“Every great dream begins with a dreamer.
Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience,
and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
- Harriet Tubman -
Araminta Ross was born a slave somewhere between 1820 and 1822 (1) to parents Harriet Green and Benjamin Ross in Dorchester County, Maryland. In one of her earliest instances of fighting for others and what's right, she got between a runaway slave and their owner and took a blow to the head from a two-pound weight. (c) This moment caused her to fall victim to severe headaches and narcolepsy for the rest of her life.
In 1844, she married a free Black man named John Tubman--an early instance of her rebellious spirit as marriages between slaves were illegal at the time. After the marriage, Araminta Ross was no longer. She would go on to take her husband's last name and rename herself after her mother. The name Harriet Tubman first came to be, a name that would be remembered for centuries afterward. (a)
Tubman’s blow to the head also led her to experience vivid, often wild dreams--dreams she believed were messages from God to her and that inspired her many rescue missions. By 1849, she was used to moving between families like many slaves did but feared being sold to a plantation. Because of this, she took a leap of faith, and with the help of a friendly white woman, she escaped her imprisonment, following the North Star at night. Eventually, Tubman found herself in Pennsylvania.
She found work for about a year and eventually made her way back to Maryland to rescue her remaining family members from slavery. She would return to Maryland three times to rescue slaves, using many different methods. (c)
To set free the slaves often called “Freedom Seekers” (b), Harriet Tubman used the Underground Railroad extensively, making 19 journeys in total and becoming its most famous conductor. Stories tell that Tubman began journeys on Saturday nights, transporting the Freedom Seekers in their masters’ buggies for the first part of the journey to freedom. Tubman had little to no fear of escaping as runaway notices were not posted in newspapers until Monday morning, and she could often be seen carrying a gun with her. This gun was used to threaten those having thoughts of retreating.
If one were to try exiting out of fear, Tubman would tell them, “You’ll be free or die”. While the modern world might condemn such actions, these were much different times. Tubman partaking in threatening others’ lives and drugging infants to prevent crying reflect the danger she and other Black people faced as their punishments, if caught, were likely to go far beyond threats.
Harriet Tubman made quite a name for herself. At this time, there was a $40,000 reward that would be given to anyone who could capture her, but she didn’t care. Hundreds of Freedom Seekers were set free by Tubman, which would eventually contribute to her nickname “Moses”.
“Except of John Brown - of sacred memory,” abolitionist Frederick Douglas would go on to say, “I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than Harriet Tubman.” John Edwards would agree, as he would call her “one of the bravest persons on this continent.” (c)
After attending many anti-slavery meetings, one in which she assisted a fugitive slave escape on her way from Boston to New York, it seemed as if Harriet Tubman’s heroics were nearing an end. At this point, she was already around forty years old, was still suffering from severe headaches and narcolepsy, and had done so much for the abolitionist movement with the courage in her heart and the strength of her back being her two most valuable assets. But is this where her story would find some sort of a conclusion?
No. Not even close.
In 1863, along with Colonel James Montgomery, Tubman led Union troops to the Combahee River in South Carolina--the home of many rice plantations using slave labor. Tubman led the raid of soldiers on these plantations. They burned bridges and buildings and, more importantly, set free the slaves working on the plantations. She was even given the title General Tubman by John Brown, another abolitionist leader at the time. Therefore, she became known as America’s first woman to lead a military expedition, and, along with that, she was a Union spy. (2) (f)
Abraham Lincoln set up a covert operation to use former slaves as spies, Harriet Tubman being one of the slaves. The operation was so secretive that Lincoln’s own Secretary of War (3) and Secretary of Navy (4) didn’t know about it. However, William Seward, a man who offered his house as a stop on the Underground Railroad and was Lincoln’s Secretary of State, did know and led the Union spies. The spies, who were technically fugitives of the law as they were not legally “free” at this point, went into Confederate territory and met up with slaves who told them about the war plans and strategies devised by the Confederate army.
