Harriet Tubman was born in Maryland in 1819 and was originally named Araminta Ross. She changed her name to Harriet in honor of her mother, Harriet Green, who worked as a cook, and her father, Benjamin Ross, who was a logger. Tubman had eight siblings who were all separated during slavery. At the age of five, Tubman was hired out as a house servant and was responsible for rocking the cradle while the baby slept. When the baby woke up and cried, Tubman was beaten and whipped, which left her emotionally and physically scarred. By age seven, she was sent to work in the fields to help with plantation work.
At the age of twelve, a significant event occurred that had a lasting impact on her life. Tubman was running errands when she encountered a runaway slave. The men demanded her assistance in restraining him, but she refused. In their frustration, the men attempted to throw a two-pound weight at the fugitive, but it missed and struck Tubman in the head instead. Unfortunately, there was no treatment available for slaves who were injured, so Tubman was sent back to the house with the untreated injury. This injury resulted in her suffering from narcolepsy, which caused sudden muscle weakness and paralysis, for the rest of her life. As a result, she became less desirable to potential slave buyers due to her impairment.
Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery was motivated by a head injury she sustained. Growing up, she was exposed to bible stories by her mother, which influenced her deeply. Following the injury, Tubman started experiencing powerful visions that she believed were messages from God, urging her to help free the slaves by following His teachings. Despite being married to John Tubman, a free African American, he did not support her aspirations. Harriet desired to move to the North and attain freedom, but John was fearful of starvation and getting lost on the journey. He even threatened to inform their master if she attempted to escape. Determined to pursue her dreams, Harriet Tubman left her husband behind and embarked on her journey to freedom.
In 1849, Harriet Tubman, along with her brothers Ben and Henry, successfully made their way to the North through Delaware and Pennsylvania with the help of the Underground Railroad. After settling in Philadelphia, Tubman felt restless and incomplete, prompting her to return to Maryland to rescue other slaves. Over the course of ten years, she made 19 trips into the South and rescued over 300 slaves. Despite her lack of formal education, Tubman’s unwavering faith and determination fueled her dream for freedom, making her one of the most well-known conductors of the Underground Railroad. She proudly boasted to Frederick Douglass that she had never lost a single passenger on her journeys.
Photo Credit: Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center
