“Is there no deliverance for my people?” It was a question that a young Harriet Tubman had begun asking herself. Born Araminta Harriet Ross, she was one of nine children born into slavery in 1820 or 1821 in Maryland, and before the age of thirteen, she had already been on the receiving end of unspeakable abuse and had seen two of her sisters ripped from the family (Biography). “Is there no help?” she would wonder, not yet knowing that she, though scarred both physically and mentally by her early experiences, would grow to be an intrepid, tenacious deliverer of souls from the oppressive South to the bright, glorious freedom of the North. In addition to being physically scarred by abuse she received as a youth, Harriet also bore deeper emotional …show more content…
Her journey began in 1849 when Harriet, now in her early twenties, heard a rumor that she and two of her brothers were to be sold to a plantation farther south. They decided to escape to the North, but her brothers allowed the fear of reprisal to overwhelm them, and they turned back, forcing Harriet to continue alone. Shortly after she reached her freedom, Harriet heard that her niece Kizzy and children were due to be sold away from the family, and Harriet made the fateful decision to go back and escort them to freedom. Throughout this trip and many others during the fifteen years she spent escorting slaves to freedom, first to northern states and later to Canada, Harriet faced many obstacles that challenged her bravery. Once, when helping two men escape, they were faced with crossing an unknown stream. The men were afraid and at first refused to cross until Harriet audaciously walked into the water and out safely on the opposite side. This was a minor act of compared to when, in 1853, Harriet boldly guided two Union gunboats of black soldiers up the Combahee River on a raid that resulted in over 700 slaves being …show more content…
Harriet’s relationship with fleeing from her masters began as young as seven when she ran away after being caught stealing a lump of sugar. She was so afraid of punishment she would receive that she stayed gone for five days, hiding in a pigpen and surviving by fighting the animals for scraps. Ultimately, Harriet’s hunger got the better of her, and she returned to her mistress. After this, Harriet quickly learned to embrace physical outdoor labor, since this allowed her to work alongside brothers and other slaves, and she could accomplish as much or more work than the men. While the hard work prepared Harriet for the long treks that lie ahead, it was Harriet’s cunning and clever tactics that eventually allowed her to boast, “I never went off track and I never lost a passenger” when talking about her years of working with as a conductor with the Underground Railroad. During one trip, Harriet escorted eleven people, including her brother’s girlfriend, whom Harriet dressed in men’s clothes. On another, Harriet had no money to pay a family who sheltered her party, so she gave their hosts her undergarments. Throughout all her trips south, in an effort to avoid as many problems as possible, Harriet would escort fugitive slaves during the fall or