Английская Википедия:Harriet Tubman

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Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, Шаблон:CircaШаблон:Sfn – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn After escaping slavery, Tubman made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including her family and friends,Шаблон:Sfn using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known collectively as the Underground Railroad. During the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Tubman was an activist in the movement for women's suffrage.

Born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tubman was beaten and whipped by enslavers as a child. Early in life, she suffered a traumatic head wound when an irate overseer threw a heavy metal weight, intending to hit another slave, but hit her instead. The injury caused dizziness, pain, and spells of hypersomnia, which occurred throughout her life. After her injury, Tubman began experiencing strange visions and vivid dreams, which she ascribed to premonitions from God. These experiences, combined with her Methodist upbringing, led her to become devoutly religious.

In 1849, Tubman escaped to Philadelphia, only to return to Maryland to rescue her family soon after. Slowly, one group at a time, she brought relatives with her out of the state, and eventually guided dozens of other enslaved people to freedom. Tubman (or "Moses", as she was called) travelled by night and in extreme secrecy, and later said she "never lost a passenger".Шаблон:Sfn After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed, she helped guide escapees farther north into British North America (Canada), and helped newly freed people find work. Tubman met John Brown in 1858, and helped him plan and recruit supporters for his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry.

When the Civil War began, Tubman worked for the Union Army, first as a cook and nurse, and then as an armed scout and spy. For her guidance of the raid at Combahee Ferry, which liberated more than 700 enslaved people, she is widely credited as the first woman to lead an armed military operation in the United States. After the war, she retired to the family home on property she had purchased in 1859 in Auburn, New York, where she cared for her aging parents. She was active in the women's suffrage movement until illness overtook her, and she had to be admitted to a home for elderly African Americans that she had helped to establish years earlier. She became an icon of courage and freedom.

Birth and family

Map marking locations
Map of key locations in Tubman's life

Шаблон:See also

Tubman was born Araminta "Minty" Ross to enslaved parents, Harriet ("Rit") Green and Ben Ross. Rit was enslaved by Mary Pattison Brodess (and later her son Edward). Ben was enslaved by Anthony Thompson, who became Mary Brodess's second husband, and who ran a large plantation near the Blackwater River in the Madison area of Dorchester County, Maryland.Шаблон:Sfn

As with many enslaved people in the United States, neither the exact year nor place of Tubman's birth is known. Tubman reported the year of her birth as 1825, while her death certificate lists 1815 and her gravestone lists 1820.Шаблон:Sfn Historian Kate Larson's 2004 biography of Tubman records the year as 1822, based on a midwife payment and several other historical documents, including her runaway advertisement.Шаблон:Sfn Based on Larson's work, more recent biographies have accepted March 1822 as the most likely timing of Tubman's birth.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Tubman's maternal grandmother, Modesty, arrived in the U.S. on a slave ship from Africa; no information is available about her other ancestors.Шаблон:Sfn As a child, Tubman was told that she seemed like an Ashanti person because of her character traits, though no evidence has been found to confirm or deny this lineage.Шаблон:Sfn Her mother, Rit (who may have had a white father),Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn was a cook for the Brodess family.Шаблон:Sfn Her father, Ben, was a skilled woodsman who managed the timber work on Thompson's plantation.Шаблон:Sfn They married around 1808 and, according to court records, had nine children together: Linah, Mariah Ritty, Soph, Robert, Minty (Harriet), Ben, Rachel, Henry, and Moses.Шаблон:Sfn

Rit struggled to keep her family together as slavery threatened to tear it apart. Edward Brodess sold three of her daughters (Linah, Mariah Ritty, and Soph), separating them from the family forever.Шаблон:Sfn When a trader from Georgia approached Brodess about buying Rit's youngest son, Moses, she hid him for a month, aided by other enslaved people and freedmen in the community.Шаблон:Sfn At one point she confronted Brodess about the sale. Finally, Brodess and "the Georgia man" came toward the slave quarters to seize the child, where Rit told them, "You are after my son; but the first man that comes into my house, I will split his head open."Шаблон:Sfn Brodess backed away and abandoned the sale. Tubman's biographers agree that stories told about this event within the family influenced her belief in the possibilities of resistance.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Childhood

Шаблон:Slavery Tubman's mother was assigned to "the big house"Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and had scarce time for her own family; consequently, as a child Tubman took care of a younger brother and baby, as was typical in large families.Шаблон:Sfn When she was five or six years old, Brodess hired her out as a nursemaid to a woman named "Miss Susan". Tubman was ordered to care for the baby and rock the cradle as it slept; when the baby woke up and cried, Tubman was whipped. She later recounted a particular day when she was lashed five times before breakfast. She carried the scars for the rest of her life.Шаблон:Sfn She found ways to resist, such as running away for five days,Шаблон:Sfn wearing layers of clothing as protection against beatings, and fighting back.Шаблон:Sfn

Also in her childhood, Tubman was sent to work for a planter named James Cook.Шаблон:Sfn She had to check his muskrat traps in nearby marshes, even after contracting measles. She became so ill that Cook sent her back to Brodess, where her mother nursed her back to health. Brodess then hired her out again. She spoke later of her acute childhood homesickness, comparing herself to "the boy on the Swanee River", an allusion to Stephen Foster's song "Old Folks at Home".Шаблон:Sfn As she grew older and stronger, she was assigned to field and forest work, driving oxen, plowing, and hauling logs.Шаблон:Sfn

