Harriet Tubman is best remembered for her fearless work with the Underground Railroad, a clandestine network that carried enslaved people toward freedom across borders and into safe communities. Her long journeys stitched together trust, courage, and practical ingenuity. Night after night she mapped routes, studied terrain, and watched for danger while guiding companions who trusted her with their lives. The stories of her escapes and rescues spread through abolitionist circles and among people who hoped for a broader shift toward equal rights. In time she became a symbol of perseverance and a steady, active force for liberation that connected abolition to later fights for civil rights and suffrage [National Park Service].
Harriet was born Araminta Ross in Maryland during the early 1820s, a period when records kept for enslaved people were rare and imprecise. The exact day and year were not noted, but most historians place her birth around 1822. She was the fifth of nine children in a family that faced the brutal casualness of slavery. Three older sisters were sold to another owner and vanished from the family’s life, a loss that shaped Harriet from a young age. The peril and instability surrounding her childhood sharpened her sense of injustice and her resolve to protect those she cared for. A moment of crisis when a young brother was endangered by a sale further sharpened her refusal to yield, and the stubborn courage she would rely on for decades began to take form [Library of Congress].
In 1849 Harriet escaped from slavery, a dangerous undertaking propelled more by faith and moral conviction than by luck. She traveled mainly under cover of night using the North Star as a guide and drew on a loose but loyal network of friends, formerly enslaved people, and abolitionists who shared information and safe havens. After reaching freedom in the North, she adopted the name Harriet Tubman and quickly realized that staying free also meant helping others. She earned the nickname the conductor for her ability to plan routes, recruit travelers, and keep everyone calm under pressure. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 intensified the risks, and she began guiding people toward Canada where slavery was illegal, ensuring safety for many who would otherwise face capture [National Archives].
Even after her own freedom, Tubman did not stop working for justice. Her resolve and practical knowledge of battlefield strategies led her to the Civil War era, where she joined the Union Army in roles that ranged from nurse and cook to scout and spy. Her intelligence and courage enabled her to map routes through hostile territory and coordinate with Union forces in real time. In 1863 she led the Combahee River Raid in South Carolina, a mission that liberated more than 700 enslaved people and demonstrated that women could command complex military operations under fire. Her leadership messages traveled beyond the war and informed postwar discussions on veterans care and civil rights [National Archives; Smithsonian].
After the war Tubman settled in New York State with aging relatives and became a tireless advocate for women, especially Black women who faced dual barriers of race and gender. She spoke publicly about the importance of voting rights and civic participation, and she supported institutions that offered schooling, health care, and safe housing for Black communities. In the last years of her life she helped establish a home for elderly African Americans, ensuring dignity for those who had long lived in hardship. Illness finally slowed her, but her influence remained strong. She died in 1913 from pneumonia, leaving a lasting example of courage, service, and unyielding commitment to freedom for all [Harriet Tubman National Park].