HARRIET TUBMAN
Harriet Tubman freed more than 70 slaves over the course of 13 clandestine missions in her lifetime. That number is infinitesimal compared to the millions of Africans in bondage before the American Civil War. But Tubman’s legend had a psychological impact on the enslaved and the free, on Black and white, that far exceeded her armspan and lifespan. Tubman, the tenacious liberator of Black slaves, was called “Moses” because she led her people to “the promised land.” Some people have also called the election and inauguration of Barack Obama’s as the 44th president of the United States a substantial fulfillment of that American promise.
Tubman was born Araminta Ross in Dorchester County, Maryland. Araminta, called “Minty,” was a slave, as were her parents, brothers, sisters and extended family. Tubman was always rebellious, naturally enraged at the brutality of her bondage. But it was the repeated “sell-offs” of members of her family that first prompted her escape to free territory in Philadelphia, and then to boldly sneak back across the Mason-Dixon line to rescue her loved ones.
In the years before the Civil War, despite the passage of a tough fugitive slave law, Tubman braved capture and death to lead over a dozen missions to free scores of slaves, mostly from Maryland’s Eastern Shore. During journeys that went as far north as Canada, she used an already established network of houses and way-stations owned by freed Blacks and sympathetic whites, dubbed the “Underground Railroad.”
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In the north, Tubman befriended abolitionists and rebels like John Brown, for whom she raised money. At the dawn of the war, Tubman joined the Union forces as a nurse, an aid to refugees, and a scout. After the war and Emancipation, Tubman lent her efforts to another liberation movement: women’s suffrage. She died in 1913.
To say that Tubman was tough is an understatement. She set the bar very high indeed for the men and women who followed. It is that determination in the face of violence, death and failure that is Tubman’s greatest legacy.
at 3:45 pm
@warnock
Republicans and democrats have shifted positions many times, throughout American history. So saying that means nothing. At that time of Reconstruction, Republicans were what you know as Democrats today. Republicans later because party of the south and evil whites took it to mean their own political ‘religion’, if you will, and corrupted it for today’s idea of what it means to be a Republican. Can’t compare the political parties then, with the parties now. They get hijacked by different interests each time.
at 5:07 pm
And she was a registered republican, along with Martin Luther King and Fredrick Douglas. Slowly, the truth will come out and NEW Slavery will be abolished.
at 1:34 pm
she had a quote, that sent shivers through my body, years ago, when I read it. It was something to the affect of “I would have free thousands of more slaves, if they only they had known that they were slaves!” I was like WOOOOOOW! That’s still true today. You can’t liberate the willfully ignorant, or thsoe reluctant to assess their situation and make moves for better. If you don’t know your position in life, and what’s holding you down, your ignorance makes you a slave indefinitely.
at 1:38 am
I betcha there were others who were heroes, but Harriet to me was the Greatest lady hero; the number one lady hero of my life was my late, great MOM……
at 5:35 pm
Charles Deslondes: He was just one of the leaders of the 1811 German Coast Uprising, a slave revolt that began on January 8, 1811 in the Territory of Orleans. The 1811 Louisiana slave revolt was the largest and EFFECTIVE in U.S. history.
Madison Washington: Again, he was the instigator of a slave revolt on board the brig Creole in 1841. This slave ship was transporting Washington, the ship’s slave cook, as well as 134 other slaves from Virginia to New Orleans. The ship was redirected to Nassau, which was under Brittish control. Despite American protest, the brittish did not return the slaves to the states but they did imprison Washington for mutiny…After several weeks of being imprisoned he along with 116 other slaves were freed and immediately considered ‘free men’.
Just wanted to let NewsOne as well as others know that there was much more to our history than JUST Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner and the Underground Railroad.
at 3:03 pm
TO ME SHE IS THE BADDEST BLACK WOMAN IN AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY. I RESPECT HER AND HONOR HER IMMENSELY. SHE WAS VERY BRAVE AND UNWAVERING. TALK ABOUT CHARACTER.
@DEPARTURES.. Thank you for recognizing that.
at 1:54 pm
WITHOUT THE BLACK WOMAN WHERE WOULD BLACK MEN BE?????????????? NO WHERE …….
at 12:45 pm
HARRIET TUBMAN IS GHANAIAN-AMERICAN IF Y’ALL CAN NOTICE THAT GHANA FLAG MEAN ‘WARRIOR KING’
at 10:27 pm
I HONESTLY ADORE HARRIET TUBMAN SHE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A WOMAN I HAVE ADMIRED! THANKS FOR THIS ARTICLE ON HER!!