Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman
Born	Araminta Ross c. March 1822
Birthplace	Dorchester County, Maryland, U.S.
Died	March 10, 1913 Auburn, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Abolitionist, activist, scout, spy, nurse
Known for	Guiding enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad; service in the American Civil War; women's suffrage activism
Spouse(s)	John Tubman (m. 1844; div. 1851) Nelson Davis (m. 1869; d. 1888)
Awards	Congressional Gold Medal (posthumous, 2024)

Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, c. March 1822 – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist, social activist, and Union Army scout whose life traced an extraordinary arc from enslavement in Dorchester County, Maryland, to international recognition as one of the most consequential figures of the nineteenth century. After escaping slavery in 1849, Tubman returned to the South approximately thirteen times to guide roughly seventy enslaved people—including members of her own family—to freedom through the clandestine network of safe houses and sympathetic allies known as the Underground Railroad. Known by the code name "Moses," Tubman later claimed she "never lost a passenger" on these perilous journeys. During the American Civil War, she served the Union Army as a cook, nurse, armed scout, and spy, and she played a central role in the 1863 Combahee Ferry Raid, which liberated more than 700 enslaved people in South Carolina. In the decades following the war, Tubman was active in the women's suffrage movement and devoted herself to humanitarian work in Auburn, New York, where she spent the final years of her life.

Early Life

Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross around March 1822 in Dorchester County, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Her exact date of birth is unknown, as records of enslaved people's births were seldom kept with precision. She was one of nine children born to Harriet "Rit" Green and Ben Ross, both of whom were enslaved. The family lived and labored under a succession of enslavers in the plantation economy of Maryland's Eastern Shore.

From a young age, Araminta—who later adopted her mother's first name, Harriet—was subjected to the brutal conditions of chattel slavery. She was beaten and whipped by various enslavers from childhood, and she was hired out to neighboring farms and households to perform domestic and agricultural labor. The physical violence she endured left lasting scars and shaped her determination to resist enslavement.

A pivotal event in Tubman's youth occurred when an overseer threw a heavy metal weight at another enslaved person but struck Tubman in the head instead. The blow caused a severe traumatic brain injury that would affect her for the rest of her life. She experienced recurring episodes of dizziness, severe headaches, and spells of hypersomnia—sudden, uncontrollable episodes of sleep—that persisted throughout her adult years. Following the injury, Tubman also began experiencing vivid dreams and visions, which she interpreted as divine premonitions and messages from God. These experiences, combined with the Methodist faith in which she was raised, deepened Tubman's religious convictions. Her spirituality became a defining feature of her character and, by her own account, a guiding force in her later missions to free enslaved people.

In 1844, Araminta Ross married John Tubman, a free Black man, and took the name Harriet Tubman. Despite her marriage to a free person, Tubman herself remained enslaved under Maryland law, which determined a child's status through the condition of the mother. The marriage lasted until 1851; John Tubman did not accompany Harriet when she escaped slavery and later remarried.

The circumstances surrounding the Ross family were marked by the constant threat of sale and separation that defined enslaved life in the Upper South. Tubman's deep attachment to her family would later motivate her to return repeatedly to Maryland at great personal risk to lead relatives and others to freedom.

Escape from Slavery

In 1849, Tubman escaped from slavery in Maryland and traveled north to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where slavery had been abolished. The precise route and means of her initial escape are not fully documented, but she relied on elements of the Underground Railroad—a loose network of abolitionists, free Black communities, and sympathizers who provided shelter, guidance, and assistance to people fleeing enslavement.

Tubman's arrival in Philadelphia marked her first experience of freedom, but she did not remain long in the city. Almost immediately, she resolved to return to Maryland to rescue her family members who remained in bondage. This decision set the course for the most celebrated chapter of her life.

Career

The Underground Railroad

Between 1850 and 1860, Tubman made approximately thirteen trips back to Maryland's Eastern Shore, personally guiding roughly seventy enslaved people to freedom. Among those she rescued were her parents, siblings, and other family members, as well as friends and other enslaved individuals who sought liberation. She earned the nickname "Moses" among those she helped, an allusion to the biblical figure who led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt.

