Harriet Tubman.

Essay by rizzo788Junior High, 7th grade June 2003

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Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was born a slave in Dorchester County, Maryland in 1820. She and her parents worked as slaves at the Brodas plantation. Harriet was hired out as a laborer by the age of five.

She was routinely beaten by her masters. When she was fifteen years old, Harriet tried to help a runaway slave. Someone oversaw her and hit her in the head with a lead weight, which put her into a coma. It took months for her to recover and for the rest of her life, she suffered from blackouts.

In 1844, Harriet married a free black man named John Tubman. Harriet remained a slave, but was allowed to stay in Tubman's cabin. In 1849, the owner of the Brodas plantation died and many of the slaves were scheduled to be sold. Harriet planned to escape that very night. She knew her husband would not be able to keep it a secret so the only person that she informed was her sister.

Harriet made a 90 mile trip along the Underground Railroad to the Mason-Dixon line. She had to hike through swamps and woodland. Her trip was successful and she settled in Philadelphia. The next year, she traveled back to Maryland and rescued her sister's family. Then she transported her brothers to the North. She also went back for her husband, but he had remarried. In 1857, Harriet finally returned for her parents and settled them in Auburn, New York.

Harriet became very well known and rewards were offered for her capture. She was often compared to Moses who led the Israelites of the Bible to freedom. Harriet made 19 trips in total on the Underground Railroad and freed more than 300 slaves.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Harriet supported the war effort as...