About Miss Tubman

Happy Black History Month ❤

Harriet Tubman (c. 1823-March 10, 1913) 

was born Araminta Harriet Ross in Dorchester County, Maryland. "Physical violence was a part of daily life for Tubman and her family. The violence she suffered early in life caused permanent physical injuries. Harriet later recounted a particular day when she was lashed five times before breakfast. She carried the scars for the rest of her life...By the time Harriet reached adulthood, around half of the African-American people on the eastern shore of Maryland were free...Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery in 1849, fleeing to Philadelphia. Tubman decided to escape following a bout of illness and the death of her owner in 1849. Tubman feared that her family would be further severed, and feared for own her fate as a sickly slave of low economic value...Tubman made use of the network known as the Underground Railroad to travel nearly 90 miles to Philadelphia. She crossed into the free state of Pennsylvania with a feeling of relief and awe, and recalled later: 'When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold through the trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven'... Over time, she was able to guide her parents, several siblings, and about 60 others to freedom...The dynamics of escaping slavery changed in 1850, with the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law. This law stated that escaped slaves could be captured in the North and returned to slavery...In response to the law, Tubman re-routed the Underground Railroad to Canada, which prohibited slavery... In December 1851, Tubman guided a group of 11 fugitives northward...Harriet Tubman remained active during the Civil War. Working for the Union Army as a cook and nurse, Tubman quickly became an armed scout and spy. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, she guided the Combahee River Raid, which liberated more than 700 slaves in South Carolina...Harriet Tubman died of pneumonia in 1913." (Biography.com)