Tubman's rescue missions required meticulous planning, extraordinary physical endurance, and considerable courage. She typically traveled at night, using the North Star and her extensive knowledge of the landscape to navigate the dangerous terrain between Maryland and the free states. She employed various disguises and subterfuges to avoid detection by enslavers, slave catchers, and law enforcement. Her later claim that she "never lost a passenger" attests to the effectiveness of her methods and her unyielding commitment to the safety of those she guided.

The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 significantly increased the danger of Tubman's operations. The law required citizens and officials in free states to assist in the capture and return of escaped enslaved people and imposed penalties on those who aided fugitives. In response, Tubman extended her routes farther north, guiding freedom seekers across the border into British North America (present-day Canada), where they were beyond the legal reach of American slave catchers. She also helped newly freed people find work and establish themselves in their new communities.

Tubman's activities on the Underground Railroad made her a target of significant bounty offers from slaveholders in the South, though she was never captured. Her success drew the attention and admiration of prominent abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Thomas Garrett, who provided financial and logistical support for her missions.

Association with John Brown

In 1858, Tubman met the radical abolitionist John Brown, who was planning an armed insurrection to spark a broader rebellion against slavery. Brown, who reportedly referred to Tubman as "General Tubman," sought her assistance in planning his raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), and in recruiting supporters for the operation. Tubman's knowledge of the Southern landscape, her network of contacts, and her demonstrated bravery made her a valued collaborator in Brown's eyes.

Tubman helped Brown recruit participants for the raid, though she did not ultimately participate in the October 1859 attack on Harpers Ferry, possibly due to illness. Brown's raid failed militarily—he was captured, tried, and executed—but it heightened sectional tensions and is considered one of the events that precipitated the American Civil War.

Civil War Service

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Tubman offered her services to the Union Army. She initially worked as a cook and nurse for Union forces stationed in the Department of the South, based in the Sea Islands region of South Carolina. Her knowledge of the Southern terrain, her experience operating covertly behind enemy lines, and her ability to earn the trust of enslaved people in Confederate territory made her an invaluable intelligence asset.

Tubman soon transitioned into the role of armed scout and spy. She organized and led a network of scouts who gathered intelligence on Confederate troop movements, supply lines, and fortifications. Her most notable military achievement came on June 2, 1863, when she played a central role in guiding the Combahee Ferry Raid (also referred to as the Combahee River Raid) in South Carolina. Working alongside Colonel James Montgomery, Tubman provided critical intelligence that enabled Union gunboats to navigate the Combahee River, avoid Confederate mines, and launch a surprise attack on plantations along the waterway.

The raid resulted in the liberation of more than 700 enslaved people, who were brought to Union lines and many of whom subsequently enlisted in the Union Army. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edda Fields-Black, speaking at Binghamton University in February 2026, highlighted Tubman's role in the Combahee River Raid as a defining moment in both the Civil War and in the history of American women in military operations. Tubman is credited as the first woman to lead an armed military operation in the history of the United States, a distinction that reflects both her tactical abilities and the extraordinary trust placed in her by Union commanders.

Despite her significant contributions, Tubman struggled for years to receive adequate compensation from the federal government for her wartime service. She was paid sporadically and at low rates, and her efforts to obtain a military pension were met with bureaucratic delays and resistance.

Post-War Activism and Humanitarian Work

After the Civil War, Tubman settled in Auburn, New York, on property she had purchased in 1859. There, she cared for her aging parents and other family members. In 1869, she married Nelson Charles Davis, a Civil War veteran, and the couple remained together until his death in 1888.

Tubman became active in the women's suffrage movement during the post-war period, working alongside prominent suffragists such as Susan B. Anthony and Emily Howland. She attended women's rights meetings and spoke publicly about the intersection of racial and gender equality, drawing on her own experiences to argue for the enfranchisement of women.

In her later years, Tubman devoted considerable energy to humanitarian causes in the Auburn community. She was instrumental in the establishment of the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, a facility that provided care for elderly and indigent African Americans. Tubman herself was eventually admitted to the home when her own health declined, suffering from the lingering effects of her childhood head injury and advancing age.

