Harriet Tubman Fight for Freedom

A Long Journey Fighting Slavery A strong and powerful lady said these wise words: “There was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other; for no man should take me alive; I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted, and when the time came for me to go, the Lord would let them take me”. The brave women who said these words were Harriet Tubman and she was one of the leaders of the Underground Railroad that helped slaves reach freedom. “Although not an actual railroad of steel rails, locomotives and steam engines, the Underground Railroad was real nevertheless” (encyclopedia The Civil War and African Americans 329) The term “Underground Railroad” referred to the network of safe houses, transportation and the many very kind hearted people who risked their own lives to help the slaves escape from the Southern States to freedom. Many different kinds of transportation were actually used. Sometimes the slaves would travel by foot or they could be hidden on boats, or hide in wagons or carts carrying vegetables or other goods The runaway slaves became known as “passengers”, and the route traveled was the “line” while people who helped out along the way were called the “agents”. Leaders like Harriet Tubman who would travel with the slaves that were escaping, were called “conductors”.

Araminta Ross later known as Harriet Tubman was born a slave. Since her master needed money, he would rent her out to work for different masters doing housekeeping and childcare but Harriet was not good at this type of work and so she was often beaten and sent back to her original master. She eventually was made to work as a slave in the fields with her father.

One day, while Harriet was working, a slave who was trying to escape ran past her. The slave’s master was running after him “Araminta (Harriet Tubman) was told to hold the slave that had tried to escape while the owner whipped him. She refused