As an adolescent, Tubman suffered a severe head injury when an overseer threw a Шаблон:Convert metal weight at another slave who was attempting to flee. The weight struck Tubman instead, which she said: "broke my skull". Bleeding and unconscious, she was returned to her enslaver's house and laid on the seat of a loom, where she remained without medical care for two days.Шаблон:Sfn After this incident, Tubman frequently experienced extremely painful headaches.Шаблон:Sfn She also began having seizures and would seemingly fall unconscious, although she claimed to be aware of her surroundings while appearing to be asleep. Larson suggests she may have had temporal lobe epilepsy, possibly as a result of brain injury;Шаблон:Sfn Clinton suggests her condition may have been narcolepsy or cataplexy.Шаблон:Sfn A definitive diagnosis is not possible due to lack of contemporary medical evidence, but this condition remained with her for the rest of her life.Шаблон:Sfn

After her injury, Tubman began experiencing visions and vivid dreams, which she interpreted as revelations from God. These spiritual experiences had a profound effect on Tubman's personality and she acquired a passionate faith in God.Шаблон:Sfn Although Tubman was illiterate, she was told Bible stories by her mother and likely attended a Methodist church with her family.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Mystical inspiration guided her actions.Шаблон:Sfn She rejected the teachings of white preachers who urged enslaved people to be passive and obedient victims to those who trafficked and enslaved them; instead she found guidance in the Old Testament tales of deliverance. This religious perspective informed her actions throughout her life.Шаблон:Sfn

Family and marriage

Anthony Thompson promised to manumit Tubman's father at age 45. After Thompson died, his son followed through with that promise in 1840. Tubman's father continued working as a timber estimator and foreman for the Thompson family.Шаблон:Sfn Later in the 1840s, Tubman paid a white attorney five dollars (Шаблон:Inflation) to investigate the legal status of her mother, Rit. The lawyer discovered that Atthow Pattison, the grandfather of Mary Brodess, indicated in his will that Rit and any of her children would be manumitted at age 45, and that any children born after she reached age 45 would be freeborn. The Pattison and Brodess families ignored this stipulation when they inherited the enslaved family, but taking legal action to enforce it was an impossible task for Tubman.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Around 1844, she married John Tubman, a free black man.Шаблон:Sfn Although little is known about him or their time together, the union was complicated because of her enslaved status. The mother's status dictated that of children, and any children born to Harriet and John would be enslaved. Such blended marriagesШаблон:Sndfree people of color marrying enslaved peopleШаблон:Sndwere not uncommon on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where by this time, half the black population was free. Most African-American families had both free and enslaved members. Larson suggests that they might have planned to buy Tubman's freedom.Шаблон:Sfn

Tubman changed her name from Araminta to Harriet soon after her marriage, though the exact timing is unclear. Larson suggests this happened right after the wedding,Шаблон:Sfn and Clinton suggests that it coincided with Tubman's plans to escape from slavery.Шаблон:Sfn She adopted her mother's name, possibly as part of a religious conversion, or to honor another relative.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Escape from slavery

Printed text of reward notice
Notice offering a reward of US$100 (Шаблон:InflationШаблон:Sfn) for the capture and return of "Minty" (Harriet Tubman) and her brothers Henry and Ben

In 1849, Tubman became ill again, which diminished her value to slave traders. Edward Brodess tried to sell her, but could not find a buyer.Шаблон:Sfn Angry at him for trying to sell her and for continuing to enslave her relatives, Tubman began to pray for God to make Brodess change his ways.Шаблон:Sfn She said later: "I prayed all night long for my master till the first of March; and all the time he was bringing people to look at me, and trying to sell me." When it appeared as though a sale was being concluded, Tubman changed her prayer: "First of March I began to pray, 'Oh Lord, if you ain't never going to change that man's heart, kill him, Lord, and take him out of the way'."Шаблон:Sfn A week later, Brodess died, and Tubman expressed regret for her earlier sentiments.Шаблон:Sfn

As in many estate settlements, Brodess's death increased the likelihood that Tubman would be sold and her family broken apart.Шаблон:Sfn His widow, Eliza, began working to sell the family's enslaved people.Шаблон:Sfn Tubman refused to wait for the Brodess family to decide her fate, despite her husband's efforts to dissuade her.Шаблон:Sfn She later said that "there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other".Шаблон:Sfn

