Harriet Tubman escaped slavery to become a leading abolitionist. She led hundreds of enslaved people to freedom along the route of the Underground Railroad. Changing the lives of many slaves forever.

Born into slavery in Maryland, Harriet Tubman (c. 1820 to March 10, 1913) escaped to freedom in the North in 1849 to become the most famous "conductor" on the Underground Railroad. Tubman risked her life to lead hundreds of family members and other slaves from the plantation system to freedom on this elaborate secret network of safe houses. A leading abolitionist before the American Civil War, Tubman also helped the Union Army during the war, working as a spy among other roles. 

Harriet Tubman was one of nine children born between 1808 and 1832 to enslaved parents in Dorchester County, Maryland. The year of Harriet Tubman’s birth is unknown, although it probably occurred between 1820 and 1825. Originally named Araminta Harriet Ross, Harriet was nicknamed “Minty” by her parents, Harriet “Rit” Green, who was owned by Mary Pattison Brodess, and Ben Ross, who was owned by Anthony Thompson (Thompson and Brodess eventually married). Araminta changed her name to Harriet around the time of her marriage, possibly to honor her mother.

In 1844, Harriet married a free black man named John Tubman. At the time around half of the African-American people on the eastern shore of Maryland were free, and was not unusual for a family to include both free and enslaved people, as did Tubman’s. Little is known about John Tubman or his marriage to Harriet, including whether and how long they lived together. Any children they might have had would have been considered enslaved, since the mother’s status dictated that of any offspring. John declined to make the voyage on the Underground Railroad with Harriet, preferring to stay in Maryland with a new wife.

Harriet Tubman’s early life was full of hardship. Mary Brodess’ son Edward sold three of her sisters to distant plantations, severing the family. When a trader from Georgia approached Brodess about buying Rit’s youngest son, Moses, Rit successfully resisted the further fracturing of her family, setting a powerful example for her young daughter. She was constantly having violence in her life, causing her to have permanent physical injuries.