Born in 1820 to slave parents, Araminta
Harriet Ross escaped the clutches in 1849 by marrying a freed slave Mr. Tubman
and moved to Philadelphia. Araminta changed her first name to Harriet
honoring her mother. She relentlessly helped to bring her family plus
many slaves to freedom making secret trips to Maryland. During the civil war,
Harriet also worked as a nurse and cook in the Union Army. Harriet was also the
first woman to lead and guide the Combahee River raid that liberated more than
700 slaves in South Carolina.
The Fugitive Slave Law in 1850 stipulated that the Northern States
have to co-operate if a slave owner looks for an escaped slave in the Free
States. Harriet showed her mettle again by helping to transport them to Canada.
Frederick Douglass, the famous abolitionist, writer and orator has commended
her service to uphold freedom and liberty. This
amazing woman passed away peacefully in 1913 at Auburn, MA. The US government buried her with military
honors at Fort Hill Cemetery. A life dedicated to help others, to dare, and to
achieve the impossible.
I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.
I grew up like a neglected weed - ignorant of liberty, having no experience of it.
- Harriet Tubman.
- Harriet Tubman.
Dear Harriet: I am glad to know that the story of your eventful life has been written by a kind lady, and that the same is soon to be published. You ask for what you do not need when you call upon me for a word of commendation. I need such words from you far more than you can need them from me, especially where your superior labors and devotion to the cause of the lately enslaved of our land are known as I know them. The difference between us is very marked. Most that I have done and suffered in the service of our cause has been in public, and I have received much encouragement at every step of the way. You, on the other hand, have labored in a private way. I have wrought in the day – you in the night. I have had the applause of the crowd and the satisfaction that comes of being approved by the multitude, while the most that you have done has been witnessed by a few trembling, scarred, and foot-sore bondmen and women, whom you have led out of the house of bondage, and whose heartfelt, “God bless you,” has been your only reward. The midnight sky and the silent stars have been the witnesses of your devotion to freedom and of your heroism. Excepting John Brown – of sacred memory – I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than you have. Much that you have done would seem improbable to those who do not know you as I know you. It is to me a great pleasure and a great privilege to bear testimony for your character and your works, and to say to those to whom you may come, that I regard you in every way truthful and trustworthy.
Your friend,
Frederick Douglas
HAPPY EARTH DAY
PEACE ON EARTH
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