Tubman and her brothers, Ben and Henry, escaped from slavery on September 17, 1849. Tubman had been hired out to Anthony Thompson (the son of her father's former owner), who owned a large plantation in an area called Poplar Neck in neighboring Caroline County;Шаблон:Sfn it is likely her brothers labored for Thompson as well.Шаблон:Sfn Because they were hired out, Eliza Brodess probably did not recognize their absence as an escape attempt for some time. Two weeks later, she posted a runaway notice in the Cambridge Democrat, offering a reward of up to US$100 each (Шаблон:InflationШаблон:Sfn) for their capture and return to slavery.Шаблон:Sfn Once they had left, Tubman's brothers had second thoughts. Ben may have regretted leaving his wife and children. The two men went back, forcing Tubman to return with them.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Sometime in October or November, Tubman escaped again, this time without her brothers.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Before leaving she sang a farewell song to hint at her intentions, which she hoped would be understood by Mary, a trusted fellow slave: "I'll meet you in the morning", she intoned, "I'm bound for the promised land."Шаблон:Sfn While her exact route is unknown, Tubman made use of the network known as the Underground Railroad. This informal system was composed of free and enslaved black people, white abolitionists, and other activists. Most prominent among the latter in Maryland at the time were Quakers (members of the Religious Society of Friends). The Preston area near Poplar Neck contained a substantial Quaker community and was probably an important first stop during Tubman's escape.Шаблон:Sfn From there, she probably took a common route for people fleeing slaveryШаблон:Sndnortheast along the Choptank River, through Delaware, and then north into Pennsylvania.Шаблон:Sfn A journey of nearly Шаблон:Convert by foot would have taken between five days and three weeks.Шаблон:Sfn

Tubman had to travel by night, guided by the North Star and trying to avoid slave catchers eager to collect rewards for fugitive slaves.Шаблон:Sfn The "conductors" in the Underground Railroad used deceptions for protection. At an early stop, the lady of the house instructed Tubman to sweep the yard so as to seem to be working for the family. When night fell, the family hid her in a cart and took her to the next friendly house.Шаблон:Sfn Given her familiarity with the woods and marshes of the region, Tubman likely hid in these locales during the day.Шаблон:Sfn The particulars of her first journey are unknown; because other escapees from slavery used the routes, Tubman did not discuss them until later in life.Шаблон:Sfn She crossed into Pennsylvania with a feeling of relief and awe, and recalled the experience years later: Шаблон:Blockquote

Nicknamed "Moses"

Photo of Tubman sitting
Tubman sitting (1868 or 1869)

After reaching Philadelphia, Tubman thought of her family. "I was a stranger in a strange land," she said later. "[M]y father, my mother, my brothers, and sisters, and friends were [in Maryland]. But I was free, and they should be free."Шаблон:Sfn While Tubman saved money from working odd jobs in Philadelphia and Cape May, New Jersey,Шаблон:Sfn the U.S. Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which forced law enforcement officials to assist in the capture of escaped slavesШаблон:Sndeven in states that had outlawed slaveryШаблон:Sndand heavily punished abetting escape.Шаблон:Sfn The law increased risks for those who had escaped slavery, more of whom therefore sought refuge in Southern Ontario, where slavery had been abolished.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Efn Racial tensions were also increasing in Philadelphia as poor Irish immigrants competed with free blacks for work.Шаблон:Sfn

In December 1850, Tubman was warned that her niece Kessiah and Kessiah's children would soon be sold in Cambridge. Tubman went to Baltimore, where her brother-in-law Tom Tubman hid her until the sale. Kessiah's husband, a free black man named John Bowley, made the winning bid for his wife. While the auctioneer stepped away to have lunch, John, Kessiah and their children escaped to a nearby safe house. When night fell, Bowley sailed the family on a log canoe Шаблон:Convert to Baltimore, where they met with Tubman, who brought the family to Philadelphia.Шаблон:Sfn

Early next year she returned to Maryland to guide away other family members. During her second trip, she recovered her youngest brother, Moses, along with two other men.Шаблон:Sfn Word of her exploits had encouraged her family, and she became more confident with each trip to Maryland.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

In late 1851, Tubman returned to Dorchester County for the first time since her escape, this time to find her husband John. When she arrived there, she learned that John had married another woman named Caroline. Tubman sent word that he should join her, but he insisted that he was happy where he was. Suppressing her anger, she found some enslaved people who wanted to escape and led them to Philadelphia.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Efn

Photo of Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass worked for slavery's abolition alongside Tubman.

Because the Fugitive Slave Law had made the northern United States a more dangerous place for those escaping slavery to remain, many escapees began migrating to Southern Ontario. In December 1851, Tubman guided an unidentified group of 11 escapees, possibly including the Bowleys and several others she had helped rescue earlier, northward. There is evidence to suggest that Tubman and her group stopped at the home of abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass.Шаблон:Sfn Douglass and Tubman admired one another greatly as they both struggled against slavery. Years later he contrasted his efforts with hers, writing:

Шаблон:Blockquote

From 1851 to 1862, Tubman returned repeatedly to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, rescuing some 70 slaves in about 13 expeditions,Шаблон:Sfn including her other brothers, Henry, Ben, and Robert, their wives and some of their children. She also provided specific instructions to 50 to 60 additional enslaved people who escaped.Шаблон:Sfn Because of her efforts, she was nicknamed "Moses", alluding to the biblical prophet who led the Hebrews to freedom from Egypt.Шаблон:Sfn One of her last missions into Maryland was to retrieve her aging parents. Her father purchased her mother from Eliza Brodess in 1855,Шаблон:Sfn but even when they were both free, the area was hostile. In 1857, Tubman received word that her father was at risk of arrest for harboring a group of eight people escaping slavery. She led her parents north to St. Catharines, Canada, where a community of formerly enslaved people, including other relatives and friends of Tubman, had gathered.Шаблон:Sfn

