The Life of Harriet Tubman

Essay by gaara.kisameMiddle School, 6th gradeA-, December 2007

download word file, 4 pages 4.6 3 reviews

Harriet Tubman’s life was a monument to courage & determination that continues to stand out in American history. Born into slavery in Maryland, Harriet Tubman freed herself, & played a major role in freeing the remaining millions. After the civil war, she joined her family in Auburn, N.Y. where she founded the Harriet Tubman Home.

Harriet Ross was born into slavery in 1819 or 1820, Dorchester County Maryland. Given the name of her two parents, both held in slavery,she was a purely African ancestry. She was raised under harsh conditions & subjected to whipping even as a small child! At the age of 12 she was seriously injured by a blow to the head inflicted by a white overseer for refusing to assist in tying up a man who attempted escape. At the of 25 she married John Tubman, a free African American. Five years later, fearing she would be sold south, she made her escape to Canada.

Tubman was given a piece of paper by a white neighbor with two names, & told her how to find the first house on her path to freedom. At the first house she was put into a wagon covered with a sack, & driven to her next destination. Following the route to Pennsylvania, she initially settled in Philadelphia, where she met William Still, the Philadelphia station asters in the Underground Railroad. With the assistance of Still, & other members of the Philadelphia anti - slavery society, she learned about the wonders of the UGRR.

In 1851 she began relocating members of her family to St. Catherines (Ontorio) Canada west. North street St. Catherines remains her base of operations until 1851. While there she worked on various activities to save to finance her activities as a conductor in the UGRR attended...