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Harriet Tubman's Role In The Underground Railroad

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The Underground Railroad was an extraordinary protest against slavery. Slaves were fighting for survival and many died in the process. These people gambled their lives to escape the barbaric realities of slavery into freedom. Of course they were not able to escape without the help of others. Slaves did not know the paths to freedom and turned to the guidance of conductors to usher them into freedom. With the aid of heroic people like Harriet Tubman, Thomas Garrett, and Levi Coffin the Underground Railroad was able to have a high success rate in the freeing of enslaved African-Americans. To begin with, Harriet Tubman played a very large role in the Underground Railroad. Before Harriet’s time as a conductor, she was born a slave. Her birth …show more content…

This gave Harriet the last name that she is known for. Harriet was afraid that she was going to be sold, so she decided to run away from the plantation. After she made it to safety, Tubman decided to start coming back into the south to rescue others and bring them into safety. During Tubman’s time as a conductor, she made more than nineteen trips into the deep South and rescued more than three-hundred slaves. Harriet risked her life time and time again to help people out of the same situation she was once living in. If Tubman would have ever been caught, she would have been executed for her actions. At one point, the bounty for catching Tubman, alive of dead, was forty-thousand dollars. Despite this, Tubman and her fugitives were never caught. Harriet would not let anyone try to turn back after they started, either. Whenever anyone tried to turn back, she would pull out a gun and say that they could either follow her or die a slave. Tubman was not going to endanger herself or the others following. If one of the runaways would have returned back to their plantation, then they would have put Harriet and many others in great danger of being caught. Letting a slave return could have shut Tubman’s entire operation down. Tubman’s first trip back into the South was to guide her sister and her sister’s children into freedom. Harriet also helped free many of her relatives including her brother, mother, and father, who were

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Although the Underground Railroad was not a real railroad, it had many brave conductors and stationmasters that helped free many slaves. Three of these honorable individuals were Thomas Garrett, William Still, and Harriet Tubman. Although slavery would have ended without their contributions to the Abolitionist community, they helped jump start the freeing of slaves before

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Her abilities to track through the woods, disguise herself, and lead others on secret missions equipped her well to help carry on activities in the enemy lines. In June 1863, colonel Montgomery asked Tubman to help guide soldiers up South Carolina 's Combahee river. Harriet guided colonel Montgomery and 150 soldiers along the river past the confederate lines. The successful union force brought back 700 to 800 slaves who were laborers in a nearby plantation, as well as much enemy property. This feat made Tubman famous.

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In this essay I will examine the Underground Railroad over a period of turbulence that spanned ten years and focus on some of the key figures involved and the significance of their roles. Harriet Tubman and Harriet Breecher Stowe were both central to the movement during this time and although they focused their attention on vastly different areas of the Railroad both women had a profound and positive impact. Harriet Beecher Stowe was a white woman from Cincinnati Ohio. When the Fugitive Slave Act 1850 came into effect it ironically galvanised a new era in the Underground Railroad where Stowe, like many other whites was spurred into action. Not only did Stowe personally aid escaping slaves by welcoming them into her home temporarily

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Not to loose their resolve many slaves created an underground railroad which lead from the southern state to the northern states and Canada. it was a sign of freedom for those still in slavery and presented hope to those that had lost hope. The slaves felt they deserved to be free and deserve a better life and were ready and willing to fight for it. One such person was Harriet Tubman who initiated the underground railroad from the south to the northern states and during the traveling she provided guidance and shelter for the slaves fighting for liberty. Harriet just didn 't free herself, she also went back and freed other slaves that were also in search for a new life.

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Harriet Tubman worked for the Union Army during the Civil War as a nurse, cook, and spy so she knew the land of the south very well. The fact that she knew the land of the south very well was extremely helpful for the runaway slaves when escaping through the Underground Railroad (Maschi). According to the Library of Congress, if any slave decided they wanted to stop their journey and turn back to return to their masters, Harriet would hold a gun at them and say, “You’ll be free, or die a slave”. Harriet feared that if slaves returned then hers as well as the other escaping slaves lives would be in great danger by getting discovered, being captured, and lastly being killed.

