HARRIET TUBMAN
G'day folks,
I've often posted information on some amazing women who were ahead of their time. Here is another.
Harriet Tubman
(1822–1913) was an escaped slave who became a leading figure in the
abolitionist movement. Harriet Tubman also served as a spy for the US army
during the civil war and was an active participant in the struggle for women’s
suffrage.
Tubman was
born Araminta Ross, to slave parents who lived on plantations in Maryland.
Little is known about her family background and ancestry, but her maternal
grandmother came to the US on a slave ship from Africa (possibly from
modern-day Ghana).
Her parents
Rit and Ben Ross had nine children together, but three of Harriet’s sisters
were sold at an early age by their owners and she never saw them again.
Even as a young child Harriet was responsible
for looking after her younger siblings because her mother was too busy working
as a cook. Harriet was also hired as a nursemaid to a “Miss Susan”. She was
frequently whipped by her overseers – leading to scars which would last all her
life. For periods of time, she was also sent out to work for a planter –
checking muskrat traps – and later farming tasks, such as ploughing and moving
logs.
On one
occasion, Tubman was hit in the head by a stone thrown by a slave owner. The
slave owner was aiming at another slave, but the stone hit Tubman in the back
of her head – cracking her skull and leading to lifelong headaches, epileptic
seizures and dreams or visions. Tubman later attributed her bushy unkempt hair
for reducing the impact of the stone and saving her life.
Around 1844,
Harriet married John Tubman. Around this time, she adopted her mother’s maiden
name, Harriet, in place of her childhood name Araminta.
In 1849, Tubman’s
slave owner, Edward Brodress, died. This raised the likelihood Tubman would be
sold, and the family split up. With her two brothers, Ben and Henry, she
decided to escape from the large plantation in Caroline County where they lived
and worked. The escape was successful, but after a few weeks, her brothers had
misgivings because they wanted to return to their children; Tubman was forced
to return with them.
However, soon after, Tubman escaped for the second
time. With the help of the Underground Railroad, she took a 90-mile route
northeast along the Choptank River towards Pennsylvania. The journey on foot
could have taken a couple of weeks, with great care being needed to avoid slave
catchers, who could gain a bounty for catching any escaped slaves. After
reaching Pennsylvania, she expressed her tremendous joy.
In Philadelphia, Tubman took on odd jobs to earn some
money, but she wanted to return to Maryland to rescue the rest of her family.
A significant element of Tubman’s life was her
strong religious faith. From her childhood, she had learnt aural biblical
stories, and although she couldn’t read, she felt a strong faith in the
presence and guidance of God. She related receiving intense visions and clear
messages coming from God, and on the dangerous missions, she trusted in the
direction and protection of God to succeed in her mission.
In 1858, she
met the radical abolitionist John Brown, who advocated violence to promote the
ending of slavery. Although Tubman never promoted violence herself, she was
sympathetic to the aims of John Brown and assisted him in finding willing
volunteers. Brown’s raid on Harper Ferry, Virginia failed and he was executed,
but Tubman praised his courage in death for trying to fight the institution of
slavery.
At the outbreak of the civil war, Tubman saw a
Union victory as a way to advance the cause of abolition. She served as a nurse
in Port Royal, treating soldiers suffering dysentery and small pox.
In 1863, Abraham
Lincoln issued the Emancipation
Proclamation, and Tubman became more involved in the efforts of the
northern forces. She offered her services as a guide for scouting trips in
South Carolina – using her skills to travel undetected. She also became the
first woman to lead an armed assault during the Civil War, when she guided
three steamboats to an assault on plantations on the Combahee River. The raid
was a great success with around 750 slaves escaping onto steamboats; later,
encouraged by Tubman, many of the liberated men went on to join the Union army
– forming the first all-black corps. For her courageous efforts, she received
favourable press coverage, though as a black woman she received no regular pay
or pension (until 1899). During the war, she had to supplement her income by
selling pies and root beer.
After the
civil war, Tubman returned to Auburn where she continued to look after her
family and other ex-slaves. She also remarried (Nelson Davis, 20 years her
junior). They adopted a child Gertie.
Denied a pension, her financial situation was poor,
but friends in the abolitionist movement helped raise funds. An
authorised biography Scenes in
the Life of Harriet Tubman was written by Sarah Hopkins
Bradford. Over the next few years, Tubman often gave speeches on both slavery
and women’s rights. She was an excellent storyteller who could capture the
imagination of the audience.
Tubman also
began supporting the women’s suffrage movement, supporting the work of Susan
B. Anthony and others. Tubman spoke of her experiences and suffering
in the war and railroad movement as proof that women were the equal of men.
This brought her wider national recognition.
She donated
her property to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Auburn to be
converted into a home for aged and coloured people.
After becoming
increasingly frail, in 1913, she died of pneumonia, surrounded by friends and
family.
Clancy's comment: Wow. I admire her brilliant quotes. Love ya work, Harriet.
I'm ...