Routes and methods

Tubman's dangerous work required ingenuity. She usually worked during winter, when long nights and cold weather minimized the chance of being seen.Шаблон:Sfn She would start the escapes on Saturday evenings, since newspapers would not print runaway notices until Monday morning.Шаблон:Sfn She used subterfuges to avoid detection. Tubman once disguised herself with a bonnet and carried two live chickens to give the appearance of running errands. Suddenly finding herself walking toward a former enslaver, she yanked the strings holding the birds' legs, and their agitation allowed her to avoid eye contact.Шаблон:Sfn Later she recognized a fellow train passenger as a former enslaver; she snatched a nearby newspaper and pretended to read. Tubman was known to be illiterate, and the man ignored her.Шаблон:Sfn

In an 1897 interview with historian Wilbur Siebert, Tubman named some people who helped her and places she stayed along the Underground Railroad. She stayed with Sam Green, a free black minister living in East New Market, Maryland; she also hid near her parents' home at Poplar Neck. She would travel from there northeast to Sandtown and Willow Grove, Delaware, and to the Camden area where free black agents, William and Nat Brinkley and Abraham Gibbs, guided her north past Dover, Smyrna, and Blackbird, where other agents would take her across the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to New Castle and Wilmington. In Wilmington, Quaker Thomas Garrett would secure transportation to William Still's office or the homes of other Underground Railroad operators in the greater Philadelphia area. Still is credited with helping hundreds escape to safer places in New York, New England, and Southern Ontario.Шаблон:Sfn

Tubman's faith was another important resource as she ventured repeatedly into Maryland. The visions from her childhood head injury continued, and she saw them as divine premonitions. She spoke of "consulting with God", and trusted that He would keep her safe.Шаблон:Sfn Garrett once said of her, "I never met with any person of any color who had more confidence in the voice of God, as spoken direct to her soul."Шаблон:Sfn Her faith also provided immediate assistance. She used spirituals as coded messages, warning fellow travelers of danger or to signal a clear path. She sang versions of "Go Down Moses" and changed the lyrics to indicate that it was either safe or too dangerous to proceed.Шаблон:Sfn As she led escapees across the border, she would call out, "Glory to God and Jesus, too. One more soul is safe!"Шаблон:Sfn

She carried a revolver as protection from slave catchers and their dogs. Tubman also threatened to shoot anyone who tried to turn back since that would risk the safety of the remaining group, as well as anyone who helped them on the way.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Tubman spoke of one man who insisted he was going to go back to the plantation. She pointed the gun at his head and said, "Go on or die."Шаблон:Sfn Several days later, the man who wavered crossed into Canada with the rest of the group.Шаблон:Sfn

By the late 1850s, Eastern Shore slaveholders were holding public meetings about the large number of escapes in the area; they cast suspicion on free blacks and white abolitionists. They did not know that "Minty", the petite, disabled woman who had run away years before, was responsible for freeing so many enslaved people.Шаблон:Sfn Though a popular legend persists about a reward of $40,000 (Шаблон:InflationШаблон:Sfn) for Tubman's capture, this is a manufactured figure: in 1867, in support of Tubman's claim for a military pension, an abolitionist named Sallie Holley wrote that $40,000 "was not too great a reward for Maryland slaveholders to offer for her".Шаблон:Sfn If it were real, such a high reward would have garnered national attention. A reward of $12,000 has also been claimed, though no documentation has been found for either figure.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Tubman and the fugitives she assisted were never captured.Шаблон:Sfn Years later, she told an audience: "I was conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't sayШаблон:SndI never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger."Шаблон:Sfn

John Brown and Harpers Ferry

Шаблон:Main

Photo of John Brown
Tubman helped John Brown plan and recruit for the raid at Harpers Ferry.

In April 1858, Tubman was introduced to the abolitionist John Brown, an insurgent who advocated the use of violence to destroy slavery in the United States.Шаблон:Sfn Although she was not previously involved in armed insurrection, she agreed with his course of direct action and supported his goals.Шаблон:Sfn Like Tubman, he spoke of being called by God, and trusted the divine to protect him from the wrath of slavers. She, meanwhile, claimed to have had a prophetic vision of meeting Brown before their encounter.Шаблон:Sfn

Thus, as he began recruiting supporters for an attack on slaveholders, Brown was joined by "General Tubman", as he called her.Шаблон:Sfn Her knowledge of support networks and resources in the border states of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware was invaluable to Brown and his planners. Although other abolitionists like Douglass did not endorse his tactics, Brown dreamed of fighting to create a new state for those freed from slavery, and made preparations for military action. He believed that after he began the first battle, the enslaved would rise up and carry out a rebellion across the slave states.Шаблон:Sfn He asked Tubman to gather former slaves then living in Southern Ontario who might be willing to join his fighting force, which she did.Шаблон:Sfn

On May 8, 1858, Brown held a meeting in Chatham, Canada, where he unveiled his plan for a raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia.Шаблон:Sfn When word of the plan was leaked to the government, Brown put the scheme on hold and began raising funds for its eventual resumption. Tubman aided him in this effort and with more detailed plans for the assault.Шаблон:Sfn

