Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. During the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Tubman was an activist in the movement for women's suffrage.

Born enslaved in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tubman was beaten and whipped by her various masters as a child. Early in life, she suffered a traumatic head wound when an irate overseer threw a heavy metal weight intending to hit another enslaved person, but hit her instead. The injury caused dizziness, pain, and spells of hypersomnia, which occurred throughout her life. After her injury, Tubman began experiencing strange visions and vivid dreams, which she ascribed to premonitions from God. These experiences, combined with her Methodist upbringing, led her to become devoutly religious.

In 1849, Tubman escaped to Philadelphia, only to return to Maryland to rescue her family soon after. Slowly, one group at a time, she brought relatives with her out of the state, and eventually guided dozens of other enslaved people to freedom. Traveling by night and in extreme secrecy, Tubman (or "Moses", as she was called) "never lost a passenger". After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed, she helped guide fugitives farther north into British North America (Canada), and helped newly freed enslaved people find work. Tubman met John Brown in 1858, and helped him plan and recruit supporters for his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry.

When the Civil War began, Tubman worked for the Union Army, first as a cook and nurse, and then as an armed scout and spy. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, she guided the raid at Combahee Ferry, which liberated more than 700 enslaved people. After the war, she retired to the family home on property she had purchased in 1859 in Auburn, New York, where she cared for her aging parents. She was active in the women's suffrage movement until illness overtook her, and she had to be admitted to a home for elderly African Americans that she had helped to establish years earlier. After her death in 1913, she became an icon of courage and freedom.
Q2853205
abolitionist
ORG
Q118382
slavery
LOC
Q868393
Underground Railroad
ORG
Q8676
American Civil War
EVE
Q251741
scout
Concept
None
spy
UNK
Q1752901
Union Army
Concept
Q3246745
women's suffrage
Concept
Q501263
Dorchester County, Maryland
LOC
Q751641
hypersomnia
Concept
Q33203
Methodist
Concept
Q1345
Philadelphia
LOC
Q9077
Moses
PER
Q535519
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
MEDIA
Q248452
British North America
LOC
Q189366
John Brown
PER
Q6223430
his 1859 raid
Concept
Q985289
Harpers Ferry
LOC
Q1752901
Union Army
Concept
Q7283719
raid at Combahee Ferry
EVE
Q225519
Auburn, New York
LOC
Q49085
African Americans
Concept
Q102870
Harriet Tubman
PER
1913-03-10T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
March 10, 1913
DATE
1849-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1849
DATE
1850-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1850
DATE
1858-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1858
DATE
1859-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1859
DATE
1859-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1859
DATE
1913-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1913
DATE
+13^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
13
NUMBER
+70^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
70
NUMBER
place of birth
medical condition
place of death
ethnic group
participant
located in the administrative territorial entity
point in time