Before Harriet Tubman, many attempts by slaves to escape ended in execution and cruel punishment. Without the great leadership of Tubman, slaves were unwise in their decisions on how to execute a plan for escaping. However, all of this changed once the Underground Railroad came into play. This was a system for sneaking slaves out of the South and into the free north. The leaders of these escapes were known as conductors of the railroad. The most famous conductor was Harriet Tubman. With many amazing feats, Tubman established herself as one of America's greatest heroes of the time.
Tubman was born into a terrible situation. Her parents we slaves so she was doomed to slave labor from birth. By the time she was five years old she was already working as a slave. She didn't like to work indoors and she was often beaten by her masters. But through all of this she was able to survive the horror of slavery and turned out to be one of the bravest people in the world.
Harriet Tubman, full-length portrait, seated in ch...
A woodcut image of Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman, an African American abolitionist a...Harriet Tubman was born into the worst situation imaginable. Her parents were slaves so her future was set. She was going to live and die a slave in the south. Harriet Ross was born in Dorchester County, Maryland in 1820. Her parents were from the Ashanti tribe of West Africa, and together they all worked on the Brodas plantation.
Tubman was put to work by the age of five, and she was routinely beaten by her masters.
She was a hard worker, defiant and rebellious. When she was fifteen, she was caught trying to help a runaway slave. The overseer hit her in the head with a lead weight.
Tubman fell into a coma, which took months for her to recover from. As a result of...