Personal Life

Tubman married twice. Her first marriage, to John Tubman, a free Black man in Maryland, took place in 1844; the couple separated when Harriet escaped slavery in 1849, and they formally divorced by 1851. John Tubman did not join her in the North and later remarried. Her second marriage, to Nelson Charles Davis, a Union Army veteran, took place in Auburn in 1869. Davis and Tubman adopted a daughter, Gertie, during their marriage. Nelson Davis died in 1888.

Tubman's religious faith was a central aspect of her personal identity. The visions and dreams she experienced following her childhood head injury reinforced her belief in divine guidance, and she frequently credited God with directing her actions on the Underground Railroad and during the Civil War. Her Methodist upbringing shaped her moral outlook and her commitment to justice. She was known for her prayer life and for invoking scripture in her public and private communications.

Tubman suffered from the physical effects of her head injury throughout her life. The episodes of sudden sleep, headaches, and seizure-like symptoms persisted into old age. Late in life, she underwent brain surgery at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital in an effort to alleviate her symptoms, reportedly choosing to endure the procedure without anesthesia.

Harriet Tubman died on March 10, 1913, in Auburn, New York, at approximately 91 years of age. She was buried with military honors at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn.

Recognition

Tubman's contributions to American history have been recognized through numerous honors, memorials, and cultural commemorations. The Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn, New York, preserves the sites associated with her later life, including her home and the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged. The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in Dorchester County, Maryland, commemorates her early life and her activities on the Underground Railroad.

In 2024, Tubman was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the highest civilian honors in the United States. Efforts to place Tubman's portrait on the United States twenty-dollar bill were announced by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2016, and the initiative has remained the subject of ongoing public discussion and governmental review.

Tubman has been the subject of numerous biographies, scholarly studies, and works of popular culture. The Library of Congress maintains a dedicated research guide on Tubman, reflecting the extensive documentary record associated with her life. Historian Edda Fields-Black's Pulitzer Prize-winning work on the Combahee River Raid brought renewed scholarly attention to Tubman's military contributions in the 2020s. A museum dedicated to Tubman's legacy has also been established in Cape May, New Jersey, a town that played a role in the Underground Railroad network.

The city of Auburn continues to honor Tubman annually. Harriet Tubman Day, observed on March 10—the anniversary of her death—features free programs at the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park and community events celebrating her life and legacy.

Tubman's story continues to inspire new works of scholarship and cultural production. In 2026, Shar Walker published The Story of Harriet Tubman: The Trailblazer Who Led Many to Freedom (Crossway), a children's biography designed to introduce young readers to Tubman's life. Theatrical productions, including "Letters to Harriet Tubman," a living-history performance incorporating songs and stories from the Civil War era, have toured communities across the United States.

Legacy

Harriet Tubman's legacy rests on her record of direct action against slavery, her service to the Union during the Civil War, and her advocacy for civil rights and women's suffrage. Her approximately thirteen rescue missions on the Underground Railroad, during which she guided roughly seventy people to freedom, constitute one of the most documented and celebrated acts of resistance in the history of American slavery. Her role in the Combahee River Raid demonstrated that her abilities extended beyond clandestine rescue operations into the realm of conventional military strategy and intelligence gathering.

Tubman's life has served as a reference point in American discussions of racial justice, gender equality, and civic courage. The Women's History organization maintains an exhibit dedicated to Tubman, situating her within the broader context of women's contributions to American history. The Library of Congress research guide on Tubman provides access to primary sources and historical materials that continue to inform scholarship on her life and the broader history of the Underground Railroad.

Tubman's significance extends beyond the historical record into the realm of cultural memory. She is among the most recognized figures of the nineteenth century in the United States, and her name has become synonymous with the struggle for freedom and human dignity. Her story has been told and retold in biographies, films, novels, plays, and educational programs, reaching audiences across generations and national boundaries.

The preservation of sites associated with Tubman's life—including the national historical parks in Auburn, New York, and Dorchester County, Maryland—ensures that the physical landscapes of her story remain accessible to the public. Ongoing scholarly work, such as the research presented by historian Edda Fields-Black, continues to deepen understanding of Tubman's contributions and to challenge incomplete narratives of the Civil War and the abolitionist movement.