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Harriet Tubman

Civil Rights Leader

BirthdayMarch 6

Death Date

Mar 10, 1913(age 93)

Birthplace

Maryland United States

SignPisces

About

Escaped slave who became an abolitionist and Union spy during the Civil War and rescued over 300 slaves using the Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes and safe houses that aided runaway slaves. She also acted as a nurse for Union soldiers during the Civil War. After the war, she fought for women's suffrage.

Before Fame

She worked as a slave for James Cook, checking muskrat traps in the marshes.

Trivia

She helped John Brown recruit men for his raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. Her exact date of birth is unknown and there are varying accounts of when she was born. Historians have tabbed her birth year as 1822 based on records, but her death certificate lists 1815 and her gravestone reads 1820.

Family Life

She married a free man named John Tubman in 1844, and they adopted a daughter named Gertie in 1874.

Associated With

Frederick Douglas worked with her to help slaves. They both doubted abolitionist John Brown's plan to overthrow the slave system with violence.

Quotes

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars, to change the world."

Harriet Tubman

"If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there's shouting after you, keep going. Don't ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going."

Harriet Tubman

"Twant me, 'twas the Lord. I always told him, 'I trust to you. I don't know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,' and He always did."

Harriet Tubman

"I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was on of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other; for no man should take me alive."

Harriet Tubman

"In my mind, I see a line. And over that line, I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their arms stretched out to me over that line, but I can’t seem to get there no-how. I can't seem to get over that line."

Harriet Tubman

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer."

Harriet Tubman

"When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything."

Harriet Tubman

"There was one of two things I had a right to: liberty or death. If I could not have one, I would take the other, for no man should take me alive. I should fight for liberty as long as my strength lasted."

Harriet Tubman