During her life, Harriet Tubman only received one major head injury when a large rock knocked her on the head whilst shielding another slave. During her recovery, Tubman saw visions and heard voices warning her about danger and encouraging her to escape to freedom. Therefore in 1849, Harriet Tubman escaped to Pennsylvania alone and unaided.
After succeeding to escape to freedom, Tubman worked as a cook and a laundress to earn enough money to stage her first rescue which was her sister and her 2 children. They met in Baltimore and were led to freedom in the North. By 1857, she managed to free her entire family. However the Fugitive Slave Law made in 1850 made freedom precarious because this law made it easier for slave owners to hunt down escapees and return them to the South. Therefore Tubman was forced to begin leading slaves to Canada.
After freeing her own family, Tubman reached out to any slave who wanted to be free. Her goal brought her into contact with other abolitionists such as John Brown and William Still, who later helped her organize and run the “Underground Railroad”
The “Underground Railroad” referred to the network of safe houses that allowed the illegal transportation of escaped slaves. Tubman was a “conductor” on that railroad who guided slaves to freedom. She used music and religious scriptures as a kind of code to alert slaves of her presence or danger.
In 1858, Harriet Tubman collaborated with John Brown at his raid on Harpers Ferry. She gave him advice about the Underground Railroad in the East and promised to deliver aid. However, she was not present for the raid because she was ill.
The civil war in 1860’s did not end Tubman’s resistance to slavery so she served as a nurse for 3 years. After the war, Tubman returned to Auburn, New York and continued to help blacks forge new lives in freedom. She made money by selling her copies of her autobiography and by giving speeches.
Harriet Tubman has freed over 300 slaves via the Underground Railroad and has never lost a fugitive or allowed one to turn back. For her undying faith and courage, she was nicknamed the “Black Moses”.
