She and several hundred Union soldiers were preparing a raid to free hundreds of enslaved people from plantations in South Carolina, part of the Confederate states that were fighting against the Union during the Civil War of to Enemy soldiers were hiding nearby—success was far from guaranteed.
But the former enslaved woman also served as a spy for the Union during the Civil War. Tubman decided to help the Union Army because she wanted freedom for all of the people who were forced into slavery, not just the few she could help on the Underground Railroad. And she convinced many other brave African Americans to join her as spies—even at the risk of being hanged if they were caught.
The Civil War was a time when women were usually restricted to traditional roles like cooking and nursing. Early on the morning of June 1, , three gunboats carrying several hundred male soldiers along with Tubman set out on their mission.
Tubman had gathered key information from her scouts about the Confederate positions. Petry, Ann. Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad. Harper, Harriet Tubman ca. Edited by Debra Michals, PhD Works Cited. Clinton, Catherine. Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom. Horton, Lois E. Maxwell, Louise P. Colin A. History in Context. Accessed April 2, William A. Darity, Jr.
Accessed April 22, How to Cite this page. Additional Resources. Related Biographies. Abrams is now one of the most prominent African American female politicians in the United States.
Between and , Tubman made 19 trips from the South to the North following the network known as the Underground Railroad. Tubman first encountered the Underground Railroad when she used it to escape slavery herself in Following a bout of illness and the death of her owner, Tubman decided to escape slavery in Maryland for Philadelphia. She feared that her family would be further severed and was concerned for her own fate as a sickly slave of low economic value.
Two of her brothers, Ben and Harry, accompanied her on September 17, Tubman had no plans to remain in bondage. Seeing her brothers safely home, she soon set off alone for Pennsylvania.
Making use of the Underground Railroad, Tubman traveled nearly 90 miles to Philadelphia. There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold through the trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven. Rather than remaining in the safety of the North, Tubman made it her mission to rescue her family and others living in slavery via the Underground Railroad. In December , Tubman received a warning that her niece Kessiah was going to be sold, along with her two young children.
Tubman then helped the entire family make the journey to Philadelphia. This was the first of many trips by Tubman. The dynamics of escaping slavery changed in , with the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law. This law stated that escaped slaves could be captured in the North and returned to slavery, leading to the abduction of former slaves and free Black people living in Free States.
Law enforcement officials in the North were compelled to aid in the capture of slaves, regardless of their personal principles. In response to the law, Tubman re-routed the Underground Railroad to Canada, which prohibited slavery categorically. In December , Tubman guided a group of 11 fugitives northward. There is evidence to suggest that the party stopped at the home of abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass.
In April , Tubman was introduced to the abolitionist John Brown , who advocated the use of violence to disrupt and destroy the institution of slavery. Tubman claimed to have had a prophetic vision of Brown before they met. Tubman remained active during the Civil War.
Working for the Union Army as a cook and nurse, Tubman quickly became an armed scout and spy. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, she guided the Combahee River Raid, which liberated more than slaves in South Carolina.
Photo: Benjamin F. In early , abolitionist Senator William H. Seward sold Tubman a small piece of land on the outskirts of Auburn, New York. Tubman spent the years following the war on this property, tending to her family and others who had taken up residence there.
One admirer, Sarah H. Bradford, wrote a biography entitled Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman , with the proceeds going to Tubman and her family.
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