Harriet Tubman: An American Hero. Harriet Tubman is an American hero and abolitionist known for rescuing slaves by guiding them through a system of paths called the Underground Railroad, but that could’ve never happened because she almost died at the age of thirteen. She had many accomplishments, challenges, and a lot of importance in American history that should be talked about more. Harriet Tubman accomplished many remarkable things over her lifetime, but these did not come without challenges. She was born in the 1820s with the name Arminta Ross into slavery. At the young age of only thirteen years old, she suffered a traumatic brain injury by being accidentally hit in the head by an iron weight that was thrown at an enslaved man by an overseer. …show more content…
She survived, despite the odds, with scarring both physical and mental, and headaches that persisted throughout her life. This head injury caused her to have the condition narcolepsy, a rare but chronic disorder that caused her to randomly fall into a deep sleep at times. Even with her challenges of being born into slavery and suffering from a horrible head injury, Harriet Tubman accomplished extraordinary things. In 1840, her father was set free, and she was supposed to be too, but her new owner refused to accept that she was free and kept her and her family as slaves. With learning that her brothers were going to be sold, Harriet became determined to escape. On September 17th, 1849, Harriet and her brothers escaped from their plantation. Though her brothers went back, Harriet kept going with her will and perseverance. With the help of the underground railroad, she traveled 90 miles north to Pennsylvania, where she was free. She found work and was living free, but she was alone, without her family or friends, she wanted them to be free too. She returned south on the underground railroad and became a conductor, helping not just her loved ones, but many other people too. Even through the 1850 Fugitive slave act, she did not falter even though this made