Belle Boyd Essay

The American CIvil War was a bloody war between men of the same country. The Southern States were fighting hard to keep their rights to slavery. This eventually led seven states to break away and become the Confederate States. This number eventually grew to eleven, and they were lead by their president, Jefferson Davis. While the remaining states,or the Union, were lead by then president Abraham Lincoln. The war began when Davis called for his men to attack Fort Sumter in South Carolina, though no men were killed or wounded, the Fort was surrendered. This lead President Abraham Lincoln to ask for Congress to declare war on the Confederacy, and the American Civil War had begun.

As the American Civil War raged on, spies became essential to the

Isabella Maria Boyd was born on May 9, 1844 in Martinsburg, Virginia. She grew up with her parents, Benjamin Reed and Mary Boyd, and was the oldest child in her family. Despite her family’s low income, Boyd received a good education. After a few years of primary school, she attended Mount Washington Female College, in Baltimore, Maryland, and studied there until 1860. When the Civil War began, Boyd’s father volunteered for the Virginia Infantry, and Boyd and her mother tried to raise funds for the Confederacy. They struggled with this endeavor because most of Martinsburg were Union supporters. Union troops came to Martinsburg in 1861, and Boyd would hang around the soldiers and get whatever information she could. She would then forward the information to the Confederacy to use to their advantage. When the Union soldiers heard that Boyd and her mother had a Confederate flag in their home, they tried to enter their home and take it away. When Boyd and her mother refused, a soldier cursed at her mother and tried to enter forcefully. Boyd then took out a pistol, and fired at the soldier, killing him. After her trial, Boyd was let go because she was found to have killed the soldier justly. Even though she was not put under arrest, her house was kept under watch. Boyd was able to take advantage of this and was able to gain the trust of Captain Daniel Kelly. From him she was able

She was born Araminta Ross, as a slave in Dorchester County, Maryland. Since she was born a slave,her actual birth date was not documented, she claimed she was born in 1825, her gravestone said 1820, and her death certificate said 1815. When Tubman was five, she was hired out to help care for an infant. She would have to stay up at night, and make sure the baby didn’t cry. If the baby did cry, Tubman would be whipped around her neck. When Tubman became weak and malnourished, she was sent home and her mother raised her back to health. When she was healthy again, Tubman would be hired on to different houses. When she was seven, she got hired on to collect muskrats from their traps. While doing this, most of the time she would be waist deep in water. One day while Tubman had the measles, she went out to collect the muskrats and she collapsed in the swamp. Then, when Tubman was eight, she was hired to another household as a maid. One day while her masters were arguing she took a lump of sugar, and when her mistress found out, Tubman, out of fear hid in the pigpen for three days. When Tubman turned twelve, she was put to work in the fields. She preferred physical work over household work where she was bossed around. One day when Tubman was at a grocery store, she saw a fugitive slave hiding in the store. The slaves master was outside the store to bring