Tubman was busy during this time, giving talks to abolitionist audiences and tending to her relatives. In early October 1859, as Brown and his men prepared to launch the attack, Tubman was ill in New Bedford, Massachusetts.Шаблон:Sfn It is not known whether she still intended to join Brown's raid or if she had become skeptical of the plan,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn but when the raid on Harpers Ferry took place on October 16, Tubman had recovered from her illness and was in New York City.Шаблон:Sfn

The raid failed; Brown was convicted of treason, murder, and inciting a rebellion, and he was hanged on December 2. His actions were seen by many abolitionists as a symbol of proud resistance, carried out by a noble martyr.Шаблон:Sfn Tubman herself was effusive with praise. She later told a friend: "[H]e done more in dying, than 100 men would in living."Шаблон:Sfn

Auburn and Margaret

In early 1859, Frances Adeline Seward, the wife of abolitionist Republican U.S. Senator William H. Seward, sold Tubman a Шаблон:Convert farm in Fleming, New York,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn for $1,200 (Шаблон:InflationШаблон:Sfn).Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Efn The adjacent city of Auburn was a hotbed of antislavery activism, and Tubman took the opportunity to move her parents from Canada back to the U.S.Шаблон:Sfn Her farmstead became a haven for Tubman's family and friends. For years, she took in relatives and boarders, offering a safe place for black Americans seeking a better life in the north.Шаблон:Sfn

Shortly after acquiring the farm, Tubman went back to Maryland and returned with an eight-year-old light-skinned black girl named Margaret, who Tubman said was her niece.Шаблон:Sfn She also indicated the girl's parents were free blacks. According to Margaret's daughter Alice, Margaret later described her childhood home as prosperous and said that she left behind a twin brother.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn These descriptions conflict with what is known about the families of Tubman's siblings, which created uncertainty among historians about the relationship and Tubman's motivations.Шаблон:Sfn Alice called Tubman's actions a "kidnapping",Шаблон:Sfn saying, "she had taken the child from a sheltered good home to a place where there was nobody to care for her".Шаблон:Sfn After speculating in her 2004 biography of Tubman that Margaret might have been Tubman's own secret daughter,Шаблон:Sfn Kate Larson found evidence that Margaret was the daughter of Isaac and Mary Woolford, a free black couple who were neighbors of Tubman's parents in Maryland and who had twins named James and Margaret.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

In November 1860, Tubman conducted her last rescue mission. Throughout the 1850s, Tubman had been unable to effect the escape of her sister Rachel, and Rachel's two children Ben and Angerine. Upon returning to Dorchester County, Tubman discovered that Rachel had died, and the children could be rescued only if she could pay a bribe of $30 (Шаблон:InflationШаблон:Sfn). She did not have the money, so the children remained enslaved. Their fates remain unknown.Шаблон:Sfn Never one to waste a trip, Tubman gathered another group, including the Ennalls family, ready and willing to take the risks of the journey north.Шаблон:Sfn It took them weeks to get away safely because of slave catchers forcing them to hide out longer than expected. The weather was unseasonably cold and they had little food. The Ennalls' infant child was quieted with paregoric while slave patrols rode by.Шаблон:Sfn They safely reached the home of David and Martha Wright in Auburn on December 28, 1860.Шаблон:Sfn

American Civil War

Sketch of Tubman standing with a rifle
A woodcut of Tubman in her Civil War clothing

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Tubman had a vision that the war would soon lead to the abolition of slavery.Шаблон:Sfn More immediately, enslaved people near Union positions began escaping in large numbers. General Benjamin Butler declared these escapees to be "contraband"Шаблон:Sndproperty seized by northern forcesШаблон:Sndand put them to work, initially without pay, at Fort Monroe in Virginia.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The number of "contrabands" encamped at Fort Monroe and other Union positions rapidly increased.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn In January 1862, Tubman volunteered to support the Union cause and began helping refugees in the camps, particularly in Port Royal, South Carolina.Шаблон:Sfn

In South Carolina, Tubman met General David Hunter, a strong supporter of abolition. He declared all of the "contrabands" in the Port Royal district free, and began gathering formerly enslaved people for a regiment of black soldiers.Шаблон:Sfn U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was not yet prepared to enforce emancipation on the southern states and reprimanded Hunter for his actions.Шаблон:Sfn Tubman condemned Lincoln's response and his general unwillingness to consider ending slavery in the U.S., for both moral and practical reasons:

Шаблон:Blockquote

Tubman served as a nurse in Port Royal, preparing remedies from local plants and aiding soldiers suffering from dysentery and infectious diseases. At first, she received government rations for her work, but to dispel a perception that she was getting special treatment, she gave up her right to these supplies and made money selling pies and root beer, which she made in the evenings.Шаблон:Sfn

Scouting and the Combahee River Raid

Шаблон:Main Article When Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Tubman considered it a positive but incomplete step toward the goal of liberating all black people from slavery. She turned her own efforts towards more direct actions to defeat the Confederacy.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn In early 1863, Tubman used her knowledge of covert travel and subterfuge to lead a band of scouts through the land around Port Royal.Шаблон:Sfn Her group, working under the orders of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, mapped the unfamiliar terrain and reconnoitered its inhabitants. She later worked alongside Colonel James Montgomery, and provided him with key intelligence that aided in the capture of Jacksonville, Florida.Шаблон:Sfn

