Great Women of History - Harriet Tubman (The Anti-Slavery Woman)
The more one investigates, the more we analyze, the more we find people who have done great deeds, where they put their body and soul to help all those in need, there are many women in the world, regardless of the year they were born, or their social status or skin color, have done the impossible to fight against any adversity to achieve their goal. This is the case of this incredible woman who we pay tribute to with this publication, learn about the history of Harriet, this African American woman who fought against slavery.
Between the years 1820 and/or 1825 in the State of Maryland (USA). A girl named Araminta Ross was born, daughter of a marriage of slaves who descended from Africans, her parents were called; Green and Benjamin Ross, these besides having her had 10 more children. The life of the girl Ross, was not of color of roses, she did not receive any education, this means that she did not know how to read or write, when she was 5 years old, they began to put her to work, from being a nanny of one of her masters, making sure that they did not cry, because if so she would be punished with whips for not doing her work, she also worked as a maid and if she did something else they sent her to the field to harvest.
When she was 7 years old, she showed that her spirit was free, she was rebellious, she was tired of the physical and psychological mistreatment which was deteriorating her young life. For that reason she decided it was time to change that sad reality and run away from that terrible place. But unfortunately she was caught again, and for that reason when she was 10 years old she was sent to work permanently in the field crops, when she was 12 years old she had to witness an event that would change her life forever, one of the slaves tried to run away, when the foreman realized that he threw a heavy iron object, Ross to help the slave in his escape, he went through and thus received such a blow to his head, in one of his many interviews he mentioned that tragic event: "The weight broke my skull... I was carried to the house bleeding and fainting. I had no bed, no place to lie down, and they put me on the loom seat, and I stayed there all day and the next" however this had devastating consequences for his life, the impact of that object and working as if he was a pack animal, led him to suffer; Cerebrovascular Attacks, constant dizziness and Vertigo Attacks, something really sad and cruel, because this condition was for life. Her master, Edward Brodess, seeing her state of health, decided it was time to get rid of the young lady, so he began to look for possible buyers.
In 1844 Ross was forced to marry a free black man named John Tubman, but she could no longer bear to continue living among such mistreatment, so she decided to run away again, but this time she would do it in the right way, but her husband Tubman did not support her, nor did he want to go with her. In 1849 a rumor began to spread around the ranch, the master Brodess was getting sick, and would make the decision to sell all his slaves, this made Ross undertake her great escape with two of her brothers, traveling more than 145 kilometers, this journey took her to Philadelphia, on this trip she met a group of people who helped her in a unique way, they were called "Underground Railroad", composed of a group of abolitionists, both black and white, who were opposed to slavery, and decided to do something to help all those slaves who fled to the North, the curious thing about this is that they established safe places, among them were temporary homes, hiding places, food, maps and everything necessary to make such a trip safer, those in charge of guiding the slaves who fled were called "Conductors".
Ross decided to work constantly as a maid in family homes, and all the money she earned she saved for her new task, to free all those who suffered what she suffered at some point. When she collected enough money, she became a "Railroad Conductor" and helped in the escape of more than 300 slaves. She provided them with maps, food, instructions and disguises to pass unnoticed, this woman turned out to be a great strategist and very cautious, because her clothing made her look like a chicken peddler. In 1857 she managed to do something she had been planning for a long time, to free her parents, however her plans did not stop there, in 1859 she moved to New York where she supported a great protest demanding the liberation of a slave imprisoned there.
When she was free she decided to change her name to Harriet Tubman, and vowed to avenge all those African American victims of slavery and mistreatment, all the experience she gained to free slaves, led her to create great links with other abolitionists and even with great intellectuals who supported her to finance her cause, this led her to become the Chief Engineer of the Underground Railroad, thanks to this she earned the nickname of Moses, for his great dedication to lead these people to freedom. However, this led her to create a large list of enemies, something that made her have to be armed, and not only to defend herself from them, but also to threaten those released, who halfway through the journey repented or said they were too tired to continue, this led Harriet to tell them these harsh words: "Live in the north or die here". She did not want temporary problems to damage the great effort that had been made.
Physically Harriet was a woman of short stature, she looked very fragile and more so because of the condition she had, of constantly falling asleep due to the blow she received as a young girl, however how wrong were those who believed she was a fragile woman, according to historians she was able to free more than 300 slaves at the time. And she became the first woman to serve in the United States Army, there she served in various positions; spy, scout, cook and nurse, at that time a great civil war was taking place in the United States, she belonged to the Union side (these were classified as Abolitionists), who in turn was led by President Abraham Lincoln.
In 1863 she joined an operation in steamboats on rivers called Combahee River, here she served as a guide to reach those places where were the largest concentration of slaves, the operation was quite successful, they managed to free more than 700 people, at the end of the war, Harriet continued working for many causes, especially in the right of women, such was the magnitude of this, she managed to work with feminist activists of the likes of Susan B. However, the government did not help her, nor did it grant her a pension, which caused her to live in poverty. Her fame was so impressive, that it surpassed the frontiers and in Europe they knew her story, the Queen of England offered her to spend a season in the country.
In 1913, at the age of 93, she died of Pneumonia, the army gave her military honors, her death was not the end of this incredible woman, on the contrary, it was the beginning of a movement that led many generations in the struggle for rights, both for women and African-Americans, Today her name is still remembered and her great work admired, in 2016 former President Barack Obama before the end of his presidential term, began the due process for her face to represent the $20 bill, something that was suspended with the arrival of former President Donald Trump, however her story can never be erased or forgotten. This woman is worthy of constant tribute. There is something we must clarify, Harriet sought a lawyer, to initiate an investigation into his family, and came across information that simply served to increase their revenge against all oppressors, it turns out that his mother, was free, because his former master died and as there was no paper or certificate to validate that this was a slave, nothing could be done, however when the new masters arrived, they obviated that and still enslaved her. For things like these Harriet Tubman gave her life to free her own, we hope you enjoy this incredible story, which undoubtedly shows us that heroines are truer than we think.
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