USH - Harriet Tubman - Church

Harriet Tubman (birth name: Araminta Ross) was born around 1820 (exact date unknown) to slave parents in Dorchester County, Maryland. As a child, Tubman took care of a younger brother and a baby, as her mother was usually busy with her work at “the big house.”

On September 17, 1849, Tubman escaped slavery with her brothers, Ben and Henry. Once they had left, however, her brothers began experiencing second thoughts, and, fearful of the dangers ahead, went back, forcing Tubman to return with them. Soon afterwards, however, she escaped again, this time without her brothers. While no one knows exactly what route Tubman took to go north, it is known that she made use of the extensive network known as the Underground Railroad, an “informal but well-organized system was composed of free blacks, white abolitionists, and Christian activists.”

Although she was an illiterate child, her mother had told her Bible stories, helping her to become deeply religious. The particular variety of her faith is unclear, but it is definite that she “acquired a passionate faith in God.” This religious faith was an important resource to her as she ventured again and again into Maryland. Not only did it give her strength for the journeys she was on, but Tubman also used spirituals as coded messages, warning fellow travelers that there was danger or signaling that the path was clear for travel.

For eleven years, Tubman repeatedly returned to this area of slavery, eventually rescuing about 70 slaves in thirteen different expeditions. She also gave specific instructions on how to escape to about 50 or 60 other fugitives. (Some historians say that she rescued over three hundred slaves both on her journeys and from her support of the Underground Railroad). Her trips back into the land of slavery put her at significant risk. Not only had she illegally escaped from slavery, but she was helping other slaves to do the same. She thus made us of various disguises and ploys to avoid detection.

She also later helped John Brown to recruit men for his (unfortunately unsuccessful) raid on Harpers Ferry, and she struggled in the post-war era for women’s suffrage.