Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman was born a slave on a plantation in Maryland. Historians think she was born in 1820, or possibly 1821, but birth records weren't kept by most slave owners. Her birth name was Araminta Ross, but she took the name of her mother, Harriet, when she was thirteen.
Life as a Slave
Life as a slave was difficult. Harriet first lived in a one-room cabin with her family that included eleven children. When she was only six years old, she was loaned out to another family where she helped take care of a baby. She was sometimes beaten and all she got to eat was table scraps.
Later Harriet worked a number of jobs on the plantation such as plowing fields and loading produce into wagons. She became strong doing manual labor that included hauling logs and driving oxen.
At the age of thirteen Harriet received a horrible head injury. It happened when she was visiting the town. A slave owner tried to throw an iron weight at one of his slaves, but hit Harriet instead. The injury nearly killed her and caused her to have dizzy spells and blackouts for the rest of her life.
Harriet Escapes
In 1849 Harriet decided to escape. She would use the Underground Railroad. After a long and scary trip she made it to Pennsylvania and was finally free.
Fun Facts:
- Her nickname as a child was "Minty".
- She was a very religious woman having learned about the Bible from her mother.
- Harriet bought a house in Auburn, New York for her parents after helping them to escape from the south.
- Harriet married John Tubman in 1844. He was a free black man. She married again in 1869 to Nelson Davis.
- She was so successful in helping slaves to escape that, at one point, slave owners offered a reward of $40,000 for her capture.
No comments:
Post a Comment