Harriet Tubman: The Woman Who Freed Slaves via the Underground Railroad

Harriet Tubman (c. 1822 – March 10, 1913) is the most iconic "conductor" of the Underground Railroad — the network of secret routes and safe houses that helped enslaved African Americans escape to free states and Canada.

Early Life & Escape

• Born Araminta Ross in Dorchester County, Maryland, enslaved
• Suffered severe head injury (overseer threw weight) → lifelong seizures, visions, narcolepsy
• 1849: Escaped alone to Philadelphia (90 miles, guided by North Star)

13 Missions, ~70 People Freed

• Returned to Maryland 13 times over 10 years
• Rescued ~70 people (family, friends, strangers) — never lost a passenger
• Used: coded songs, owl calls, disguises, drugged babies, winter travel, trusted network
• Carried revolver (protection + deter turn-backs: "Dead men tell no tales")

Civil War Service

• Nurse, cook, laundress at Fort Monroe, Hilton Head
• Scout & Spy: Mapped Confederate positions, led raids
• Combahee River Raid (1863): Guided 3 gunboats, freed 750+ enslaved people — first woman to lead armed expedition in US war

Post-War Activism

• Suffragist: Worked with Susan B. Anthony, Emily Howland
• Founded Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged (Auburn, NY) — cared for indigent elderly
• Advocated for Black women's voting rights, pensions for Black veterans

Legacy

• $20 Bill: Announced 2016 (delayed); would replace Andrew Jackson
• National Parks: Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad NHP (MD), Harriet Tubman NHP (NY)
• Cultural icon: Symbol of courage, resistance, collective liberation

Others also freed enslaved people (William Still, Levi Coffin, Frederick Douglass, John Rankin), but Tubman's direct, repeated, armed return to slave territory is unparalleled.