When a person does a thing that can help many people, he or she is remembered even after he or she is dead. Many people like Harriet Tubman are always remembered for what they did when they were alive. To those who do not have a clue as to who Harriet Tubman was, she was a woman who faced many challenges from when she was a child to the point when she was an adult; however, she helped many people despite the challenges.
Araminta Ross was the name that Tubman was given just after she was born. She was among the eleven children of Harriet and Benjamin Ross. Her parents lived in a county called Dorchester, Maryland (Lantier 11). Tubman was hired to work as a household worker during her childhood. At a very young age, Tubman was “hired out” to nurse a very small baby. She had always been ordered to stay awake at night to make sure that the baby she was nursing did not cry. If Tubman fell asleep and the mother of the child happened to see her, she would be whipped. However, the master sent her (Tubman) back to work with other slaves because she thought she (Tubman) did not make her happy.
At the age of twelve, Tubman faced a lot of challenges while working for a white person. One day, she was injured by a white overseer when she refused to help him capture a slave who had attempted to run away. Because of that, the white overseer struck her head using a heavy weight leading to a very serious injury. The strike led to a fracture on her skull. As she was recovering, the white overseer tried selling her. The circumstances made her very sad, as she began thinking of the effects of slavery on her life. Despite the fact that she managed to recover, the rest of Tubman’s life was affected by headaches and sleepiness attacks.
During adulthood, when Tubman attained the age of 25, she fell in love with a free African-American called John Tubman. They late got married. In their marriage, it is believed that she did not give birth to any children (Lutz 19). If they had given birth, the children would have become enslaved because at that time, the status of the mother determined the status of the child. However, these two did not live together for quite a long time. Tubman realized that she, together with other slaves who spent most of their time on the plantation, were to be sold (Gmu.edu). That made her to escape Maryland without her husband, who refused to do so for he was a freeman. She was assisted by a white woman who was friendly to her
After fleeing slavery, Harriet Tubman made her way to Pennsylvania where she spent some time and later went to Philadelphia. While in Philadelphia, Tubman managed to find a job where she worked and saved some of her money (Cosson 26). The following year (1948), Tubman went back to Maryland where she managed to escort her blood sister and her children her sister had given birth.
She also risked her life when she made a second return to the South and rescued other two men and her blood brother. When she made a third return for the sake of rescuing her husband, she was shocked to find that her husband had now married a second wife. Undeterred, Tubman found that there were also other slaves who wanted to gain freedom and helped them make their way to the North.
The support that Harriet Tubman provided to many slaves resulted in the spread of her reputation. That reputation made those who were not happy with her to post rewards of a very large amount of money to be given to those who would succeed in capturing her (Barkan 383). On one day in the year of 1856, Tubman managed to hear some people reading a poster that indicated she was wanted. The poster also stated that Tubman was illiterate. She feigned reading a book that she would fool those individuals so that they would not see her. In the year of 1860, Tubman started canvassing the nation; she involved herself in the anti-slavery meeting and spoke on the right of the women.
During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman was very important to the Union of the United States. She served as a soldier, a spy, and a nurse. Above all, the army found her very critical when working as a scout. They found her valuable while working as a scout for she knew more about the terrain, especially after having been an Underground Railroad conductor. After the Civil War was over, Tubman went to settle in Auburn, New York, where she was to spend her life. While there, Tubman continued to fight for the rights of women. She also managed to build a home for the sick, the aged and the homeless African- American people (Barkan 383). She lived at that home until her death in 1913.
In Conclusion, Harriet Tubman will always be remembered in the history of the United States. The challenges she faced during her childhood and adulthood did not make her lose hope. She worked hard and with braveness to ensure that many people gained freedom. She can also not be forgotten for her assistance in the Union of the United States during the Civil War. As one of the black women who fought slavery, Harriet Tubman’s name will forever remain etched in the minds of Americans.
Works Cited
Barkan, Elliott R. Making It in America: A Sourcebook on Eminent Ethnic Americans. Santa Barbara, Calif. [u.a.: ABC-Clio, 2001. Print.
Cosson, M J. Harriet Tubman. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub. Co, 2008. Print.
Gmu.edu, "Declaration Of Independence Of The Democratic Republic Of Vietnam." Historymatters.gmu.edu. N.p., 2016. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
Lantier, Patricia. Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad. New York: Crabtree Publishing Co, 2010. Print.
Lutz, Norma J. Harriet Tubman: Leader of the Underground Railroad. New York: Facts On File, 2001. Internet resource.
