Harriet Tubman - The Moses of her People

"There's two things I got a right to and these are Death and Liberty. If I could not have one, I would have the other."
-- Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman freed over 300 blacks from slavery in the South to freedom in the North. For her commendable work she herself was nicknamed "Moses."

From the time she was five years old Harriet Tubman was worked in fields, loaned out to other plantations and as a field hand. She was hit in the head with a weight when she tried to help another slave. This injury caused her to suffer from recurring narcoleptic seizures, or sleeping spells, for the rest of her life.

She escaped from slavery when her master died and she was afraid she would be sold to a chain gang. She traveled only at night using the north star as her guide. She is shown with a gun in the picture above as she carried a long rifle in hand, she warned her escapees that, if any of them even considered surrendering or returning, the penalty would be death.

Not only did she then lead others to freedom she never stopped working for the betterment of others.

In 1865, Harriet began caring for wounded black soldiers as the matron of the Colored Hospital at Fortress Monroe, Virginia. She continued helping others after the war. She raised money for freedmen's schools, helped destitute children and continued caring for her parents. In 1868, she transformed her family's home into the Home for Aged and Indigent Colored People. She also lobbied for educational opportunities for freedmen. She believed she had been called by God to help her people, and once told an interviewer:

"Now do you suppose he wanted me to do this just for a day, or a week? No! the Lord who told me to take care of my people meant me to do it just so long as I live, and so I do what he told me to do."

A more complete account of her life can be found here which I used as the source of this short article. At the bottom of the article are many links to find out more about this remarkable woman.