Who Is Harriet Tubman A Abolitionist

Sammi Ahern
Soc 290-020
LeAnn Pearson Capener
03 September 2016
Harriet Tubman Biography Profile Harriet Tubman was a strong willed abolitionist and humanitarian who is widely known for being one of the most famous “conductors” on The Underground Railroad. Throughout a span of ten years, Harriet, formerly known as Araminta or “Minty”, would make nineteen trips on The Underground Railroad to help over three-hundred enslaved people find their way to freedom. But Harriet was not always a free woman herself. Born into Slavery around 1820 as the daughter of Harriet Green and Ben Ross of Dorchester County Maryland, Harriet would face many hardships before she herself used the underground railroad to escape to Philadelphia to become a free woman.
In 1820, the Missouri Compromise would officially make Missouri a slave state and would allow Maine to be a free state and the year after that, free black men would be allowed to vote in New York. But in 1854, The Missouri Compromise was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act and was declared unconstitutional in the 1857 Dred Scott decision. In 1824, Mexico decided to outlaw slavery and within the next few years, New York would do the same. Which pertains to this topic greatly because Harriet would spend most of her life trying to abolish slavery. In 1830, The Underground Railroad was officially established, which would play a key role in Harriet’s life. With the help of The Underground Railroad, Harriet was able to help aid over three hundred others to safety and to freedom. In 1861, the Civil War broke out. The war was going on for a few reasons such as, trying to keep the Union together. In 1863 The Civil War turned into a war about slavery. They were all essentially fighting over all of the states rights and the rights of the federal government. During the Civil War, Harriet worked for the Union army as a nurse, a cook, and a spy. It is said that she was such a treasure due to her extreme knowledge of the land that she acquired on her journeys down The Underground Railroad. It is no shock that she was so involved in the war since they were fighting for the same reasons that she has fought for her whole
Nelson was a former slave from South Carolina and served in the Civil War as a soldier. In 1874 they also decided to adopt a girl named Gertie. Harriet’s husband suffered from tuberculosis for a long while and was not able to work. This left Harriet in charge of the household. Nelson ended up passing away in 1888 from his tuberculosis. She became very active in the Woman’s Rights Movement and ended up touring New York, Philadelphia, and Boston to give speeches on the matter. In 1896 she was a speaker at the first meeting of the National Association of Colored Women. Harriet also showed a large amount of concern for the elderly, which was great since there was not a lot of services available for them around that time. She cared so much that in 1903 she donated her property to a church with the terms that the house was to be used as a home for the elderly. On June 23, 1908 the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged was officially opened and after her hospitalization in 1911, Harriet was admitted to the home until her death from pneumonia in