Harriet Tubman was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and
Union spy during the U.S. Civil War. After escaping from captivity, she
made thirteen missions to rescue over seventy slaves using the network
of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground
Railroad. She later helped John Brown recruit men for his raid on
Harpers Ferry, and in the post-war era struggled for women's suffrage.
Born
into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tubman was beaten and
whipped by her various owners as a child. Early in her life, she
suffered a traumatic head wound when an irate slave owner threw a heavy
metal weight at her, intending to hit another slave. The injury caused
disabling seizures, headaches, and powerful visionary and dream
activity, and spells of hypersomnia which occurred throughout her entire
life. A devout Christian, she ascribed her visions and vivid dreams to
premonitions from God.
In 1849, Tubman escaped to Philadelphia,
then immediately returned to Maryland to rescue her family. Slowly, one
group at a time, she brought relatives with her out of the state, and
eventually guided dozens of other slaves to freedom. Traveling by night
and in extreme secrecy, Tubman (or "Moses", as she was called) "never
lost a passenger". Heavy rewards were offered for many of the people she
helped bring away, but no one ever knew it was Harriet Tubman who was
helping them. When a far-reaching United States Fugitive Slave Law was
passed in 1850, she helped guide fugitives further north into Canada,
and helped newly-freed slaves find work.
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Tuesday, December 20, 2011
FREE -- Harriet Tubman - The Moses of Her People [Illustrated] [Kindle Edition]
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