Harriet Tubman

by Rosemary Sadlier

  The onset of the Civil War prevented Harriet Tubman from using her skills and contacts for the freeing of enslaved Africans using the Underground Railroad. It did allow her to focus her energies on nursing and cooking for the sick and injured, but she also more than realized that the success of the Union Forces, no matter how President Lincoln interpreted events, would be the vehicle through which all enslaved black people could be freed.

  Her role with John Brown, the fact that she supported him but in the end was unable to join him, is a turn of events that ultimately worked to enhance Harriet Tubman’s legacy. Instead of being one of the persons executed following his failed bid to take Harpers Ferry, she became the person who succeeded with her own military expedition. Perhaps having his example and failure to learn from, Harriet Tubman was meticulous about working with people who she knew well and felt she could trust. She planned every possible detail in the event that something went a bit off course. She had clear goals and communicated them to the people she was in charge of. She also seemed to have been as involved in the action as anyone else. She was an organized, detail-oriented, responsible leader.

  Additionally, the abolitionists, the women who supported anti-slavery initiatives, and those who fought for equality and justice, who reasoned out the nature of oppression of the enslaved black people, also determined that some of the same issues framed slightly differently applied to them. Harriet Tubman did not bring about women’s rights and suffrage in the United States, but her success and example combined with their ability to add to their organizing, and contributed to freedoms for women in the United States and Canada.

  Harriet Tubman’s example of dedication, courage, and commitment, her ability to persevere no matter what the obstacle, her ability to develop and work her relationships, and her genuine concern for others show her to be a woman who made a difference to Africans in the Diaspora, to women, to abolitionists, to history. Her example compelled others to forge their own freedom train or to assert themselves in dynamic ways and she was an inspiration to others: if this woman could succeed, many felt that they too could succeed.

  Chronology of Harriet Tubman

  (Circa 1820–1913)

  Tubman and Her Times

  1785–1790

  Benjamin Ross (owned by Anthony Thompson) and Harriet “Rit” Green (owned by Athon Pattison), the parents of Harriet Tubman, likely were born in Eastern Shore, Maryland.

  1808

  Ben Ross and Rit Green were married.

  Circa 1820

  Araminta, or “Minty,” (later Harriet) Ross was born in Eastern Shore, Maryland, likely Dorchester County, to parents Rit and Benjamin Ross.

  1820s

  During her early childhood years, Harriet was hired out to tend to muskrat traps, babysit, and weave.

  1834

  Harriet received a major head wound in the Bucktown General Store as she blocked a doorway to prevent another slave from being captured.

  1840

  Benjamin may have been freed through the will of his owner, Anthony Thompson, who had died about 1836.

  1844

  Harriet probably married John Tubman, a free black man. This is also about that time that she became known as Harriet.

  1847

  Harriet began working for Dr. Anthony Thompson.

  1849

  On September 17, Harriet Tubman escaped with her brothers Ben and Henry to Philadelphia.

  Edward Brodess died and Harriet learned she and her brothers were to be sold to recover some of the Brodess family debts. A runaway slave notice was published a month later in October offering a reward for their return.

  1850

  The second Fugitive Slave Act was passed on September 18 (effective 1851).

  Harriet conducted her niece to freedom in Canada.

  1851

  Harriet raised money for more Underground Railroad rescues by working as a cook and a domestic in private homes and hotels in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Cape May, New Jersey, areas.

  Harriet returned to Bucktown to bring her husband north so they could be together in freedom, but found he had married another, so she rescued a small group instead.

  1852

  While maintaining a home base in St. Catharines, Ontario, Harriet began making several trips into slave-holding areas to conduct people north to St. Catharines. Her route took her near Albany, Syracuse, Auburn, Rochester, then over the railroad bridge and on to St. Catharines.

  1854

  Using the extended break created by the celebration of Christmas, Harriet conducted three of her brothers out of Bucktown. They briefly visited with Ben and Rit in Caroline County and were assisted by the abolitionists Thomas Garrett (Wilmington, Delaware) and William Still (Pennsylvania).

  1855

  Ben purchased Rit’s freedom from Eliza Brodess.

  1857

  Due to being accused of helping people escape, Ben and Rit were conducted to St. Catharines and lived there for at least two years before moving to Auburn, New York. Harriet was again assisted by abolitionists Thomas Garrett and William Still.

  1858

  Harriet met John Brown in southern Ontario and agreed to recruit supporters for his cause — a fight to end slavery.

  1859

  Harriet worked with U.S. Senator William Henry Seward to purchase a house on seven acres of land in Auburn, New York.

  On October 16, John Brown led a group of 21 men on a raid against Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Unfortunately, the raid failed, and the men were captured.

  Harriet was too ill to assist John Brown, and his famous raid took place without her active involvement.

  1860

  Harriet brought out seven freedom seekers, including a baby, from Maryland.

