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Name Professor Course Date Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman was an African American born into slavery in 1822 in the state of Maryland. Her parents were Harriet Green and Ben Ross who were held as slaves by wealthy plantation owners (Humez, 10). Her birth name was Araminta Ross, and she is famous for fighting slavery, her humanitarian work, right activities and a spy for the United States Army. The unconfirmed report suggests that Tubman is a Ghanaian of Ashanti descent since that was the home of her grandmother. Three of her sisters were sold off by her parent’s masters who even attempted to sell her brother. Tubman’s father was against the sale of his son and threatened to kill anyone trying to do so (Humez, 12). Biographers believe that Harriet acquired the spirit of resistance from this story. Her family was large comprising of nine children. She, therefore, took over the role of caring for her siblings at a tender age of four. At about age five or six years, she was hired to work as a maid by a woman called Miss Susan. Tubman’s work was to watch the child while sleeping and if the child woke up and cried, the maid received a merciless whipping. These incidences probably motivated her later in life to work as an abolitionist (Sernett, 86). Her mother taught her bible stories also, and this also influenced his actions later in life. She suffered a head injury from her masters hit her with a metallic object. Tubman escaped from slavery and also helped her relatives flee and settle in Philadelphia (Petry, 38). At the same time; she used tricky ways to help fugitives escape from slavery. The most common was planning the escape in winter when nights are long
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