DARE TO DREAM BIG!: From Powerless Slave to the “Moses” of Her People

Imagine This: You’re a black female slave whose old master has died, and your new master is going to sell you and three of your brothers. You know there’s a secret escape route to the North called the “Underground Railroad,” but you also know that the odds are against you if you try and escape. You have been told that escape is “impossible!”

 You’re born Araminta (Minty) Ross around 1820 on a plantation in Maryland, one of eleven children, to Harriet Greene and Benjamin Ross, both slaves.

 At age five you’re hired out to neighbors to do housework by Mr. Edward Brodess, the owner of the plantation. You work hard all day, and at night you sleep by the fire, burying your feet in the ashes to keep them warm.    

 At age seven you’re hired out to a woman to do chores during the day and to take care of her baby at night. Whenever the baby cries at night and wakes the mistress, you’re whipped, and whenever you don’t do your chores well enough to please your mistress, you’re whipped. You’re whipped so often that you have scars on your neck for the rest of your life.

 When you’re returned to the plantation, you’re sent out to work in the fields. While you plow the ground, hoe the weeds, chop the wood, load the wagons, and take care of the mules, you hear about the Underground Railroad--a network of people who lead slaves to freedom in the North. And you sing about Moses in the Bible who freed his people from slavery.

 While helping another slave try to escape when you’re thirteen, you’re hit by a heavy weight and you nearly die from a fractured skull. When you recover, you have a scar that marks you for life. But people respect your courage, and they no longer call you by your nickname Minty. Instead, they begin calling you by the name you have chosen--Harriet, your mother’s name.

 When you’re about twenty-three, you marry John Tubman, a free black man, but that doesn’t change your slave status. You’re different from many of the other slaves because you believe that you have a right to go free or die. But your husband refuses to listen to you talk about freedom and tells you that he’ll betray you if you ever try to run away.

 In 1849, your worst fears come true. The owner of the plantation dies, and the plantation’s bills are to be paid by selling some of its slaves. Two of your sisters have already been sold and are in chains. You persuade three of your brothers to escape with you, but they turn back in fear and force you to return with them.

 Two days later you find out that you’ve been sold and you know that this time you’ll have to go alone. You’ve learned  from your failed escape attempt that freedom is only for those bold enough to take it.

 Philadelphia and freedom are ninety miles away, but you know you have to try. You hide by day and travel by night, and with the help of Quakers who are members of the Underground Railroad, you finally make it to Philadelphia and freedom!

 You’re free at last, but you don’t forget your people. Again and again, you risk your life to lead them on the same secret, dangerous journey to freedom. From 1850-1861, you make nineteen trips to the South and lead over three hundred slaves to freedom. You never lose a slave and you’re never captured!

 In your later years, you continue to devote your life to the needs of others, and your last cause is women’s rights. You tell women “to stand together” a month before you die of pneumonia, at approximately age ninety-three on March 10, 1913, in Auburn, New York.

 You’ve been called the “Moses” of your people because of all the slaves you led to freedom and you leave an indelible mark on American history.

 “There are two things I have a right to. Either freedom or death. If I can’t have      one, then I will have the other.”

                                      Harriet Tubman (1820-1913)

Excerpted from They Stood Alone!: 25 Men and Women Who Made a Difference by Sandra McLeod Humphrey

 For More about

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmsNGrkbHm4

 Giving Back: Harriet Tubman spent her entire life helping others. After serving as an Underground Railroad conductor, she served her country as a Union spy and nurse and finally as a Women’s Rights activist.

 Did You Know that Harriet Tubman never learned to read or write?

 Something to Think about: Why do you think Harriet Tubman risked her life so many times to lead other slaves to freedom in the North?

 Willoughby and I hope you enjoyed this week’s true story and will be back next week for another story to inspire you to DARE TO DREAM BIG!