She traveled under the midnight sky, using the North Star as her compass. For days, she trudged through 90 miles of backwater swamps and woodlands on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It was the summer of 1849 and Harriet Tubman, born a slave on a Dorchester County plantation, was 30 years old and alone on the path to freedom. The morning she passed over into the free state of Pennsylvania, she said, "The sun came up like gold over the trees and fields. And I felt like I was in heaven." Two years later, she made the first of 19 trips back to the Eastern Shore to guide over 300 slaves through the heart of the Chesapeake Bay watershed…the path to freedom.
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All text and images courtesy of Watershed
Radio. More information can be found on their website.
Harriet Tubman
She was called the Moses of her people. Harriet Tubman, born a slave
in Maryland in the early 1800s, was a true fighter for the freedom
of slaves. She braved countless hardships to lead others to freedom
in northern states. Originally named Araminta, she changed her
name to Harriet after her mother, Harriet Greene. Her father's name
was Benjamin Ross and the family lived on a plantation in Dorchester
County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Harriet was put to work at the age of five. Initially she worked
indoors, but because of her rebellious and defiant nature, she was
soon sent to the field. While still a teenager, she was trying to
prevent the overseer from beating a fellow slave, when she herself
was injured by a heavy weight that the overseer had thrown. She
sank into unconsciousness and went into a coma for several months.
After that, she was prone to sudden blackouts for the rest of her
life.
As Harriet grew older, she became increasingly discontented with
the cruel and harsh treatment meted out to her and other slaves.
Also, the master had died, and she was worried that she might get
sold and sent south where life was known to be even harsher, so
she decided to escape. In 1849, she secretly fled, telling no one
of her plans, not even her husband, John Tubman — a free black
man, fearing that even he might turn her in.
Upon attaining her freedom, Harriet returned two years later and
guided family members to freedom. By this time, she had become involved
with the Underground Railroad, and to this day she is known as one
of its most famous conductors.
As the Civil War waxed, Harriet helped the North's effort by working
as a nurse, a cook, and even a spy for the Union. She worked tirelessly
to help others less fortunate, and in her later years, worked to
establish a home for the elderly. She died peacefully at her home
in Auburn, NY in 1913.
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