"Harriet Tubman" (1820 - March 10, 1913), also known as ''Black Moses'', was an African-American abolitionist and resistance movement leader best known for her participation in the Underground Railroad, in particular her dangerous pre-American Civil War expeditions into slave holding states which brought hundreds of slaves to freedom without fail.She is regarded one of America's greatest heroes.

Early Life

She was born into slavery in Maryland. Born Araminta Ross, she later took the name Harriet after her mother. Around 1844 she married John Tubman, another slave.She endured years of inhumane treatment from her various owners, including an incident where an overseer hurled a two-pound weight in her direction, striking her in the head. As a result of the blow, she suffered intermittent bouts of narcolepsy the rest of her life.

Escape and Abolitionist Career

On hearing that the slaves of the plantation were to be sold, she took her emancipation into her own hands, and escaped northward, leaving behind her husband.On her way she was assisted by sympathetic Quakers, members of the Abolitionist movement who were instrumental in maintaining the Underground Railroad. She herself was later to become famous as "Moses", one of the most successful guides of the Underground Railroad; she made many trips South to help other slaves escape. She was never captured and, in her own words, "never lost a passenger" despite the combined bounty for her which totalled $40,000.During the American Civil War, in addition to working as a cook and a nurse, she served as a spy for the North, and again was never captured.

Methods

The reason for her success in her adventures was partly due to her cunning, daring and ruthlessness in following well developed plans for her expeditions.For instance, when Tubman scouted an area, she sometimes took the precaution of carrying two chickens with her.Whenever she felt that the people in the area were getting suspicious of her, she would release the chickens and chase them to recapture them.This would amuse the whites who would assume the ineffectual chicken chaser could not be the cunning slave stealer.One time at a train station, she found that slave-catchers were watching the trains heading north in hopes of capturing her and her charges.Without hesitation, she had her group board a southbound train, successfully gambling that the retreat into enemy territory would never be anticipated by her pursuers and later resumed her planned route at a safer location.In addition, she had a strict policy that while she would respect a slave foregoing the risk of accompanying her to freedom when offered; anyone who joined her and then wanted to go back en route would be shot dead to prevent the dissenter from betraying the group.

Post American Civil War Life

Harriet Tubman continued as an activist for African-American and women's rights. With Sarah Bradford acting as her biographer and transcribing her stories, she was able to have the story of her life published in 1869 as ''Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman''.This was of considerable help to her sad financial state - she was not awarded a government pension for her military service until some 30 years after the fact.That same year she married Nelson Davis, another Civil War veteran.

Eventually, she settled in the home for needy blacks that she herself had helped to found in Auburn, New York. It is not clear if it was built on the land in upstate New York sold to her by "William E. Seward". Note that this abolitionist supporter is not the famous William H. Seward, former secretary of state of the United States of America. She died there at the age of 93. She told stories of her adventures until the end of her days.

John Brown was to refer to her as "General Tubman" and called her "one of the bravest persons on this continent." Frederick Douglass said of her,

"Excepting John Brown... I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people."

''See also:'' List of African-American abolitionists, Slave narrative

External link

* Full text of Harriet, The Moses of Her People, from Project Gutenberg

*Harriet Tubman timeline

*''Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman'' fulltext

---

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html for details. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Harriet Tubman.

---

 Harriet Tubman in the News
1. Kids' Reading Room - - The Los Angeles Times
Join now * * * * * * * Sections > Editions Extras > Archives Enter Keyword s * * * > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Partners Sunday September 26 2004 SHORT STORY By Marilyn Gould Madison sat in her bedroom and sulked I don t have anyone

2. New State Laws Going Into Effect in 2004 - 01 Jan 04 - ABC News
New laws taking effect in states around the country address issues such as protections against identity theft, new car insurance rules in place, the Roman Catholic sex ...

3. Silicon Insider: Washington as Weenie - 15 Oct 03 - ABC News
- It's always a fool's errand to pick out the single most egregious, insulting and depressing commercial on television these days. But lately, one new commercial ...

