17 feb 2023
Timestamps:
0:00 Early Life
6:55 Escape to Freedom
9:08 Fugitive Slave Acts
10:03 Roots of the Underground Railroad
10:46 Black Moses
14:48 Civil War
16:45 Later Life
17:49 Harriet’s Appearance
18:41 Re-creations Revealed
Today, we’ll be talking about one of the bravest women in American History, Harriet Tubman. Known as “The Moses of her People,” she escaped slavery and made it her life’s mission to help rescue others. We’ll also bring her to life with some re-creations at the end of the video.
Around 1820, Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross was born on a plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland. From a very early age, Harriet was hired out at 5 years old to work as a nursemaid. For years, she endured this, and later describes this time period as a time of “severe neglect” with the scars on her neck to prove it.
She began to become religious, finding a strong faith in God and using it as a steadying force in her chaotic life. Even after these years of harsh punishment, Harriet had never lost that spark of resistance.
When she was around 12 years old, she was sent to the general store to do some shopping… but on her way there, she caught sight of a man being chased and immediately knew that he was a runaway. As his pursuers got closer, Harriet purposely stood her ground, getting in the way of the irate slaver.
The overseer then grabbed a heavy weight from the store counter, intending to hit the runaway, but instead, he hit Harriet directly in the head, breaking her skull. After the severe head trauma, she had frequent headaches and narcolepsy.
In 1844, Harriet married a free black man named John Tubman, and this is when she changes her name from Araminta Ross, to how we know it – as Harriet Tubman. Many historians believe that her changing both her first and last name indicates that she wanted to separate herself from her previous identity, and possibly, that she was already planning her escape.
On September 17th, 1849, Harriet and her two brothers Ben and Henry, made their astonishing bid for freedom.
Not long after her return, she escaped once again, this time alone. Over the course of the next three weeks, she traveled the harrowing 90 miles to the Mason-Dixon Line, hiding in friendly houses during the day, and traveling through the night using the North Star to guide her. Finally, she reached the free state of Pennsylvania. Harriet Tubman was a free woman. The Underground Railroad, the network of free people, both black and white, that were helping guide slaves to freedom, was now growing dramatically.
Over the next 11 years, Harriet became a Conductor on the Underground Railroad – and then became an organizer, and a leader. She would go back at least 13 times, although some historians believe that Harriet was being modest with this number.
But the life of an Underground Railroad operator was hard and dangerous. Harriet was determined to guide families to freedom, but she was also forced to make hard decisions just to keep them safe.
Conductors on the Railroad used genius means of disguise to protect themselves. Harriet herself was fond of dressing like a free Black man, or elderly woman.
Although the exact number of escapes she guided is unknown – Harriet herself reported a modest 70 escapes, whereas her biographer estimated 300 – she never lost a passenger.
For the rest of Harriet’s life, she would remain on her farm with her family, and continue being an activist for women’s rights.
On March 10, 1913 after a long life of service to others, Harriet died, surrounded by her loved ones. Unfathomably selfless, brave and cunning, she rose to the challenge of her time, and against all odds, she led her people to the promised land.
What did Harriet Tubman really look like?
We are lucky enough to have a few photographs of Harriet, one of which was just discovered a few years ago. This photograph was taken around 1868, when Harriet would have been in her early forties. She’s wearing nice, middle class clothing, and looks every bit as strong and determined as what you’d imagine.
It’s hard to tell, but it does look a bit like the head injury she suffered at the age of 12 affected her face – you can see a slight lazy eye in her right eye, and a downturned lip on the same side. The same can be seen on images of Tubman as she aged as well.
I’ve used the 1868 portrait for my re-creation. Since we don’t have any portraits of Tubman as a young woman, I’ve created a young version of her reconstructed face, as well as then aged her up to match her older photographs. So let’s see Harriet Tubman brought to life at every age, now.
