Harriet Tubman Essays - African Americans In The Civil War

Harriet Tubman Essays - African Americans In The Civil War Harriet Tubman ?Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.? (American escaped slave, Civil War Soldier and Abolitionist, 1820-1913) And that?s exactly what Harriet Tubman did. She was the Moses of her people, leading more than 300 slaves to freedom, in an operation called The Underground Railroad. She put her life in serious danger over and over again by making trips back and forth from the north to the south to free more slaves. In spite of her childhood tragedies, she grew up into a powerful role model for people everywhere. She was one of eleven kids born to Harriet Greene and Benjamin Ross. Both her parents were slaves. The Brodas plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland is where she was raised and owned by Edward Brodas, and ?People said that he was the meanest slave owner around? (Sheran). As a small child Tubman spent most of her time with her grandmother who was too old to work. At the age of six Tubman was considered old enough for labor. Brodas loaned her to a young white couple who had her weaving. Young Tubman liked to slack off a lot because she was lazy at first, and as a result she was beaten. The couple was tired of her laziness so they assigned her to check muskrat traps for punishment. While doing this job she caught the measles and bronchitis from the icy water. She was deemed useless and sent her back to Brodas, where her mother nursed her back to health before attending to more work. Tubman?s next owner was Ms. Susan, where she became a house keeper and babysitter for Ms. Susan?s infant. Tubman had no idea how to care for a baby, and was abused every time the baby would cry. She would get nervous and worry a lot about the baby crying because she did not want to get abused for it. However, Ms. Susan?s sister came in town one week and kindly taught her how to tend to the baby. Things got better after that, but not for long because one day she was setting the table when Ms. Susan saw her take a sugar cube and went after her with a rawhide switch. Tubman sprinted out of sight as fast as she could,?While running Harriet had her first feeling of freedom? (Shearn). She lived in squalor for nearly a week with pigs, and was scared of the mother pig . Before starving to death and scared that she would get shot, she finally returned to Ms. Susan?s only to be greeted by a brutal beating and sent back to Brodas. At age twelve, working for a middle aged man, she began loading and splitting wood. As Tubman?s muscles grew she began doing tasks even a grown man had difficulty with. She felt as she could do just about anything a man could just as well, or even better; but if a task appeared to be unfinished, she would get beaten and have to do it all over again, feeling lazy for not doing it the first time. Suffering such physical abuse as a child scarred her for life. She used to get whipped at least five times before breakfast for years, but it doesn?t compare to what happened when she was just twelve. She saw a man getting beat on trying to escape and as the slave owner told Tubman to help tie him up she refused she knew it was wrong to help tie him down, and she wanted him to get away and be free. The slave made a run for it and the man who was trying to catch him threw a brick at the slave but instead of hitting the man, it hit Tubman right in the head. She ended with a fractured skull and brain damage, resulting in random blackouts the rest of her life. Growing up, Tubman was always aware of how unfair life was. The slaves would work in the blazing hot fields and were forced to sing while the masters sat in the shade and watched (Dixon).One day a