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Harriet Tubman's background! • 1819 Birth. Araminta Ross [Harriet Tubman] was born into slavery in 1819 or 1820, in Dorchester County, Maryland. Given the names of her two parents, both held in slavery, she was of purely African ancestry. She was raised under harsh conditions, and subjected to whippings even as a small child. She slept as close to the fire as possible on cold nights and sometimes stuck her toes into the smouldering ashes to avoid frostbite. Cornmeal was her main source of nutrition and occasionally meat of some kind as her family had the privilege to hunt and fish. Most of her early childhood was spent with her grandmother who was too old for slave labour.
Why is Harriet Tubman significant? • Harriet Tubman was the conductor of the Underground Railroad. Born a slave in Dorchester County, Maryland she later escaped in 1849 and made her way to Philadelphia upon news that she was to be sold. Later she returned to Maryland to rescue her sister and her two children in 1850. Throughout the next eleven years, Tubman made 13 expeditions into the south and rescued 70 slaves She often sang songs which were codes to alert the slaves she was present. About her years rescuing slaves she stated "I was conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say – I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger."
Was Harriet Tubman safe? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ_gRFYgXMo • The answer to that question is no!! Here is a diagram that shows why she was not safe!
