Facts about Harriet Tubman
4 Good Links
PBS: Harriet Tubman
From the network's Africans in America seriesHarriet Tubman Timeline
Wonderful common-sense detail on her lifeHistory.com: The Underground Railroad
The basic story with good background detailHarriet Tubman To Appear on the $20 Bill
2016 report from The Washington PostShare this:
Harriet Tubman Biography
Harriet Tubman helped hundreds of American slaves escape along the secret route to freedom known as the Underground Railroad in the years before the Civil War.
Born a slave herself, Harriet Tubman fled from Maryland to freedom in Philadelphia in 1849. For the next 10 years she made repeated secret trips back to Maryland, leading over 300 escaped slaves north to freedom in Canada.
After the Civil War began in 1861 she also served the Union as a scout, spy and nurse. Her success at shepherding others to safety earned her the nickname “the Moses of her People” and made her a lasting symbol of the American anti-slavery movement.
In 2016, the U.S. Treasury announced that Harriet Tubman would replace President Andrew Jackson as the face on the $20 bill. However, the redesign and publication of the new bill was later put on hold by the Donald Trump administration.
Extra credit
Harriet Tubman’s birth name was Araminta; she later took the first name of her mother, Harriet Ross… She married John Tubman, a freed slave, in 1844, but remained a slave herself until her escape in 1849… Harriet Tubman was played by Cynthia Erivo in the 2019 biopic Harriet. Erivo was nominated for an Oscar as best actress for the role.