Harriet Tubman

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Harriet Tubman

• The Moses of Her People

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Her Life as a Slave

• Born as Araminta Ross (1819 or 1820) in
  Dorchester County, Maryland.
• Mothers name Harriet Greene
• Fathers name Ben Ross
• At age 12, she received a blow to the forehead
  with an iron weight that nearly killed her.
• She looked at this scare as a reminder of the
  harsh conditions of slavery.

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Escape to Freedom

• Her owner lent her out to work on other
  plantations for a wage.
• In 1844, she met and married a free African
  American, John Tubman, while working at the other
  plantations.
• A slave being able to marry a free man was
  virtually unheard of at this time.
• Once married, all Harriet could think about was
  freedom.

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Conductor of the Underground Railroad

• After her successful escape, Harriet worked in
  Philadelphia to raise money to help others
  escape.
• In order to become a conductor, Harriet had to
  take an oath of silence to be allowed to learn
  the routes.
• 1850 Harriet helped her first slaves escape.
• 1857 She rescued her elderly parents.
• Harriet was a conductor for 10 years, rescuing
  several slaves, with more than 13 trips back into
  the South.
• Harriet NEVER lost a passenger.

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The Civil War

• 1861 Civil War breaks out.
• Abolishment of Slavery was a major issue.
• Harriet joins the Union Army as a nurse and a
  scout.
• She put together a group of spies, who kept
  officers informed about slaves that might want to
  join the Union Army.

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Settling in Auburn, NY

• 1850s Harriet met U.S. Senator William H.
  Seward (NY).
• 1857 Sen. Seward provided a home for Harriet
  Tubman.
• 1869 Harriet met, and married, Nelson Davis.
  She had learned earlier that John Tubman had
  re-married.
• 1873 Harriet purchased a home in an auction.
• 1908 Harriet purchased property adjoining her
  home and built another home, which became the
  Home for the Aged.

Home for the Aged
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Her Legacy

• 1914 Booker T. Washington delivers dedication
  to Harriet Tubman Plaque at the Cayuga County
  Court House.
• 1953 The Harriet Tubman Home opens.
• 1990 March 10th is proclaimed Harriet Tubman
  Day by President George H.W. Bush.
• 1995 The U.S. Government issued a commemorative
  postage stamp bearing Harriets name and
  likeness.
• 1998 First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton,
  visited the Tubman Home as part of the Save
  Americas Treasures Tour.

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Activity

• List the feelings that the enslaved Africans may
  have experienced when reading the following
  passage from the Declaration of Independence

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Declaration of IndependenceJuly 4, 1776

• We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
  men are created equal, that they are endowed by
  their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
  that among these are Life, Liberty, and the
  pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these
  rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
  deriving their just powers from the consent of
  the governed. -That whenever any Form of
  Government becomes destructive of these ends, it
  is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish
  it, and to institute new Government, laying its
  foundation on such principals and organizing its
  powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
  likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

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Sources

• Larson, K.C. (2004). Bound For the Promised
  Land. New York Ballatine Books.
• http//www.harriettubman.com/index.html
• http//www.kyrene.org/schools/brisas/sunda/bhistor
  y/tubman/
• stamp_tubman.jpg
• http//www.math.buffalo.edu/sww/0history/hwny-tub
  man.html
• http//shake-em-up.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/ima
  ges/
• tubman.51115509_std.jpg