The life of an African-American icon
Harriet Tubman (born in slavery, Araminta Ross in Maryland in 1822) was a remarkable abolitionist and political activist. She escaped from captivity and subsequently undertook thirteen missions on the ‘Underground Railroad’, risking capture and bondage, to rescue approximately 70 people from their slave-masters. After the introduction of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 she guided her charges all the way to Canada to establish them in new lives there. During the American Civil War Harriet volunteered to be a cook and nurse. Such was her courage and commitment to the cause of liberty, that she then became a scout and spy for the Union Army. Notably she guided the raid at Combahee Ferry which liberated hundreds of slaves. In later life she became active in the cause of women’s suffrage—an inspiration to all African-Americans—and her fame rightly endures to the present day. Harriet Tubman survived t
