When you hear Harriet Tubman’s name, you think of the stories you were told of her helping slaves escape. She was an integral part of the underground railroad, but her story is often whitewashed to exclude her armed resistance against slavery purposely. Harriet Tubman led over 300 people out of bondage through the underground railroad, with over 19 missions to the south. She showed unbelievable courage, and John Brown even called her General Tubman. John Brown had tremendous respect for Tubman because of her strategic thinking, connections, and dedication to the cause, which is why he called her General Tubman. Tubman met John Brown in Canada during a constitution convention where John Brown introduced the provisional constitution that he had created as an alternative to the US constitution. In John Brown’s constitution, he planned to have everyone, regardless of race and gender, be able to vote and carry arms. This was an extremely radical idea at the time.
Tubman offered her advice to Brown and even helped him gain support for his raid on harper ferry. She also agreed to join him at harpers ferry, but she never joined him because she fell ill at the time of the raid. However, her struggle to end slavery did not end there. She joined the Union Army once the civil war began as a nurse first. However, she soon got orders to form a spy ring because of the skills she showed while conducting the underground railroad. She teamed up with Colonel James Montgomery to raid and destroy wealth rice plantations in South Carolina, to free slaves, and to recruit soldiers.
Tubman and Montgomery planned to raid at night by ship. Tubman beforehand, with a handful of others, scouted the area beforehand and committed to memory all the strategic points because she was unable to write. These points were where Slaves were waiting and at important docking locations for the mission. Tubman led 150 men on a mission toward the fugitive slaves. She saw people running from the slavemasters and being shot at while they ran. The raid resulted in over 700 people and an embarrassing defeat for the confederacy.
Despite Harriet Tubman’s service in the military, she was barely recognized as a hero, and she was never paid for her service, reportedly because she was a woman (link). Her past has often been portrayed as someone who was for nonviolent protest. Still, some modern historians, such as Cathrine Clinton, disagree with this narrative and say it is a result of romanticizing her role in the underground railroad. Her role in John Brown’s raid and her career in the military is often forgotten or deliberately left out. These watered-down stories of her do portray her as courageous, but they leave out the rest of the story on who Tubman was (link).
The fundamental ignoring of Tubman’s efforts in combat is one of the greatest crimes still perpetrated from the Civil War era. Tubman was a brilliant figurehead of the African American resistance to slavery in more ways than just her efforts on the Underground Railroad, and you have done very well in explaining exactly why. Furthermore, the tie-in to John Brown is a skillful method of carrying the topic from last week’s blog to this, all without seeming too jarring of a change.
Wow, Tubman seems even more fearless with proper information about her true history is involved! I’m not surprised that people try to devalue her efforts, especially as an African American female. I never knew about her raids or link to Brown, and I think the path you took your blog down is really interesting.
I appreciate your in-depth look at these abolitionists’ efforts outside of what they tell you in your middle school history class. These people often led complex lives and did much more than “help the slaves.” They say even the most remarkable people in history eventually get forgotten, but it’s nice that you’re making an effort to keep the conversation going.
This blog is no offense to everyone else, but my favorite. I look forward to it every single week. Probably because I am a major history nerd and I love this topic. I appreciate the discussions, also have you seen the movie / know if they discuss any of this in it… or no?
So what you’re saying is that Harriet Tubman was even more badass then what the three paragraphs she gets in a history book says she is? You are right that it is a shame that she does not get the credit that she deserves, but you do her a service by writing about her in your blog this week!