Gracie Grecco
4/11/14
6th period
Harriet Tubman's Great Achievements
Harriet Tubman was a hero that completed many brave and selfless acts. She was born in Maryland in 1822 and by the age of 5, she was already working. She got married in 1844, to a free black man, but she was still a slave. Finally, in 1849, her master died and she decided to escape. That is when her great achievements began. Her first great achievement was operating the Underground Railroad. Her journeys to grant other slaves were hundreds of miles long. She traveled from Maryland all the way up to St. Catherines, Canada on foot. She took them all the way to Canada to get them away from the danger of the Fugitive Slave Act which was an act that made Northerners turn in runaway slaves. Harriet was 28 when she made her first rescue and 38 when she made her last.
A woodcut image of Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman, an African American abolitionist a...
Tubman (far left), with Davis (seated, with cane),...All of the 23 fugitives were collected in Dorchester County, Maryland. To avoid capture, Harriet took trips at night in December, took slaves on Saturday nights (Sunday was a free day and they wouldn't be needed until Monday), and never met the fugitives at plantations. This was a great achievement because doing this was very long and had many dangers that were all avoided by Harriet even thought she had up to 11 people with her.
The next great achievement of Harriet was when she was a spy and rescued 800 slaves in one night. One year after the start of the Civil War, Harriet Tubman was asked by the government of Massachusetts to join the Union troops in South Carolina. She there lead a team of eight black spies to operate behind the enemy lines and provide information for a Union raid to free slaves.