Harriet Tubman was born on a plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland, in March 1822. Her given name was Araminta Ross. Later, she would call herself Harriet after her mother and take the last name Tubman after her first husband. As a slave, her exact birthday wasn’t noted, nor are we completely sure about the year. The state of Maryland in the 1820s was a blurred line between “north” or “south,” having both free and enslaved black individuals.
Tubman, like many slaves, had to endure beatings and whippings. It is said that she was nearly beaten to death once for eating an apple while picking in an orchard. Also, at age 13, she received a severe head injury from an irate overseer. She was hit with a heavy metal object meant for another slave. The injury would leave Tubman with lifelong moments of dizziness, pain, and hypersomnia (daytime sleepiness and brain fog). It was also said that the injury gave her premonitions and visions, which she believed came from God.
Tubman married a free black man in 1844 and took his last name. Five years later, she escaped to Pennsylvania and became acquainted with a network of safe houses and trails that led from state to state. She is most remembered for her work with the Underground Railroad. After her escape, she remained in Pennsylvania alone (her husband stayed behind) and made at least 13 expeditions between 1851 and 1862, leading slaves to safety.
Tubman assisted some 300-500 slaves. Her work was dangerous. Escaped slaves were hunted down by men on horseback, toting guns and rifles. The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act made it even more perilous by imposing severe punishments for those helping slaves. Groups went even farther north and into Canada to escape harm. In all her years, Tubman never lost anyone under her care and even escorted her own parents to freedom. She was given a nickname, the “Moses of Her People,” in reference to Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt toward the Promised Land.
How did the escape journeys begin? Tubman usually made her expeditions in winter when the long nights and cold weather afforded a measure of protection. They would often leave on Saturday evenings because newspapers would not print the list of “runaways” until Monday mornings. Their expedition led them deep into the woods. It was essential to move quickly and quietly. Tubman knew every field and forest and was guided by the stars. She often used a disguise and could pass dressed as a man. She could turn herself into an old lady and hide her face with a large bonnet. Tubman carried a revolver and threatened to shoot any one of her group wishing to back out. If one person returned to their overseer in a moment of cowardice, it would put the whole group in jeopardy.
During the Civil War (1861-1865), Harriet Tubman assisted the Union Army. She was a cook and a nurse. With her knowledge of back roads, she was later assigned work as a scout and a spy. She was the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the Civil War. Later, as a spy, she disguised herself as an old woman and walked Confederate streets. She met with enslaved contacts and learned invaluable information about Confederate troop movements and supply deliveries. All this information was relayed back to the Union Army.
In later years, Tubman advocated for women’s suffrage and assisted in getting education for former slaves although she herself could neither read nor write. She formed friendships with many activists, politicians, writers, and intellectuals of her day. She became friends with Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist, writer, and statesman. She worked closely with William Henry Seward, US Secretary of State (1861-1869).
In 1903, there was also a chance meeting between Tubman and another suffragette, Susan B. Anthony. Both had worked tirelessly toward women’s rights. They worked parallel to each other, one in the black community and one in the white community. They didn’t always agree, but Anthony wrote later that she had been in awe of Tubman and admired all that she had done. Can you imagine that both women were in their 80s at the time? Neither would live to see the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in 1920, but they were a very large part of the suffragette movement.
Tubman passed away on March 10, 1913, and was buried with military honors in Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, New York.
Since that day, she has been honored many times over. There are various schools, streets, and highways today which bear her name. She is remembered with parks and museums. There are sculptures, music pieces, and theater productions.
The US Mint will now honor her, too, through the Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act. This year, there will be three coins issued with her likeness on the front. Honoring her will be a $5 gold piece, a $1 silver dollar, and a clad half dollar. In a long overdue recognition, the United States will remember “Aunt Harriet” and the “Moses of Her People.”
“I’ll take God with me and try.” – Harriet Tubman
More Information:
The Harriet Tubman Coins are available for online order through the US Mint. Included in the price of each coin is a surcharge of $5-35 (depending on denomination), which will be donated to The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio and the Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. in Auburn, New York to further their missions of helping others.