---

 Harriet Tubman on the Web
1. The Life of harriet tubman - New York History Net
Portrait by Pious, The Life of harriet tubman. harriet tubman's life was a ... harriet tubman's Life in Slavery. harriet Ross was born into ...
http://www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm Google, Yahoo Sites, MSN, Alltheweb, Yahoo

2. harriet tubman
Meet Amazing Americans, Activists & Reformers harriet tubman. ... harriet tubman. Freeing the Slaves "tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad". ...
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/tubman Google, Alltheweb, MSN, Yahoo Sites, Yahoo

3. Spectrum: harriet tubman
about the life of the Underground Railroad conductor.
http://www.incwell.com/Biographies/tubman.html Yahoo, MSN, Alltheweb, Google

4. SCORE: harriet tubman--Teacher Guide
... This supplemental unit to "harriet tubman: Guide to Freedom" was developed as part of the Schools of ... 8th grade students who read "harriet tubman: Guide to Freedom," an excerpt ...
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/tub/tubtg.htm Alltheweb, MSN, Google, Yahoo

5. harriet tubman Biography Page
In 1908, she established a home in Auburn for elderly and indigent blacks that later became known as the harriet tubman Home. ...
http://www.civilwarhome.com/tubmanbio.htm Google, MSN, Alltheweb, Yahoo

6. Spartacus: harriet tubman
offers a biography plus excerpts from her autobiography, letters about her, and an 1868 letter Frederick Douglass wrote to her.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAStubman.htm Yahoo Sites, Alltheweb, Google, Yahoo

7. harriet tubman
... harriet tubman.COM. " Home ... The harriet tubman Historical Society, March 10, 1990-2004, THE RESURRECTION OF harriet tubman ...
http://www.harriettubman.com/ Alltheweb, MSN, Google, Yahoo

8. tubman Family Alliance - Home Page
What to do if someone you know is being abused For teens only Resources and information for teens Our programs Details on tubman's programs for men, women, and ...
http://www.harriettubman.org/ Google, MSN, Alltheweb, Yahoo

9. harriet tubman timeline
African American History of Western New York ... Araminta Ross [harriet tubman] was born into slavery in 1819 or 1820, in Dorchester County, Maryland ... city that day unveiled the harriet tubman Plaque, which remains on display at ...
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/0history/hwny-tubman.html Alltheweb, MSN, Yahoo

10. Who2: harriet tubman
brief profile of the anti-slavery crusader and several related links.
http://www.who2.com/harriettubman.html Yahoo Sites, Yahoo, Alltheweb

11. harriet tubman Home - New York History Net
harriet tubman Home on New York History Net. ... The harriet tubman Home preserves the legacy of "The Moses of Her People" in the place where she ... two of which were used by harriet tubman. Click here to learn ...
http://www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman MSN, Alltheweb, Yahoo

12. Jennie's Story Page: harriet tubman
child's story and illustrations.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/6365/jennie.htm Yahoo, MSN, Alltheweb

13. harriet tubman
Activities. 1. Stage a re-enactment of harriet tubman leading the slaves out of the South. Arrange desks ...
http://www.nwhp.org/tlp/biographies/tubman/tubman_bio.html Google, Yahoo, Alltheweb

14. harriett tubman biography
She founded the harriet tubman Home for indigent aged blacks and lobbied for educational opportunities for freedmen. ...
http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/tubm-har.htm Google, Yahoo, Alltheweb

15. harriet tubman and the Underground Railroad for Children
written by second graders and their teachers, with a timeline, quiz, pictures, and crossword puzzles.
http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/tubman/tubman.html Yahoo, MSN, Alltheweb

16. Africans in America: harriet tubman
biographical profile and images from the PBS series.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1535.html Yahoo, Google, MSN

17. Gale - Free Resources - Black History Month - Biographies - harriet tubman
Quick Title Search. Activities. Biographies. Featured Titles. Links. Literature. Quiz. Timeline. Poet's Corner. harriet (Ross) tubman. (1820-1913) Underground Railroad Conductor and Rights Activist ... Born in 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland, harriet tubman had the hard childhood of a slave: much work ... which was later renamed the harriet tubman Home. She died in Auburn ...
http://www.gale.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/tubman_h.htm Yahoo, Alltheweb, MSN

18. harriet tubman Printout - EnchantedLearning.com
... In 1844, harriet married John tubman, who was a free man ... the North - it was not an actual railroad. harriet tubman made 19 dangerous rescue trips over 10 years, rescuing ...
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/aframer/tubman Yahoo, Alltheweb, MSN

19. harriet tubman
Find links to sites about harriet tubman, the former slave who helped fugitives escape through the Underground Railroad. ... harriet tubman: The Woman Called "Moses" harriet tubman was a remarkable woman who cared more ...
http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/harriettubman Yahoo, Alltheweb

20. History Channel: harriet tubman
biography and related links.
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/blackhist/0210.html Yahoo Sites, Google