harrit tubman

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Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman was an African American born into slavery in 1822 in the state of Maryland. Her parents were Harriet Green and Ben Ross who were held as slaves by wealthy plantation owners (Humez, 10). Her birth name was Araminta Ross, and she is famous for fighting slavery, her humanitarian work, right activities and a spy for the United States Army. The unconfirmed report suggests that Tubman is a Ghanaian of Ashanti descent since that was the home of her grandmother. Three of her sisters were sold off by her parent’s masters who even attempted to sell her brother. Tubman’s father was against the sale of his son and threatened to kill anyone trying to do so (Humez, 12). Biographers believe that Harriet acquired the spirit of resistance from this story.
Her family was large comprising of nine children. She, therefore, took over the role of caring for her siblings at a tender age of four. At about age five or six years, she was hired to work as a maid by a woman called Miss Susan. Tubman’s work was to watch the child while sleeping and if the child woke up and cried, the maid received a merciless whipping. These incidences probably motivated her later in life to work as an abolitionist (Sernett, 86). Her mother taught her bible stories also, and this also influenced his actions later in life. She suffered a head injury from her masters hit her with a metallic object. Tubman escaped from slavery and also helped her relatives flee and settle in Philadelphia (Petry, 38).

At the same time; she used tricky ways to help fugitives escape from slavery. The most common was planning the escape in winter when nights are long and dark hence there are no people outside to see them vanish. Slavery characterized Tubman’s era. Slavery was oppressive and entirely dehumanizing to African Americans. Another problem faced by African Americans was family breakage. In some cases, children would be sold and get permanently separated with the parents. African Americans also faced the problem of poor health. Whenever they got sick, the Europeans did not provide medical care. A good example is Tubman who did not receive any treatment despite having a head injury. Black families were not guaranteed civic rights like marriage and freedom of movement (Weatherford, 61). The slaves were not allowed to marry, and in case they did so it disintegrated. Marriage disintegrated because the couples worked in different areas yet could not move around. Tubman faced various challenges in her work for instance slavery at the tender age of five years. She also went through mistreatment while working as a nursemaid (Sernett,91). In this case, she was whipped continuously due to minor and natural mistakes like when the baby cried. Tubman suffered lack of enough money while liberating slaves. She did not have enough money to buy food and accommodation to the slaves, and that is why she could help only 11 at a time. Harriet suffered inequality and discrimination while serving in the American army (Weatherford, 60). While working here, she never received a regular salary and was also not compensated for her service.
Tubman had her unique way of dealing with the challenges. For instance, after being enslaved for a long time, she escaped and helped many others to do the same (Petry, 38). To solve the problem of lack of money to free slaves, Harriet began assisting the number only those could accommodate at a time. In case of discrimination, she addressed conferences which focused on equality of all races. In conclusion, Harriet Tubman suffered much as a slave at a young age. The suffering motivated her to look for ways of fleeing the slaves. Here earlier encounters also informed her to fight during the American civil war and later be a human rights crusader. She vigorously fought for the rights of women since she had suffered the same. Today, Tubman is a hero not just among black Americans but in the whole world.
Work cited
Humez, Jean M. Harriet Tubman: The life and the life stories. Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2006.
Petry, Ann. Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the underground railroad. Open Road Media, 2015.
Sernett, Milton C. Harriet Tubman: Myth, memory, and history. Duke University Press, 2007.
Weatherford, Carole Boston, and Kadir Nelson. Moses: When Harriet Tubman led her people to freedom. Hyperion Books for Children, 2006.