Harriet Tubman Nomination Letter/Biography

To Whom It May Concern:

In the 1840's and 1850's American abolitionist's were a small minority in every part of the country. Harriet Tubman was one of the women who participated in the attack on slavery. She stood out from most of the other abolitionists as unique in a sort of way. The evidence that I will present to you shows how she wasn't satisfied simply to be free or even to give speeches against slavery. Harriet Tubman was important to the abolition movement because she actually put her ideas into action, which today made her even more famous than her day.

Harriet was born a slave in Bucktown, Maryland. From the time she was born she was taught to be wary of the white men. Two of her sisters had been sold to a slave trader and she vowed that she would never let that happen to her. Harriet Tubman seemed diverse from most of the other slaves around her. She had an insubordinate nature Ð'- always getting into trouble. One way to deal with a difficult child was religion. Her parents introduced her to religion; they thought it might overcome her rebellious nature. Harriet's parents, Ben and Rit were regular churchgoers and Harriet learned Bible verses. Her favorite was "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world". She also liked the Bible verses about liberation. When she heard of a fugitive slave on his way north, she thought of the verse Ð''Hide the outcast; betray him not that wandereth'. So, even as a young girl, Harriet was already thinking about liberation and fugitive slaves going north. She had heard of revolts against slavery, and accordingly she cheered them on.

In 1849, Harriet's master, Edward Brodess died, and she and the rest of the slaves on the plantation were to be sold into a chain-gang. The risks were high, but Harriet's mind was made up, she would run away to the North. She declared, Ð''There are two things I've got a right to; and these are death and liberty. If I will not achieve one then I will surely achieve the other.' She then escaped from the plantation with her brother. A few hours into the trip Harriet's brother got scared of being captured, so Harriet and he had to return. The next night Harriet fled alone into the forest. She was given food and shelter by many whites and blacks against slavery, along the Underground Railroad. When she finally did reach Philadelphia, the free-land, Harriet said, Ð''I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person; now I was free. There was such a glory over everything...I felt like I was in heaven.' Unfortunately, it didn't take long for Harriet to realize that the north wasn't so "heavenly" after all. Harriet commented that Philadelphia was more preventive to blacks than New England was. She experienced this truth when one hot day an ice cream parlor refused to serve her because she was black. On the positive side, Harriet was quickly able to find jobs around the city.

Harriet went to great lengths to protect her fellow slaves. Like every other slave, she too despised slavery. But I think for Harriet there was more to slavery than just hate. In one case, she put her life on the line to protect a slave named Jim from getting beaten. She refused to move when a white supervisor asked her to help him tie up Jim for a whipping. When Jim made a run for it, Harriet blocked the supervisor from chasing after Jim. So, he grabbed a 2lb. weight and threw it towards Jim. The weight hit Harriet in the forehead instead, and Jim got away. Luckily, Harriet survived her near-death experience. The mark on Harriet's forehead remained a visible scar of the brutality of slavery. Consequently this made her have sudden blackouts during the rest of her life, though the wound really went deep into her heart.

Since childhood Harriet played an active role in the fight against slavery. Although she could have rested easy and enjoyed her freedom, she continually risked her life to bring her family and friends north. She would not be content, she knew, until her people were free. In other words, Harriet could not be satisfied to enjoy her freedom alone. Harriet's first rescue mission was for her family. Harriet asked for the help of a free black man named John Bowley. Harriet told him that if he would bring his wife and kids to Baltimore, she would get them to Canada. And that she did. She brought over 300 slaves to freedom, along the Underground Railroad, which ranged from 18 to 20 trips. To me this demonstrated that she was so breathtaking and generous up to the point that she was even willing to sacrifice her own life for her own kind!

Harriet Tubman faced great danger guiding slaves to freedom. Southerners offered big rewards for her to be caught. Tubman employed many tactics to keep her groups moving to freedomÐ'--she drugged crying babies with sleeping powder; boarded southbound trains to confuse slave hunters; assumed various disguises; leading the weary and frightened fugitives in singing spirituals; and threatened to kill escapees who tried to go back by pulling out her pistol and shouting at them with a similar motivation, "move toward freedom or toward death!" Harriet Tubman always changed her route and her methods of working. She was very witty and sly, since she always began her journeys on Saturday night for two reasons; first, many masters did not make their slaves work on Sundays and not realize they were gone until Monday, and second, the newspapers advertising the escape wouldn't be published until the beginning of the week. So by the time copies reached readers, Harriet Tubman and the fugitive slaves were likely to be near their destination in the North.

Out of all those trips, not one time did she get caught or lose one of the slaves. If one understood this fact thoroughly, they should understand that she gained help from God; which implied that even God admired a Ð''black woman' for her actions. This evidently proved that there was definitely something more than the hate of slavery that motivated Harriet.

Harriet Tubman was an inspiration to both white and black abolitionists. She worked closely with a black antislavery