Harriet Tubman: An American Moses

Essentials in Writing: Research Paper

March, 2014

Harriet Tubman: An American Moses

Harriet Tubman is an important figure in American history. She is remembered for her work as an abolitionist, respected for the risks she took helping the Union Army during the Civil War, as well as honored for the lasting gifts she left behind for the people of her country. Harriet Tubman may be considered a hero by many men and women, for her example of bravery and self-sacrifice is inspiring people of all races.

Tubman came from humble beginnings, born into slavery sometime during the 1820s (Tubman herself may have been unsure of the year, having once dated it as “1820, 1822, or 1825”. [Wikipedia; Article: Harriet Tubman]) Her name was Araminta Harriet Ross, though she often went by a nickname while a slave; her family called her “Harriet”, after her mother, while Tubman's masters addressed her as “Minty”. She was the fifth of nine children, as well as the oldest daughter, as her three older sisters were sold away from her parents.

The fear of being separated was only one of the many brutal trials Tubman had to endure as a slave. As a very young child, she was in charge of caring for her younger siblings while her mother worked. At the age of six, Tubman was hired out as a nursemaid and was constantly whipped for allowing the baby to cry. When she was a bit older, she was again hired out, this time by a planter who had her trap muskrats in a nearby marsh. It was at this time she contracted measles and was returned to the plantation to be nursed by her mother. Once Tubman had recovered, she was sent out to work for yet another master.

Perhaps the greatest injury Tubman received at the hands of slavers was (Mumzee, how should I...

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...he deceased’s slaves. Often, during the inheritance of the estate, the new master would sell whatever property he didn't want, including slaves. Close friends, husbands and wives, mothers and their children were separated, without any hope of ever seeing each other again in this life. This fear—as well as the knowledge that her new mistress disliked her and her brothers—drove Harriet to attempt her first escape to freedom (Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman; Dorothy Sterling).

At the time, Harriet and two of her brothers were being hired out on a plantation in the Poplar Neck area, Caroline County, which neighbored the slaves' home plantation. Their situation was ideal for escape; because they were not expected by their master, their escape would most likely go unnoticed for some time. Harriet and her brothers left the plantation on September 17, 1849