Introduction
The name Harriet Tubman often springs up when discussing the history of the United States in the 19th Century. She was a humanitarian and abolitionist of the African-American nature. She was born around 1822 and died in March 10, 1913. Important to note is the fact that she was born a slave. Despite this fact, through her skills and desire, Tubman managed to escape slavery by finding freedom in the North. After the escape, Tubman devoted herself to help other slaves to escape the slavery they were subjected to (Clinton, 2004). Essentially, through the underground railway, she succeeded to help other slaves to escape.
Tubman grew up in Dorchester County in Maryland, where she was severely beaten and mistreated by her slave masters. It was during such slavery that she incurred a severe wound in her head after she was hit by a metal. As a result of the injuries caused by the wound, she often experienced many problems that included epileptic-type seizures and some powerful dreams that were visionary. Tubman, being a staunch Christian, attributed such dreams and visions as being revelations that were sent to her from God. After escaping from Philadelphia in 1849, Tubman returned to Maryland with the mission of saving and rescuing her family. Through her expertise, Tubman managed to help her family and other slaves escape from slavery and managed to attaining freedom for them at last. This prompted many of the slaves that she freed to equate her to Moses because she managed to guide all the slaves to freedom without losing a single of them Despite all her efforts, she was not rewarded for guiding the slaves because nobody knew of her.
The slavery that was carried out in the United States of America in the 19th Century saw slaves being held contrary to their wish. Most slaves that were bought were deprived of their basic rights such as the right to freedom or the right to be compensated. Slave acquisition was done through various mechanisms (Weatherford et al. 2006). For instance, slaves could be bought by one master from another. However, other people could be born slaves, Tubman’s case being the perfect example to this.
Despite all the challenges that the slaves faced in the 19th century in America, Tubman’s life explains some of the efforts the slaves employed in order to buy their freedom. One common mechanism that the slaves employed was through escaping the fields where they were subjected to harsh and unbearable conditions. Tubman’s life is very significant to the modern study of American history in the 19th century. In essence, one gets to understand how the slaves were treated in the time. Important to note is the fact that the slaveholders were seen as very important and they were dominant in the time. The slaves, on the other hand, were seen as being powerless in the society whereby the white people were considered superior while the blacks were seen as being inferior. Most of the slaves during this time were black and as such, they were greatly discriminated upon. They were denied the basic essentials to life and were only considered to be useful in the production fields. Their attempts to gain freedom were thwarted by the masters who were determined to hold onto them for the cheap labor they provided. Despite the fact that women were not considered important during this time, Tubman rose beyond the expectations to lead the slaves into freedom via the underground railway. Through her skills, Tubman managed to portray that even women and black people were capable of doing anything that the men could do. The unnecessary discriminations in the United States of America during the time, therefore, were irrelevant and baseless.
In conclusion, despite being considered insignificant at the beginning, Tubman managed to mobilize a number of slaves to rebel slavery by running away. The effect of this is that the works that they were supposed to perform freely were paralyzed. Her skills and courage acted as a motivation to other slaves who also joined in order to ensure they successfully escaped. Through studying her life, it becomes easy to understand what slavery in America was like in the 19th century.
References
Clinton, C. (2004). Harriet Tubman: The road to freedom. Boston, Mass: Little, Brown.
Weatherford, C. B., & Nelson, K. (2006). Moses: When Harriet Tubman led her people to freedom. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.