Sketch of the raid on Combahee River
Illustration of the Combahee River Raid from Harper's Weekly

Later that year, Tubman's intelligence gathering played a key role in the raid at Combahee Ferry. She guided three steamboats with black soldiers under Montgomery's command past mines on the Combahee River to assault several plantations.Шаблон:Sfn Once ashore, the Union troops set fire to the plantations, destroying infrastructure and seizing thousands of dollars worth of food and supplies.Шаблон:Sfn Forewarned of the raid by Tubman's spy network, enslaved people throughout the area heard steamboats' whistles and understood that they were being liberated.Шаблон:Sfn Tubman watched as those fleeing slavery stampeded toward the boats; she later described a scene of chaos with women carrying still-steaming pots of rice, pigs squealing in bags slung over shoulders, and babies hanging around their parents' necks.Шаблон:Sfn Armed overseers tried to stop the mass escape, but their efforts were nearly useless in the tumult.Шаблон:Sfn As Confederate troops raced to the scene, the steamboats took off toward Beaufort with more than 750 formerly enslaved people.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Newspapers heralded Tubman's "patriotism, sagacity, energy, [and] ability" in the raid,Шаблон:Sfn and she was praised for her recruiting effortsШаблон:Sndmore than 100 of the newly liberated men joined the Union army.Шаблон:Sfn Reports about her involvement in the raid led to a revival of the "General Tubman" appellation previously given to her by John Brown.Шаблон:Sfn Although her contributions have sometimes been exaggerated,Шаблон:Efn her role in the raid led to her being widely credited as the first woman to lead U.S. troops in an armed assault.Шаблон:Sfn

In July 1863, Tubman worked with Colonel Robert Gould Shaw at the assault on Fort Wagner, reportedly serving him his last meal.Шаблон:Sfn She later described the battle to historian Albert Bushnell Hart: Шаблон:Blockquote

For two more years, Tubman worked for the Union forces, tending to newly liberated people, scouting into Confederate territory, and nursing wounded soldiers in Virginia, a task she continued for several months after the Confederacy surrendered in April 1865.Шаблон:Sfn

Later life

Photo of Tubman standing
Formal portrait of Tubman taken after the Civil War and circulated as a carte de visiteШаблон:Sfn

Tubman had received little pay for her Union military service. She was not a regular soldier and was only occasionally compensated for her work as a spy and scout; her work as a nurse was entirely unpaid.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn For over three years of service, she received a total of $200 (Шаблон:InflationШаблон:Sfn).Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Her unofficial status caused great difficulty in documenting her service, and the U.S. government was slow to recognize any debt to her.Шаблон:Sfn Meanwhile, her humanitarian work for her family and the formerly enslaved kept her in a state of constant poverty.Шаблон:Sfn

When a promised appointment to an official military nursing position fell through in July 1865, Tubman decided to return to her home in New York.Шаблон:Sfn During a train ride to New York in October 1865, Tubman traveled on a half-fare ticket provided to her because of her service. A conductor told her to move from a regular passenger car into the less-desirable smoking car. When she refused, he cursed at her and grabbed her. She resisted, and he summoned additional men for help. They muscled her into the smoking car, injuring her in the process. As these events transpired, white passengers cursed Tubman and told the conductor to kick her off the train.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Tubman spent her remaining years in Auburn, tending to her family and other people in need. In addition to managing her farm, she took in boarders and worked various jobs to pay the bills and support her elderly parents.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn One of the people Tubman took in was a farmer named Nelson Davis. Born enslaved in North Carolina, he had served as a private in the 8th United States Colored Infantry Regiment from September 1863 to November 1865.Шаблон:Sfn He began working in Auburn as a bricklayer, and they soon fell in love. Though he was 22 years younger than she was, on March 18, 1869, they were married at the Central Presbyterian Church.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn They adopted a baby girl named Gertie in 1874.Шаблон:Sfn

Group photo of eight African-Americans
Tubman in 1887 (far left), with her husband Davis (seated, with cane), their adopted daughter Gertie (beside Tubman), Lee Cheney, John "Pop" Alexander, Walter Green, "Blind Aunty" Sarah Parker, and her great-niece Dora Stewart at Tubman's home in Auburn, New York

Tubman's friends and supporters from the days of abolition, meanwhile, raised funds to support her. One admirer, Sarah Hopkins Bradford, wrote an authorized biography entitled Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman. The 132-page volume was published in 1869 and brought Tubman some $1,200 in income (Шаблон:InflationШаблон:Sfn).Шаблон:Sfn Even with this assistance, paying off the mortgage on her farm in May 1873 exhausted Tubman's savings.Шаблон:Sfn That October, she fell prey to swindlers. Two black men claimed to know a former slave who had a trunk of gold coins smuggled out of South Carolina, which they would sell for cash at less than half the coins' value.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn She knew white people in the South had buried valuables when Union forces threatened the region, and black men were frequently assigned to digging duties, so the claim seemed plausible to her.Шаблон:Sfn She borrowed money from a wealthy friend and arranged to receive the gold late one night. Once the men had lured her into the woods, they knocked her out with chloroform and stole her purse. Tubman was found dazed and injured; the trunk was filled with rocks.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

