Harriet Tubman's Life Story - Coursework Example

HARRIET TUBMAN Harriet Tubman (Lewis) Harriet Tubman is renowned as one of the most famous African Americans in history. Her reputation emanates not only from her daring to escape from slavery (McDonough 1), but also from bravely leading other slaves to liberty several times – an achievement that earned her the nickname ‘Moses’ because, like the legendary Biblical Prophet who led the Israelites to safety and freedom, she too helped her oppressed people to break the shackles of slavery and become free (McDonough 2). Life as a Slave Harriet Tubman was born in 1820 to African American slaves Ben and Harriet {‘Old Rit’} Ross (McDonough 3) who lived and worked in a plantation Dorchester County, Maryland that was owned by Edward Brodas. Named Araminta {‘Minty’ in short}, she was one of eleven children of her Ashanti African parents. In keeping with the situation of African American slaves in the U.S during those days, instead of attending school and learning to read and write, Minty was hired to neighboring plantation owners to do their household chores. When she was just five years old (Lewis), Minty was first hired to Mrs. Cook who did not appreciate her work and returned her to the Brodas plantation when she developed measles (Ferris & Ritz 15). Minty was next hired to Miss Susan who also did not find her efficient at her work and repeatedly beat her with a whip before finally returning her to the Brodas plantation (Ferris et al., 19). Minty was eventually put to work in the fields owned by Brodas – a task which she soon grew to like better than doing household chores. Toiling in the fields was very hard work, and despite her small stature, her experience as a field hand did much to build her into a strong young woman (Lewis). Her career as a field hand suffered a setback when Minty {who by then had changed her name to ‘Harriet’}, was 15 years old. While trying to save another slave from the wrath of an irate overseer, Harriet was hit on the head by a heavy weight (Lewis). She suffered long sleeping spells and seizures on account of the injury (Sernett 16), which also made her appear stupid and half-witted (Bradford 7). This detracted prospective employers from hiring her services. Events in Harriet’s life took a turn for the better when Edward Brodas died. His son rented her to a lumber tradesman who acknowledged her hard work and as a reward, permitted her to retain part of the money she made from extra work (Lewis). Harriet got married to John Tubman in 1844. From all indications, the marriage did not work out well right from the start itself. It was perhaps the fact that her husband was a free black that made Harriet retain the services of a lawyer to delve into her own personal background. She was astounded when the lawyer found that she was herself a free black because her mother had been granted freedom on a legal technical point that came to light when her former owner died. Harriet was eager to pursue her case legally but did not do so when her lawyer opined that no court would accept the case filed by an ordinary slave like her. However, the knowledge that she was a free black and not a slave made Harriet feel increasingly bitter and indignant about her present position (Lewis) and made her develop a passionate resolve that she had the right to go free or die (Ferris et al., 7). Harriet’s chance to escape came in 1849 due to the culmination of many events. First, she got news that a couple of her brothers were going to be sold and transported into the Deep South. Secondly, her husband John Tubman began making threats about selling her to a buyer in the Deep South as well (Lewis). Thirdly, the inward voice urging her to “Arise, flee for your life!” (Bradford 11) was become more and more urgent. Harriet acted swiftly and decisively. She first tried to convince her two brothers to join her in an escape bid, but when they did not do so, she set out alone, and after a hazardous trip finally reached Philadelphia (Lewis) which, like other States in Northern U.S, prohibited slavery much unlike their counterparts in the South (McDonough 4). Harriet Tubman was free at last. Role as Underground Railroad Conductor, Abolitionist and Women’s Rights Activist Barely a year after achieving freedom, Harriet Tubman made her maiden clandestine trip to the South to free other slaves. She succeeded in liberating her sister and her family from Maryland during her first trip in 1850. The liberation set the trend for many more daring trips. During the period from 1850 to 1855 she dared to travel secretly to the South on nearly 20 occasions, each time returning to the North with liberated slaves. Harriet managed to liberate nearly 200 slaves during this period (Lewis). Harriet’s success in liberating so many slaves was mainly due to her unique organizational flair involving working with collaborators on the secret Underground Railroad and delivering messages to slaves during clandestine meetings with them away from their plantations. She usually arranged escape trips on Saturday evenings in the conviction that the following Sabbath would postpone observation of the slaves’ absence for another day, and even if their absence came to light, the Sabbath would surely postpone arrangements for a proper pursuit or announcement of a reward to capture the escaping slaves. Each escape trip was headed by Harriet herself, ominously armed with a rifle that she used not only to frighten away any interfering pro-slavery individuals they might encounter on the way, but also to threaten any slaves who wanted to break away from the group due to fright (Lewis). It is little wonder, therefore, that Harriet’s exploits earned her the title ‘Queen of the Underground’ (Sernett 2). Harriet Tubman’s efforts to free slaves from the South suffered a setback when the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850 that legally required citizens of the North to help recapture slaves who had escaped and return them to the South. Harriet’s own status changed from a free black into a fugitive slave, but that did not deter the brave woman. She responded by altering her modus operandi slightly and routing her escaping slaves via the Underground Railroad directly to Canada instead where they would be completely and legally free, while also making St. Catherine {Canada} her new headquarters between 1851 and 1857. While