Harriet Tubman
Uploaded by getogurl88 on Mar 05, 2007
Harriet Tubman was born around the 1820’s in Dorchester County, Maryland. Her parents worked on a plantation, that often grew just one crop, cotton. They named their daughter Arminta Ross, later her name was changed to Harriet. Her owner was Edward Brodas; people rented Harriet so she can work for them. At age 5 Harriets job was to wind yarn. She would sleep on the kitchen floor at night, and shared leftover food with the dogs. Harriet became very ill while working barefoot during the winter so people didn’t want to Harriet to work for them. Her mother cared for her until she had gotten well. Then when she was 7 another family rented her. There she had to clean the house and take care of a baby. Many nights she had to stay up rocking the baby. Her owner’s wife whipped her hard if she fell asleep or if the baby cried. One day Harriet took a sugar cube from the kitchen, as her punishment she was beaten, and was sent home. Her owner then decided she shouldn’t work inside, so he sent her outdoors to split fence rails and load wood onto wagons. When Harriet was about 15 years old she watched a young boy named Jim go into a store in town without permission. The man in charge of the slaves followed Jim, and asked Harriet to help tie Jim up so he could take him back to his owner. Harriet refused, while Jim ran out the door the man picked up a 2-pound weight and tried to throw it at Jim, but missed and it hit Harriet on the head. She fell to the floor, knocked out. For several years Harriet was near death. Her mother was by her side nursing her. As Harriet started to heal, she began to depend on God to help and guide her. That’s when she began “realizing that she could help others escape.
Harriet was hired to someone who did not beat her. At first he wanted Harriet to do housework, but Harriet wanted to work outdoors so she cut trees with the men. After several years John Stewart, Harriet’s owner allowed her to buy the rights to work for herself. She paid him $50 per year and in return he let her keep the money she earned working in her spare time. In 1844, Harriet married...