Harriet Tubman

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Harriet Tubman : biography

c. 1820 – March 10, 1913

For two more years, Tubman worked for the Union forces, tending to newly liberated slaves, scouting into Confederate territory, and eventually nursing wounded soldiers in Virginia.Clinton, pp. 186–187. She also made periodic trips back to Auburn, to visit her family and care for her parents.Larson, p. 180. The Confederacy surrendered in April 1865; after donating several more months of service, Tubman headed home.Clinton, p. 188.

Tubman returned to Auburn at the end of the war. During a train ride to New York, the conductor told her to move into the smoking car. She refused, explaining her government service. He cursed at her and grabbed her, but she resisted and he summoned two other passengers for help. While she clutched at the railing, they muscled her away, breaking her arm in the process. They threw her into the smoking car, causing more injuries. As these events transpired, other white passengers cursed Tubman and shouted for the conductor to kick her off the train.Larson, p. 232.

Despite her years of service, she had never received a regular salary and was for years denied compensation.Clinton, pp. 193–195.Larson, pp. 225–226. Her unofficial status and the unequal payments offered to black soldiers caused great difficulty in documenting her service, and the U.S. government was slow in recognizing its debt to her.Clinton, p. 193. Tubman did not receive a pension for her service in the Civil War until 1899.Larson, pp. 278–279.Clinton, Catherine. "" American Heritage, June/July 2004. Her constant humanitarian work for her family and former slaves, meanwhile, kept her in a state of constant poverty, and her difficulties in obtaining a government pension were especially taxing for her.Larson, pp. 276–277.

Escape from slavery

In 1849, Tubman became ill again, and her value as a slave was diminished as a result. Edward Brodess tried to sell her, but could not find a buyer.Larson, p. 72. Angry at his action and the unjust hold he kept on her relatives, Tubman began to pray for her owner, asking God to make him change his ways.Clinton, p. 31. "I prayed all night long for my master," she said later, "till the first of March; and all the time he was bringing people to look at me, and trying to sell me." When it appeared as though a sale was being concluded, she switched tactics. "I changed my prayer," she said. "First of March I began to pray, ‘Oh Lord, if you ain’t never going to change that man’s heart, kill him, Lord, and take him out of the way."Quoted in Bradford (1971), pp. 14–15.A week later, Brodess died, and Tubman expressed regret for her earlier sentiments.Larson, p. 73.

Brodess’s death increased the likelihood that Tubman would be sold and her family would be broken apart, as frequently happened in the settlement of an estate.Clinton, pp. 31–32. His widow, Eliza, began working to sell the family’s slaves.Larson, pp. 74–77. Tubman refused to wait for the Brodess family to decide her fate, despite her husband’s efforts to dissuade her.Larson, p. 77. "[T]here was one of two things I had a right to," she explained later, "liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other."Quoted in Bradford (1961), p. 29.

Tubman and her brothers, Ben and Henry, escaped from slavery on September 17, 1849. Tubman had been hired out to Dr. Anthony Thompson, who owned a large plantation in an area called Poplar Neck in neighboring Caroline County; it is likely her brothers labored for Thompson as well. Because the slaves were hired out to another household, Eliza Brodess probably did not recognize their absence as an escape attempt for some time. Two weeks later, she posted a runaway notice in the Cambridge Democrat, offering a reward of up to 100 dollars for each slave returned.Larson, p. 78. Once they had left, Tubman’s brothers had second thoughts. Ben may have just become a father. The two men went back, forcing Tubman to return with them.Larson, pp. 78–79.

Soon afterward, Tubman escaped again, this time without her brothers.Larson, p. 80. Beforehand, she tried to send word to her mother of her plans. She sang a coded song to Mary, a trusted fellow slave, that was a farewell. "I’ll meet you in the morning," she intoned, "I’m bound for the promised land".Quoted in Bradford (1971), p. 19. While her exact route is unknown, Tubman made use of the network known as the Underground Railroad. This informal, but well-organized, system was composed of free and enslaved blacks, white abolitionists, and other activists. Most prominent among the latter in Maryland at the time were members of the Religious Society of Friends, often called Quakers. The Preston area near Poplar Neck in Caroline County contained a substantial Quaker community, and was probably an important first stop during Tubman’s escape.Larson, p. 81. From there, she probably took a common route for fleeing slaves – northeast along the Choptank River, through Delaware and then north into Pennsylvania.Clinton, p. 37. A journey of nearly 90 miles (145 kilometers), her traveling by foot would have taken between five days and three weeks.Clinton, p. 38.