This information became known as “black dispatches”, and some of the dispatches even included information about the Confederates dropping barrels of gunpowder into rivers to attack Union vessels. (d) Along with spying, Tubman also worked for the Union as both a nurse and a cook, offering hospitality to those fighting. (c)
After the Civil War, Tubman settled in Auburn, New York, for the rest of her life. She spent the time surrounded by family, recalling moments like when she used Underground Railroad tactics to sneak up on her great-niece Alice in a meadow. She was a happy soul with endless stories to tell. “I was a conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years,” she would remark, “And I can say what most conductors can’t say - I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger”. Harriet would spend the remainder of her time still fighting for what was right, often attending meetings and national conferences and becoming a strong voice for women’s rights.
On March 10, 1913, at around age 90, Harriet finally passed away surrounded by her loved ones. Her last words were nothing short of unsurprising given the life she led and the impact she made…
“I go to prepare a place for you.” (e)
Reflection
At the end of both Truth and Douglass’s essays, I talked about the importance of education, and I will make the point again...and again and again. It is rather unfortunate how the true stories of slavery and discrimination, while talked about, are often not discussed to the fullest extent. Because of this, I think it’s hard for students to imagine the true danger Black Americans faced and continue to face.
An article by EducationWeek talks about this very topic. According to a study done by the Southern Poverty Law Center, American students have gaps in their knowledge of history due to their teachers having nearly identical educations. It was shown that out of the high school seniors surveyed, less than 8% of the students knew why Southern states seceded in the Civil War, and when it came to just how important slavery was to Northern states, only 12% knew the actual answer. (g)
Some teachers worry that being completely honest about slavery could terrify Black children and even bring guilt upon white children, but perhaps if America worked on an educational system that developed the learning of slavery over time, the reality wouldn’t be such a hard pill to swallow while growing up. Educators can teach younger students about the basics of slavery while avoiding graphic details, focusing on the fact that slavery involved the oppression and wrongful ownership of other people based primarily on the color of their skin and where they came from as well as that everybody should be treated equally no matter what they look like or where they are from.
As they grow and develop, students can deepen their learning about how slavery has contributed to the systemic racism seen today in communities all over America. This could help young people understand the issues of systemic and institutional racism and, with the education instilled within them early on that we should all be treated equally, inspire and empower them to address and fix these problems.
By starting these educated discussions early on, a better understanding of human rights both in America and throughout the world is sure to emerge. Discussion of systemic racism today may even lead to an exploration of poverty and basic economics and community relations techniques. With this very crucial education, students may gain vital opportunities to learn more about the problems their communities face and maybe even seek to help fix them for the good of all people.
And maybe, as I made similar points with Truth’s religion and Douglass’s upbringing, just being honest about the harsh realities can lead to more acceptance in the future and, thus, better and more equal opportunities for Black Americans. It’s truly up to us to decide whether we want children to be taught an easy-to-swallow reality that could lead to more problems in the future or the truths that could lead to a more equal nation.
Sources & Links
Like many slaves, it is hard for researchers and historians to pinpoint Tubman’s exact birth year.
In Hamilton: An American Musical, the final song includes a homage to Eliza Hamilton creating an orphanage in honor of her late husband. Lin Manuel Miranda says in “Hamilton: The Revolution” that adding this seemed a little crazy because if Eliza was a fictional character, this wouldn’t fly for many avid readers as she would seem a little too heroic to be believable. Harriet Tubman joining the Union Army is my Eliza Orphanage moment.
Secretary of War, Edward Stanton Fun & Not-Too-Fun Facts
a) Suffered from severe asthma
b) Strongly supported the Emancipation Proclamation
c) Many people beyond John Wilkes Booth were involved in Lincoln’s
assassination, Stanton worked his tail off to ensure they were all prosecuted and
tried in court.
d) Nominated to U.S. Supreme Court by Ulysses S. Grant when Grant was the
President
Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles Fun & Not-Too-Fun Facts
a) Abandoned the Democratic Party due to his hatred of slavery
b) Lincoln called him “Neptune” due to just how good he was at commanding the
Navy
c) Innovated and modernized the US Navy by using Ironclad steam-powered
vessels
d) Authored many books in his later life
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