  Harriet participated in a women’s rights convention in Boston.

  Harriet rescued Charles Nalle in Troy, New York, in broad daylight as he was about to be sent to Virginia to be charged with being a runaway slave.

  1861

  The American Civil War began on April 12, with the Confederates firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.

  1862

  Harriet was asked to help the many “contrabands” (enslaved Africans who escaped to the Union side) in Hilton Head, South Carolina, by Governor John Andrews of Massachusetts.

  Harriet acted as a scout and spy for the Union forces as ordered by General Stevens.

  1863

  The Emancipation Proclamation, co-authored by William Seward, was issued on January 1.

  Harriet planned, and successfully carried out, a rescue mission on the Combahee River, South Carolina, which freed over seven hundred formerly enslaved Africans.

  Franklin B. Sanborn wrote the first published biographical sketch of Harriet Tubman in his anti-slavery newspaper, The Commonwealth.

  Harriet began serving as a Union nurse, cook, spy, and scout in South Carolina, Virginia, and Florida. She continued in this position until 1865.

  1865

  Harriet nursed sick and wounded soldiers at Fortress Monroe.

  Harriet was injured aboard a train when thrown into the baggage compartment by a bigoted conductor who disbelieved she was given a seat. The seat was given to Harriet as part of her payment for her duties at Fortress Monroe, and she was attempting to travel to Auburn, New York.

  1867

  John Tubman was killed by Rob Vincent in Dorchester County.

  1868

  Harriet submitted her claim for three years of military services and for her role leading the raid on the Combahee. Her claim was rejected at the time, but paid later.

  1869

  Harriet married Nelson Davis in Auburn, New York.

  Sarah H. Bradford’s biography, Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman, was published.

  1871

  Benjamin Ross, Harriet’s father, died.

  1873

  Two men took advantage of Harriet’s generosity by swindling her out of some gold and assaulting her.

  188
0

  Rit Green, Harriet’s mother, died.

  1886

  Sarah H. Bradford’s second biography, Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People, was published.

  1888

  Nelson Davis died and was buried at Fort Hill Cemetery, Auburn, New York.

  1896

  Harriet purchased 26 acres, including several buildings, adjoining her property to create a home for the aged.

  Harriet Tubman was the oldest woman to attend the National Association of Colored Women in Washington, D.C.

  1903

  Harriet deeded her Auburn property to the AME Zion Church to continue as the Harriet Tubman Home for Aged and Indigent Negroes.

  1913

  Harriet Tubman died in Auburn, New York, after her years as an enslaved person, a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and a nurse, scout, cook, and spy for the Union Forces during the American Civil War. She was buried at Fort Hill Cemetery, Auburn, New York.

  Canada and the World

  Circa 1604

  Mathieu Da Costa was the first named African, a free person, to arrive in Canada. He was an interpreter for Samuel de Champlain and facilitated communication between the indigenous peoples and Europeans.

  1619

  The first group of enslaved Africans reached British North America, landing at Jamestown.

  1628

  Olivier Le Jeune, a child of about 6–8 years of age owned by David Kirke, was the first enslaved African to arrive in Canada. After being sold to a Catholic cleric, Father Paul Le Jeune, and being baptized, he was named Le Jeune, but remained a slave.

  1665

  The Code Noir, a decree passed during King Louis XIV’s reign, established how enslaved Africans were to be treated. It was primarily intended for the West Indies but came to be the standard globally.

  1689

  Slavery was given limited approval for New France by Louis XIV since colonists complained about needing more servants. Now Pawnees (indigenous people) and Africans could be kept as slaves.

  1701

  French fur-trader Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac built Fort Pontchartrain (Detroit) with the support of enslaved Africans.

  1709

  Louis XIV formally established the enslavement of Africans to meet the demands of French colonists in what is now Canada by law.

  1734

  Marie-Joseph Angelique, in the process of making herself free or in the process of protesting her owner’s actions, caused a fire to start. This fire destroyed her owner’s home as well as most of the Montreal area nearby. For her role in this accident, or act of defiance, she was tortured and hung.

  1775

  In Virginia, Lord Dunsmore recognized the significant number of enslaved Africans that could be conscripted to defend the Crown against the growing Rebel forces. “Every person [man] capable of bearing arms … including servants, negroes, or others” were to be included in the Ethiopian Regiment. Three hundred men joined through the Lord Dunsmore Declaration.

  1776

  During the American Revolutionary War, General Henry Clinton extended the Dunsmore Declaration and invited all black persons to join the side of the Crown in order to defeat the rebel forces. They were known as the Black Pioneers. Skilled black men worked as buglers and musicians through to woodsmen and general labourers.

  To weaken American forces during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), the British promised black people freedom and land for their support upon arrival in Nova Scotia. At the time, Nova Scotia included present day New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. The Company of Negroes (some were free, some were enslaved) left Boston with the British and began to settle the area.