The crime brought new attention from local leaders to Tubman's precarious financial state and spurred renewed efforts to get compensation for her Civil War service.Шаблон:Sfn In 1874, Representatives Clinton D. MacDougall of New York and Gerry W. Hazelton of Wisconsin introduced a bill to pay Tubman a $2,000 (Шаблон:InflationШаблон:Sfn) lump sum "for services rendered by her to the Union Army as scout, nurse, and spy",Шаблон:Sfn but it was defeated in the Senate.Шаблон:Sfn In February 1880, Tubman's wood-framed house burned down, but with the help of her supporters it was quickly replaced with a new brick home.Шаблон:Sfn

Nelson Davis died of tuberculosis on October 14, 1888.Шаблон:Sfn The Dependent and Disability Pension Act of 1890 made Tubman eligible for a pension as his widow. After she documented her marriage and her husband's service record to the satisfaction of the Bureau of Pensions, in 1895 Tubman was granted a monthly widow's pension of $8 (Шаблон:InflationШаблон:Sfn), plus a lump sum of $500 to cover the five-year delay in approval.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn In December 1897, New York Congressman Sereno E. Payne introduced a bill to grant Tubman a soldier's monthly pension of $25 (Шаблон:InflationШаблон:Sfn).Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Although Congress received documents and letters to support Tubman's claims, some members objected to a woman being paid a full soldier's pension.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn In February 1899, Congress approved a compromise amount of $20 (Шаблон:InflationШаблон:Sfn) per month (the $8 from her widow's pension plus $12 for her service as a nurse), but did not acknowledge her as a scout and spy.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Efn

Suffragist activism

Photo of Tubman seated
Tubman in 1911

In her later years, Tubman worked to promote the cause of women's suffrage. A white woman once asked Tubman whether she believed women ought to have the vote, and received the reply: "I suffered enough to believe it."Шаблон:Sfn Tubman began attending meetings of suffragist organizations, and was soon working alongside women such as Susan B. Anthony and Emily Howland.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Tubman traveled to New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., to speak in favor of women's voting rights. She described her actions during and after the Civil War, and used the sacrifices of countless women throughout modern history as evidence of women's equality to men.Шаблон:Sfn When the National Federation of Afro-American Women was founded in 1896, Tubman was the keynote speaker at its first meeting.Шаблон:Sfn

This wave of activism kindled a new wave of admiration for Tubman among the press in the United States. A publication called The Woman's Era launched a series of articles on "Eminent Women" with a profile of Tubman.Шаблон:Sfn An 1897 suffragist newspaper reported a series of receptions in Boston honoring Tubman and her lifetime of service to the nation. However, her endless contributions to others had left her in poverty, and she had to sell a cow to buy a train ticket to these celebrations.Шаблон:Sfn

Church, illness, and death

In the 1870s, Tubman became active in the Thompson Memorial African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church in Auburn.Шаблон:Sfn In 1895, she began discussions with AME Zion leaders and others to create a Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged that would care for "indigent colored people".Шаблон:Sfn Despite her financial limitations, in 1896 Tubman bid $1215 (Шаблон:InflationШаблон:Sfn) at auction for a Шаблон:Convert farm adjacent to the one she already owned, to use for the new facility.Шаблон:Sfn She designated one of the farm's buildings as its primary residence and named it "John Brown Hall" to honor her late abolitionist ally.Шаблон:Sfn However, raising funds for the project was difficult, and attempts to donate the property were complicated by the multiple mortgage loans used to pay for it. After Tubman almost lost the property due her financial difficulties, AME Zion agreed to take it over in 1903.Шаблон:Sfn

The home did not open for another five years, and Tubman was dismayed when the church ordered residents to pay a $100 entrance fee (Шаблон:InflationШаблон:Sfn). She said: "[T]hey make a rule that nobody should come in without they have a hundred dollars. Now I wanted to make a rule that nobody should come in unless they didn't have no money at all."Шаблон:Sfn She was frustrated by the new rule but was the guest of honor nonetheless when the home celebrated its opening on June 23, 1908.Шаблон:Sfn

As Tubman aged, her childhood head trauma continued to trouble her. Unable to sleep because of pain and "buzzing" in her head, in the late 1890s she asked a doctor at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital to operate. In her words, he "sawed open my skull, and raised it up, and now it feels more comfortable".Шаблон:Sfn She reportedly received no anesthesia and instead bit down on a bullet, as she had seen Civil War soldiers do when their limbs were amputated.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

By 1911, Tubman's body was so frail that she was admitted into the rest home named in her honor. A New York newspaper described her as "ill and penniless", prompting supporters to offer a new round of donations.Шаблон:Sfn Surrounded by friends and family members, she died of pneumonia on March 10, 1913.Шаблон:Sfn Just before she died, she quoted the Gospel of John to those in the room: "I go away to prepare a place for you."Шаблон:Sfn Tubman was buried with semi-military honors at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn.Шаблон:Sfn

Legacy

Шаблон:Main

Woman smashing a bottle on the bow of a ship
Tubman's great-niece, Eva Stewart Northrup, launching the Шаблон:SSШаблон:Sfn

Widely known and well-respected while she was alive, Tubman became an American icon in the years after she died.Шаблон:Sfn By the 1980s, Tubman was one of American history's most famous figures.Шаблон:Sfn She inspired generations of African Americans struggling for equality and civil rights; she was praised by leaders across the political spectrum.Шаблон:Sfn

