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Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in
Maryland around 1820. At the young age of 5, Tubman was hired as a
slave laborer. Tubman never enjoyed working indoors, so she was
often seen as a rebel by her master and the other slaves. When
Tubman became a teenager, she began working in the fields with the
male slaves. When Tubman was 15 years old, she attempted to help a
runaway slave. She was caught by one of the overseers of the
plantation, who beat her with a lead weight. Tubman suffered from
periodic blackouts for the rest of her life. A few years later, the
owner of the plantation that Harriet worked on died. She heard
rumors that she was going to be sold to slave owners in the Deep
South, which was the most dangerous place for a slave to be. The
same day that Tubman heard the rumor, she fled from the plantation,
only telling her sister where she was going. Tubman began one of the
most dangerous 90 mile trips of her life. After hiking through
swamps for days, Tubman reached her destination; the Mason-Dixon
Line. She was a free woman! One year later, Tubman decided to return
to Maryland and help slaves become free. Harriet became one of the
“conductors” of the Underground Railroad, which consisted of hidden
swamps, woodlands, and a series of tunnels, all of which were
traveled on only at night. In all, Tubman made 19 trips on the
Underground Railroad, freeing more than 300 slaves. When Tubman
returned from her final trip she was proud to announce “I never ran
my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger.”
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