the escape trips were totally financed by Harriet herself {from money she made working as a cook and doing laundry} in the beginning, she later began receiving support from abolitionists (Lewis). Harriet Tubman got support from famous abolitionists like Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Still, Thomas Garratt and Louisa May Alcott, many of whom allowed her to utilize their own houses as transit points on the Underground Railroad for her escaping slaves. Harriet enhanced her role as an abolitionist by publicly speaking at several anti-slavery and women’s rights meetings (Lewis). Her high profile role led many to equate Harriet Tubman and another African American woman {Althea Gibson} alongside reputed white female activists Susan B. Anthony, Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt (Sernett 30). Role during the American Civil War Harriet Tubman’s role during the American Civil War {1861-1865} was three-fold. It included serving as a nurse, scout and spy (Lewis). Harriet was officially sent by the Governor of Massachusetts in 1862 to Beaufort in South Carolina to serve as a nurse to the Sea Island Gullah people who had been deserted by their Southern masters fleeing from Union soldiers. Her role as a scout began in 1863 at the behest of the Union army. Harriet set up an organization of scouts consisting of black men and began collecting sensitive information to help the Union army. She and her scouts also did their best to convince Southern slaves to desert their owners and enlist in the Union army. Harriet’s exploits as a spy also began in 1863. Her most notable achievement was to guide the soldiers led by Colonel James Montgomery in the Combahee River campaign that succeeded in destroying Southern supply routes by demolishing bridges and railways. The campaign also succeeded in freeing over 750 slaves who promptly enlisted in the Union army (Lewis). Later years as Activist and Reformist Soon after the American Civil war ended, Harriet Tubman turned her attention to activism and reformism. She was instrumental in setting up schools for freed slaves in South Carolina. She gave shelter and support in her own home to elderly and destitute freed slaves as well as orphans (Lewis) {although she had no children of her own, Harriet loved having young people around her and telling them of her adventures (Sernett 12)}. She also set up a home for elderly and destitute African Americans in 1908 called John Brown Home for Aged and Indigent Colored People {it was later renamed The Tubman Home}. She delivered a stirring public speech during the inaugural meeting of the National Association of Colored Women in 1896 which was widely perceived as an emotional connection to the future generation of African American activists (Lewis). She participated in a fund raising function held in her honor on 26 May 1905 hosted by the Women’s Temperance Union (Humez 113). During her later years, Harriet witnessed the publication of two books written about her - ‘Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman’ and ‘Harriet the Moses of Her People’ – both by Sarah Hopkins Bradford (Lewis). Several younger generation individuals – both black and white – wrote magazine and newspaper articles about her, the most famous being Pauline Hopkins’ ‘Harriet Tubman {Moses}’ in the Colored American magazine in 1902 (Humez 112). Jet magazine was particularly articulate in praising her, hailing her as the ‘first lady of Black American heroines’ (Sernett 2). Harriet married Nelson Davis two years after her husband John Tubman died in 1867. She lived the latter years of her life in Auburn, New York. When she died of pneumonia on 10 March 1913 (Lewis) in the Tubman Home that she had established (Humez 113), Harriet was given a grand burial with full military honors as a mark of distinction and respect (Lewis). Conclusion Harriet Tubman’s life story is steeped in so much charisma that it has been related time and again by white as well as black writers in an effort to recreate and transmit a record of forceful and influential African American opposition to white superiority views, program of actions and institutions (Humez 5). Among the various praiseworthy names attributed to her are: ‘Black Joan of Arc,’ ‘Greatest Heroine of her Age’ and ‘Missionary’ (Sernett 2). A significant part of her celebrity status is also due to the fact that she was the only woman famous as a guide for escaping slaves. Harriet Tubman may have been diminutive in size, but she stands head and shoulders above other women who also helped slaves to escape because, unlike them, she went about her rescue missions doggedly and persistently, year after year, unmindful of the great personal danger (Humez 5) the daring trips held for her – an indication of this was the hefty bounty of $ 40,000 to was placed on her head (Lewis). Through the utter force of her willpower and dynamic appeal, Harriet attracted other African Americans to continue her efforts of creating a more caring society, and by doing so, she showed the heroism of the ordinary life (Humez 120). Harriet Tubman was honored with a personal invitation from England’s Queen Victoria, who also presented her with a silver medal. The U.S gave her its own share of honors with a Second World War ship named ‘Harriet Tubman’ (Lewis), the country’s postal service issuing a 13 cents stamp in her memory in 1978 – making her the first African American woman to ever get such an honor (Sernett 2), and the nation’s leading newspaper New York Times coming up with a fitting tribute in one of its Book Reviews: “Tubman’s willingness to risk everything [she] had to help others will encourage young readers to wonder at the mystery of [her] strength, and with a little guidance, to look inside themselves” (Ferris et al., Back Cover). References Bradford, Sarah H. “Harriet the Moses of Her People.” USA: Kessinger Publishing. 2004. Ferris, Jeri and Ritz, Karen. “Go Free or Die: A Story about Harriet Tubman.” USA: Carolrhoda Books. 1988. Humez, Jean McMahon. “Harriet Tubman: The Life and the Life Stories.” USA: University of Wisconsin Press. 2003. Lewis, Jone Johnson. “Harriet Tubman – From Slavery to Freedom.” About.com. 2009. 24 Oct. 2009. McDonough, Yona Zeldis. “Who was Harriet Tubman?” USA: Grosset & Dunlap. 2002. Sernett, Milton C. “Harriet Tubman: Myth, Memory & History.” USA: Duke University Press. 2007. Read More