Are you curious to learn some weird and wonderful facts about Harriet Tubman?
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It’s time to chat about Harriet Tubman facts.
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Facts about Harriet Tubman
1 – Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross in 1820.
2 – She ran away from slavery at the age of 21 and sought refuge with the Quakers.
3 – She helped many slaves escape to freedom through her underground railroad. Her work led to the liberation of over 700 enslaved people.
3 – In 1863, she became a spy for Union forces during the Civil War. After this, she retired into private life where she died on March 10th 1913 at age 93 from pneumonia and tuberculosis.
4 – She ran away from her home to avoid being sold at the age of thirteen.
5 – Harriet Tubman’s first husband died of an illness and she remarried two years later.
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6 – In 1849, Harriet Tubman helped over seventy slaves escape on the Underground Railroad.
7 – After the Civil War, she served as a spy for the Union Army during Reconstruction.
8 – The last time she saw her parents was when she escorted them to Canada before returning to fight with her people against slavery and oppression.
9 – She led slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad, which she created as a secret network of safe houses. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the Civil War.
10 – In 1999 President Bill Clinton awarded her with the highest honor of any woman in America – the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the nation’s highest civilian award) for her work during and after slavery ended.
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11 – Today we celebrate Harriet Tubman Day on March 10th every year.
12 – Her life was recently turned into a book by Kate Clifford Larson, entitled “Bound for the Promised Land.”
13 – When she was just 13, her owner died and his wife took over running the plantation.
14 – After hearing about an abolitionist group called “The Underground Railroad” from another slave that worked on the plantation, Harriet ran away in 1849 with her sister to join them.
15 – In 1850, Tubman returned to help free her family but found they had been sold so instead she went back north to find work until she could save up enough money for their freedom.
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16 – On September 12th 1860, Harriet’s sisters were finally able to escape slavery when they met up with her at a train stop in Philadelphia.
17 – You can visit her home (which has been turned into a museum) by going to 826 East Street in Auburn. Her grave is located in Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, New York. Her home is now a National Historic Site where you can learn more about her life through exhibits on site or online.
18 – The United States Postal Service released a commemorative stamp honoring her life and work on April 20, 2013
19 – In 1850, at age 28, Tubman married John Tubman (also spelled “Tubman”) who freed her from slavery soon after the wedding ceremony ended.
20 – When she was a child, her parents were put up for auction because they owed money to their owners. Harriet’s father died when she was 7 years old.
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21 – She had 11 brothers and sisters, but only five survived to adulthood.
22 – One of the most famous quotes from Harriet Tubman is “I ran until I could run no more” which shows how determined she was to get people out of enslavement.
23 – She also worked as an activist for civil rights, suffrage, and equal pay for black women during Reconstruction.
24 – The Harriet Tubman Home opened its doors for visitors on October 8th 2005 and houses exhibits about her life and work as well as other aspects of African-American history such as segregation laws or lynching.
25 – Her life story has been told many times but it is most famously depicted by actress Cicely Tyson’s portrayal of Tubman in the 1977 television miniseries “Roots.”
One of these exhibitions is called “The Slave Dwelling Project” which explores how enslaved people lived when they were not away from their masters working (e.g., slave quarters).
