Harriet Tubman Facts

By Jone Johnson Lewis, About.com Guide

Harriet Tubman

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

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Harriet Tubman Facts:

Known for: work with Underground Railroad, Civil War service, and later, her advocacy of woman suffrage
Occupation: fugitive slave, underground railroad conductor, abolitionist, spy, soldier, Civil War, African American, nurse
Dates: about 1820 - March 10, 1913
Also known as: Araminta Green or Araminta Ross (birth name), Harriet Ross, Harriet Ross Tubman, Moses

About Harriet Tubman:

Born a slave in Maryland, Harriet Tubman escaped to freedom, and later led more than 300 other slaves to the North and to Canada to their freedom, too. The best-known conductor on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman was acquainted with many of the social reformers and abolitionists of her time, and she spoke against slavery and for women's rights.

1. Harriet Tubman's Life in Slavery
2. Harriet Tubman as Underground Railroad Conductor, Abolitionist, Women's Rights Advocate

Harriet Tubman and the Civil War:

During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman served with the U.S. Army in South Carolina, as a nurse, scout, spy and soldier. Most famously she led the Combahee River expedition, under the command of James Montgomery, helping to blow up Southern supply lines and free hundreds of slaves.

3. Harriet Tubman's Civil War Service: Nurse, Scout, Spy

Harriet Tubman after the Civil War:

In the nearly half-century she lived after the war ended, Harriet Tubman helped a biographer publish her life story, spoke for the rights of women and African Americans, helped organize the AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Zion Church, and set up a home for indigent aged African Americans.

Harriet Tubman fought for a military pension, but was only able to win a widow's pension on account of her second husband's service. When Harriet Tubman died, the people of Auburn buried her with full military honors.

4. Harriet Tubman's Later Years of Activism and Reform

Organizations/Religion:

New England Anti-Slavery Society, General Vigilance Committee, Underground Railroad, National Federation of Afro-American Women, National Association of Colored Women, New England Women's Suffrage Association, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

also see this Guide's in-depth Harriet Tubman Biography

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