How Did Harriet Tubman Contribute To Slavery

Harriet Tubman is well known for numerous reasons. She helped thousands of slaves escape slavery and did many more acts throughout her lifetime. Most importantly, Harriet Tubman was the woman who helped change the history of slavery forever. Harriet Tubman was born in the year of 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland. She was one of nine children. Her parents, Ben and Harriet Greene Ross, were both enslaved which made her a slave as well. Her original name was Araminta Harriet Ross and was later changed to Harriet Tubman. Harriet ( Araminta ) went by Minty or Moses most of the time. Her owners beat her throughout her childhood, which left scars everywhere on her body. Harriet Tubman had no childhood experience Bio.com. A&E Networks Television,

One day, Harriet was sent to a dry-goods store for supplies, where she encountered a slave who had left the fields without permission. The slave’s supervisor demanded that she help restrain the runaway. When Harriet refused, the overseer threw a two-pound weight that hit Tubman in the head. This event caused great pain throughout Harriet's life such as seizures, severe headaches and narcoleptic episodes. Harriet married a free black man named John Tubman. This was the time she had changed her name from Araminta Ross to Harriet Tubman. Harriet became ill and her owner tried to sell her, for she had no value to him anymore, but he failed. Harriet and her two brothers, Ben and Henry, escaped from slavery on September 17, 1849. A month later, a runaway notice was placed in Cambridge Democrat which offered a reward of one- hundred dollars for every slave returned. In fear of repercussions to the family, Harriet and her brothers returned to their owners."Harriet Tubman." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 26 Apr.

She was successful in her escape as she fled north. In 1850, the U.S. congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. She rescued her brother, Moses. She found out her husband had been re-married and realized his infidelity. At this point, in 1852, she was an active Underground Railroad operator and during her lifespan she helped rescue hundreds of slaves. She was successful on rescuing her parents. In 1861, Abraham Lincoln was elected president and the Civil War started. A few years later, she told people “I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say – I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.” She enlisted into the Union army as a nurse in a hospital in Hilton Head, South Carolina during the Civil War. During the summer of 1863, she was working as a scout for Colonel James Montgomery. She put together a group of spies who kept Montgomery informed about slaves who might want to join the Union army. Afterwards, she helped him organize the Combahee River Raid. The purpose of the raid was to harass whites and rescue freed slaves. They were successful and gathered almost 500 slaves. Almost all the freed slaves joined the army. The Civil War ended in 1865 and Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and the 13th amendment was added to the constitution which