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Although we aren’t dealing with the issue of slavery today, there are a lot of other modern- day issues going on in society where we could use a leader like Tubman. Its people like her that really leave a mark in this world and are not lost in an abyss of all the others. Not because of a huge world war she was a part of, but because she helped put an end to some form of corruption, because she helped. One of the things that really stands out to me when I think of Harriet Tubman though, is that she gave many other people the chance to help society out too. She gave them all the chance to leave a mark on this world.

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In the 1800’s, railroads were flourishing across America; the ideas of trains and a better way of transportation was a popular subject. However, a different “railroad” was set across the country; one that was hidden from sight. Although the Underground Railroad was not an actual “railroad” and was not underground, it played a significant part in transporting slaves across the country into freedom. Many Quakers and abolitionists served as “conductors” and helped runaway slaves, providing them with food, shelter, and a save journey to the North. One of the Underground Railroads most famous and successful conductors was Harriet Tubman.

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The Underground Railroad was a perilous journey faced by abolitionists, free African Americans, and allies supporting the cause. One of the biggest risks encountered during the operation was getting caught by the slave catchers after The Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850 were enacted, meaning they mandated the capture of escaped slaves, even from free states. The journey to freedom was hundreds of miles long and weather conditions were harsh, so members of the Railroad worked together to plan out safehouses with supplies every other mile or so (AllAboutTheUndergroundRailroad, 2010). People like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and John Brown played vital roles in doing their best (even if risking their lives) to make certain that everyone is safe during the journey (Onion, 2009). The courage and resilience displayed by the Underground Railroad not only led to successful escapes, but the effectiveness of the abolition of slavery through the solidarity they upheld.

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The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century enslaved people of African descent in the United States. It was in efforts to escape to the Free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists that showed sympathy towards them. The Underground Railroad was not “underground” and it wasn’t actually a “railroad.” The reason it was called “underground” was because of how secretive it had to be and it was called a “railroad” because it was an evolving form of transportation.

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Harriet Tubman mostly known for her abolitionist work was a very influential woman that saved many slaves’ lives. She was born into slavery with siblings and parents by her side. She died on March 10, 1913, but is still remembered for all of her work. Harriet Tubman had a hard life in slavery, worked in the Civil War, rescued slaves, worked on the underground railroad and can be compared to Nat Turner who also lived in the period of time when there was slavery. First off, Harriet Tubman was a slave that suffered many beatings and punishments for her actions that would cause her to have seizures in her later life.

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There came a point in Tubman’s life that she was desperate to escape. According to the book Moses When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, Harriet Tubman left her husband and family to get to freedom. She also stayed with people that could have turned her in, so she had to have a lot of trust in the poeple that she stayed with. Harriet Tubman had to leave everything she owned and everything she loved to have freedom.

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Slavery is know to be one of the darkest periods in human history; yet, the fight for freedom in the United States was beyond imaginable. The most well-known fight for the abolition of slavery was the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a passageway created by free African-Americans and white folks to help slaves escape their lives and find refuge in free states. The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad. Instead, it was called “underground” due to it being top secret and it was a called “railroad” because it was a path for slaves to take in order to escape.

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“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” -Abraham Lincoln. As this quote says, our ancestors’ intention for this land was that all humans would be treated the same way; equal. But this world didn’t end up like they wanted.

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Harriet Tubman was a woman who changed the course of history by fighting against slavery throughout her entire life. Most modern-day individuals know her for conducting the Underground Railroad and helping hundreds of enslaved people escape from their captors. She went on several perilous journeys to southern plantations despite the heavy reward sum that plantation owners eventually placed on her head. Her courage and readiness to risk her own capture allowed many to live better lives in the North. However, conducting the Underground Railroad was not the only way she contributed to the abolition of slavery.

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Tubman was called this because she took slaves to the safety. Another way Harriet Tubman brought slaves to safety was when she codes songs to have different meanings. One song she would sing is“In Wade of the Water,” which told slaves to hide in the water. Another example of this is how when they arrived to a house they could stay at she would say “A Friend with Friends” so they would know it was her. The song “Steal Away” was a song to tell that a slave would soon be escaping.

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