Parks, monuments and historical sites

National parks and national monuments related to Tubman in the United States are the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, both in Maryland,Шаблон:Sfn and the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn.Шаблон:Sfn The Salem Chapel in St. Catharines, where Tubman worshipped, is a National Historic Site of Canada.Шаблон:Sfn

The city of Auburn has several historical sites related to Tubman, including her gravesite.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Other state and local historical sites about Tubman include a state parkШаблон:Sfn and memorial gardenШаблон:Sfn in Maryland, and a museum in New Jersey.Шаблон:Sfn

Artistic portrayals

Tubman is the subject of many works of art. Musicians including Woody Guthrie, Wynton Marsalis, and Walter Robinson have written songs celebrating her.Шаблон:Sfn She is the subject of operas by Thea Musgrave,Шаблон:Sfn Nkeiru Okoye,Шаблон:Sfn and Hilda Paredes,Шаблон:Sfn as well as plays by Carolyn Gage and a collaboration of May Miller and Willis Richardson.Шаблон:Sfn Tubman is the focus of novels by Elizabeth Cobbs,Шаблон:Sfn Marcy Heidish,Шаблон:Sfn and Anne Parrish,Шаблон:Sfn and is a character in novels by Terry Bisson,Шаблон:Sfn Ta-Nehisi Coates,Шаблон:Sfn and James McBride.Шаблон:Sfn

Since Tubman's life was first dramatized on television in a 1963 episode of the series The Great Adventure,Шаблон:Sfn she has been portrayed in TV productions such as The Good Lord Bird,Шаблон:Sfn Timeless,Шаблон:Sfn Underground,Шаблон:Sfn and A Woman Called Moses.Шаблон:Sfn Cynthia Erivo received an Academy Award nomination for portraying Tubman in the 2019 theatrical film Harriet.Шаблон:Sfn

Artists including Fern Cunningham,Шаблон:Sfn Jane DeDecker,Шаблон:Sfn Nina Cooke John,Шаблон:Sfn and Alison SaarШаблон:Sfn have presented Tubman in sculptures. She has been drawn or painted by numerous artists, including Romare Bearden, Aaron Douglas, William Johnson, Jacob Lawrence, and Faith Ringgold.Шаблон:Sfn

Other honors and commemorations

$20 bill with Tubman's face
Official $20 bill prototype

In 1978, Tubman became the first African-American woman honored on a U.S. postage stamp; she appeared on a second stamp in 1995.Шаблон:Sfn Beginning in 2016, there have been plans to add a portrait of Tubman to the front of the twenty-dollar bill, moving the portrait of President Andrew Jackson, a slaveholder, to the back of the bill.Шаблон:Sfn In 2024, the United States Mint issued three commemorative coins featuring Tubman; each coin depicts Tubman at a different stage of her life.Шаблон:Sfn

Dozens of schools,Шаблон:Sfn streets and highways,Шаблон:Sfn church groups, social organizations, and government agencies have been named after Tubman.Шаблон:Sfn In 1944, the United States Maritime Commission launched the Шаблон:SS, its first Liberty ship named for a black woman.Шаблон:Sfn

Historiography

Tubman hoped to become literate and write her own memoirs, but she never did.Шаблон:Sfn Instead, Sarah Hopkins Bradford combined Tubman's personal recollections, journalistic accounts, and letters from Tubman's friends and supporters to create Scenes from the Life of Harriet Tubman in 1868.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Efn Criticized by modern biographers for its artistic license and highly subjective point of view,Шаблон:Sfn the book nevertheless provides insight into Tubman's own view of her experiences.Шаблон:Sfn In 1886, Bradford released a re-written volume called Harriet, the Moses of her People.Шаблон:Sfn In both volumes Harriet Tubman is hailed as a latter-day Joan of Arc.Шаблон:Sfn The revision took a more moralistic and literary tone than the prior work, including changes of many event descriptions from first to third person.Шаблон:Sfn A final revision in 1901 added an appendix with more stories about Tubman's life.Шаблон:Sfn

The first full biography of Tubman to be published after Bradford's was Earl Conrad's Harriet Tubman (1943).Шаблон:Sfn Conrad experienced great difficulty in finding a publisherШаблон:Sndthe search took four yearsШаблон:Sndand endured disdain and contempt for his efforts to construct a more objective, detailed account of Tubman's life for adults.Шаблон:Sfn Several highly dramatized versions of Tubman's life had been written for children, and many more came later, but Conrad wrote in an academic style.Шаблон:Sfn Though she was a popular historical figure, another book-length biography based on original scholarship did not appear for 60 years,Шаблон:Sfn when Jean Humez published a close reading of Tubman's life stories in 2003. Larson and Clinton both published their biographies soon after in 2004. Historian Milton Sernett's 2007 book Harriet Tubman: Myth, Memory, and History discusses the major biographies of Tubman up to that time.Шаблон:Sfn

See also

Шаблон:Portal

Notes

Шаблон:Notelist

References

Шаблон:Reflist

Sources

Шаблон:Refbegin

Шаблон:Refend

Further reading

External links

Шаблон:Sister project links

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