  1777

  Sir Henry Clinton’s Philipsburg Proclamation guaranteed rebel-owned blacks who joined the British side their freedom, land, and start-up provisions. It further promised freedom to all enslaved Africans who requested protection. At least 100,000 enslaved African Americans flocked to the British side with the incentive further enhanced by British Commander-in-Chief Sir Guy Carleton promising freedom to all who formally requested it. Freedom was now possible for men and women and children for their connection to the British side.

  1781

  Reverend John Stuart, a Loyalist leader and the first minister established in the Church of England in Upper Canada, brought enslaved black people with him that had been purchased from the Mohawk Valley.

  1784

  Reverend David George, a black Loyalist Baptist preacher from Virginia settled in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. There to meet the needs of the large black Birchtown settlement, his sermons were soon valued by all Christians no matter what their race. With money raised through his efforts within the black community, Reverend George established many black Baptist churches.

  1790

  The Imperial Statute of 1790 permitted settlers coming into Upper Canada to bring their enslaved Africans with them as long as they were clothed and fed. Any children born to an enslaved woman was automatically deemed to be a slave and could become free at twenty-five years of age. No enslaved person could be set free unless they could prove that they could be financially independent.

  1793

  The invention of the cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney, made it faster and easier to separate the tiny seeds from the cotton fibre. Producing cotton became more profitable and therefore the interest in having more enslaved people also increased.

  The first Fugitive Slave Act was passed and allowed for the return of enslaved Africans who managed to cross into another state.

  Upper Canada’s first Lieutenant-Governor, John Graves Simcoe, was shocked to learn that an enslaved woman in the Queenston area was forcibly bound and taken across the Niagara River and sold to slave traders. Fearing other slave owners would do the same thing, Simcoe sought to abolish slavery but was only successful in having compromise legislation passed limiting the length of time a person could be a slave.

  1794

  Black Loyalists in Upper Canada petitioned the government to have a separate black settlement in recognition of their military service during the American Revolutionary War. While this petition was not granted, later events supported the idea of having an all black settlement based near Barrie, Ontario. The Oro settlement was created in 1819.

  1796

  After successfully fending off the British from taking their land for almost one hundred years, the Jamaican Maroons were finally vanquished through the use of fighting dogs. About 600 Maroons were removed to Halifax and tasked with the building of the Citadel.

  1808

  The importation of Africans was ended by U.S. Congress

  1812

  Richard Pierpoint, a black Loyalist in the Niagara area, petitioned the government of Upper Canada to raise a company of black men to defend the Niagara frontier. While initially not approved, it was later decided that a company be formed under the command of a white officer, Captain Robert Runchey.

  Americans declared war on the British Empire on June 18, beginning the War of 1812.

  Motivated by a hatred of enslavement and the concern that the American forces might win, thousands of black volunteers served to defend the British. They wanted to have freedom from enslavement for themselves and their families.

  1813–1816

  As the War of 1812 waned, British Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane extended an invitation to leave the United States and be transported to British territories. Four thousand black refugees accepted the invitation and two thousand headed for the Maritimes.

  1815

  The Underground Railroad began slowly with the end of the War of 1812 and the reputation that Canada had started to develop regarding slaves.

  1819

  John Beverley Robinson declared that residence in Canada made black people free and that this would be supported by the courts in Canada.

  Lieutenant-Governor Peregrine Maitland of Upper Canada provided land grants to black veterans as part of a black settlement plan in the Towns
hip of Oro near Barrie, Ontario.

  1829–1830

  In response to newly introduced “Black Codes” (severe rules to restrict black activity and mobility) in Ohio, many black people from Cincinnati opted to create a huge settlement called Wilberforce near London, Ontario. Many other black settlements were smaller, and there were about forty in Upper Canada by the end of the eighteenth century.

  1830

  Josiah Henson, after years of faithful service to his owner, reached Canada with his family after escaping from Kentucky. Using his skills in the Dresden area, he created a settlement to be self-sufficient for blacks by creating their own materials for sale. Fine timber was among the better products made for sale. He may have been the inspiration for the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

  1831

  Nat Turner, a charismatic enslaved African, used his freedom of movement from his preaching to organize a slave revolt in Virginia. Discovered before too long, he and his followers were hung and the freedom of movement of enslaved Africans was increasingly restricted and monitored.

  1834

  On August 1, 1834, slavery was abolished throughout the British colonies, which included Canada. The act formally freed nearly 800,000 slaves but there were probably fewer than fifty slaves in British North America by that time. Enslaved people throughout the world celebrated this important Emancipation Day.

  1837

  Solomon Moseby stole a horse as part of his escape from Kentucky on his way to Canada. His arrest in Newark sparked hundreds of supportive free blacks to protest by standing around the jail for three weeks to keep him from being moved to another facility. Finally, police forced their way through and in the process a riot took place resulting in the deaths of at least two supporters.