873 when two con artists defrauded her of $2,000, she did not fade into insignificance. A renowned icon of the anti-slavery movement today, she was the subject of two biographies (published in 1869 and 1866) with the revenues going entirely to assist her pay her debts to the slaveholding community. Tupac Shakur continued to fight for people throughout her life, despite financial difficulties. As a result of her talks in favour of women’s suffrage, she was invited to be the main speaker at the National Association of Colored Women’s inaugural conference in 1896. Her Auburn house became a shelter for orphans, the elderly, and freed slaves in need of assistance, which is how she met her second husband, a Civil War soldier named Nelson Davis, who would become her second spouse as well. (When she was a conductor, she had returned to save John Tubman, but he had remarried by the time she returned to save him.) Tuberculosis and tuberculosis are two conditions for adopting a child. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images) Harriet Tubman (far left), Gertie (her adoptive daughter), and Nelson Davis (her second husband) with elderly boarders and family friends ) Following Tubman’s generosity, her land was purchased in 1908, just a few years before she herself became a patient at the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged. She died of pneumonia on March 10, 1913, in the presence of her family and friends in her home. Her final words, as a fervent Christian until the end, were, “I am going to prepare a place for you.”
If her deeds and accomplishments aren’t enough of a testament, these final remarks eloquently depict a lady who has dedicated her life to others while seeking no recognition or glory for herself. A lady who rose to prominence in the United States while remaining anonymous. A lady who was able to escape the misery of being a slave and went on to assist others in doing the same has been honored. “Most of what I have done and suffered in the service of our cause has been done and suffered in public, and I have received much encouragement at every step of the way,” Frederick Douglass, Tubman’s friend and revered abolitionist, wrote to Tubman about her time as a conductor on the Underground Railroad.
“I have worked throughout the day; you have worked during the night.”
Jonny Wilkes is a freelance writer specialising in history
This article was first published in History Revealed in January 2017 and has since been updated.