Summary Of Harriet Tubman Conductor Of The Underground Railroad

1072 Words5 Pages

Every year there would be corn harvesting on the Brodas Plantation, and at this time of the year there would be rejoicing and singing during the harvest. Even the Overseer would take a break from riding his horse to maintain order. That day, a slave took advantages and ran as Harriet Tubman was picking corn. According to the book,”Harriet Tubman Conductor of the Underground Railroad¨,”The overseer did not see him until he was halfway across the field. The Overseer followed him, the black snake whip in his hand. Harriet went too.¨ This proves that the Overseer was going to go whip the slave, but Harriet went to try and save the slave.The runaway hid in a store and the Overseer went after him, threatening him with his whip.The overseer needed …show more content…

She returned to the South at least nineteen times to lead her family and hundreds of other slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Which eventually went as high as forty thousand dollars. She never lost a fugitive or allowed one to turn back. In all her nineteen trips, she helped more than 300 slaves escape. In fact, she had used the Underground Railroad herself to escape.Tubman was never caught and never lost a passenger. On one occasion , one slave wanted to go back and Harriet Tubman lifted the gun and aimed it at the despairing slave. In the book, Harriet Tubman: Conductor Of The Underground Railroad¨, Harriet said, “ Go on with us or die”. Harriet Tubman is well known for this quote and action. Ann Petry also stated ,¨She is also well known for saying ,” We gotta go free or die, and freedom’s not bought dust.” Which was a very important message when escaping slavery. Being a conductor on The Underground Railroad was difficult, especially with a $40,000 dollar bounty on your head and with a recognizable feature. Tubman would have to back and forth from the North and South, and when the Fugitive slave law was passed, she’d have to go to Canada with runaway slaves. According to Biography. com,”This was the first of many trips by Tubman, who earned her nickname,”Moses¨ for her leadership. Regardless, this tells us that Harriet …show more content…

Tubman offered services to the Union Army, and in early 1862, she went to South Carolina to provide badly needed nursing care for black soldiers and newly liberated slaves. As said, in the National Women's History Museum,¨ Tubman helped many of these individuals find food , shelter, and even jobs up the North.¨ This proves, that Harriet sacrificed her life at any moment to help many former slaves and individuals. Working with General David hunter, Tubman also began spying and scouting missions behind confederate lines. In June 1863, she accompanied Colonel James Montgomery in an assault on several plantations along the Combahee River, rescuing more than 700 slaves. In addition to the 300 slaves she freed on her trips to South, Tubman helped free 700 more. She also served as a soldier which was extremely rare for a woman to do, especially at that time. Among everything Tubman also gathered a group of former slaves to find Confederacy camps and report on the movement of the confederate troops. In 1863, she went with Colonel James Montgomery and approximately 150 black soldiers on a gunboat raid in South Carolina Because she had inside information from her scouts , the Union gunboats were able to surprise the confederate rebels. According to Petry, ¨During the Civil war, Tubman also worked as a nurse and a spy,but supplemented her income by running an

Open Document