Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was born in 1822. She was born into slavery in Maryland on the plantation of Anthony Thompson. She was the fifth of nine children. Her parents names were Harriet "Rit" Green and Benjamin Ross. Both Benjamin and Rit were slaves. Edward Brodess was the stepson of Anthony Thompson, and he eventually took over ownership of Harriet's family. Around 1823, Brodess took Rit and 5 of her children to his own plantation. Brodess illegally sold some of Harriet's siblings to out of state buyers, leaving Harriet's family broken.
When Harriet was just a teenager, she was working in the fields with other slaves when an angry overseer through an iron weight at a runaway slave, missed, and hit Harriet in the head. For the rest of her life, she suffered major migraines, sleeping spells, and seizures.
In about 1844, she married John Tubman, a free African-American. On March 7th, 1849, Edward Brodess died. This left Harriet and her family in danger of being sold to another plantation. Later in the year, Harriet made a huge decision. She made her trip through the Underground Railroad. She traveled only at night, with help from both White and African-American people, she eventually found her way to Philidelphia. When she reached her destination, she looked for work as a domestic; her goal was to earn enough money for her family to travel through the Underground Railroad and meet her in freedom. Throughout the years of 1850-1860, she helped about 11-13 escape missions.
In 1862, Harriet became a nurse for wounded African-American soldiors. In June 1863, she was the first woman to command an armed military raid.
When the war was over, she returned back to her home in Auburn, NY. There she began work as a community activist, humanitatian, and suffragist. Sarah Bradford, in 1869, published a book that brought brief fame and helped finantial issues for Harriet and her family. The book's title was "Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman". Harriet's former husband, John Tubman, was killed in Maryland in 1867. Harriet married Nelson Davis, a veteren, that same year.
Harriet Tubman died at the old age of 91, on March 10th, 1913. Her life was hard, but she made the best of things, even when she thought there wasn't chance. She is a hero, in both her time, and ours.
SOURCE: http://www.harriettubmanbiography.com/