Harriet Tubman Mini-Q
What Was
Harriet Tubman’s Greatest
Achievement?
Overview: Harriet Tubman is one of America's better known heroes. What is not so well known is that
Harriet’s story is long and has a number of chapters. This Mini-Q presents several glimpses of the
Tubman story and asks you to determine her greatest achievement.
The Documents:
Document A: The Underground Railroad (maps)
Document B: Trip Log
Document C: Civil War: The Combahee River Raid
Document D: Civil War: Nursing The MassachuseG 54th
Document E: Care-Giving in Upstate New York (photo)
A Mini Document Based Question (Mini-Q)
# aX+9 The DBD Project
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Background Essay
Harriet Tubman Mini-Q
What Was Harriet Tubman’s Greatest Achievement?
The place was Dorchester County,
Maryland. The year was 1822, or thereabout.
The event, little Araminta Ross was born into
slavery. From the beginning it was clear she was
tough. At five years of age, Minty Ross was
hired out to do child-care. By the age of twelve
she was doing field work and hauling logs. In
Minty’s own words, “I grew
up like a neglected weed.”
Despite a loving
mother, these were hard
years. Like so many slaves,
Araminta lived with the
fear fat she would be
separated from herfamily.
After the Atlantic slave trade
ended in 1808, great
pressure was put on
Maryland’s Eastern Shore
to provide slaves for the cotton fields in the deep South.
I-historians estimate that at
this time 10% of young
slaves in the upper South
were sold away from their families. We know
that at least two of Minty’s sisters met this fate.
In 1844, Minty married a free black man
named John Tubman. This did not alter Minty’s
slave status but it did lead to a name change.
Taking her mother’s first name, and her husband’s
last Minty Ross became Harriet Tubman.
When her master died in 1849, Harriet made
a life-changing decision. “I had reasoned this
out in my mind; there was one of two things
I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not
have one, I would have the other.” Harriet
decided to run.
It was about one hundred miles from
Harriet’s slave home near Bucktown, Maryland,
to the Pennsylvania border, and another twenty
miles to Philadelphia Unable to persuade her
husband to join her, Harriet took off on her own.
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She never disclosed the details of her escape.
We know that it was mostly on foot, mostly
traveling at night, mostly sticking to northsouthstreams and the woods. It is remarkable
that she made it.
Over the next eleven years Harriet would
return to the Eastern Shore and Virginia at least
eight times to escort other
fugitive slaves to freedom.
Complicating her task was
the Fugitive Slave Act,
known in the North as the
Bloodhound Act. This act
passed by Congress in 1850
required Northerners to turn
in escaped slaves. Harriet
now faced danger North and
South.
In her trips to rescue
slaves and transport them to
Canada, Harriet did not work
alone. She was part of a
secret network known as the
Underground Railroad. The “railroad” had no
rails and except for the occasional hidden basement, it had no underground. Rather it was a
series of safe houses strung out along routes that
extended from &e slave border states to Canada.
The safe houses were owned by people, white
and black, who hated slavery and hated the
Fugitive Slave Act.
This Mini-Q includes document on
Harriet’s work with Ae Underground Railroad.
But Harriet Tubman’s life, which sketched over
ninety years, was larger than this. Examine all
the documents. Consider the importance of each
undertaking, the number of people helped, the
risks involved, the time devoted. Then decide on
your answer to the question, T7inf eras Harriet
Tubman’s greatest achievement?
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EV
Harriet Tubman Mini-Q
Background Essay Questions
1. In what border state was Harriet Tubman born?
Harriet Tubman was born in the eastern shore of Maryland.
2. How did the expansion of cotton fields in the deep South affect young slaves on the
Eastern Shore?
The Eastern Shore was pressured to provide slaves for the cotton field. 10% of the young slaves were sold away
from their families for this purpose.
3. How old was Harriet when she escaped slavery?
Harriet was around 27-28 years old when she escaped slavery.
4. Why did the Underground Railroad not stop in the United States but run all the way to Canada?
The Underground Railroad did not stop in the US so that the slaves could escape all the way to Canada which
seemed to be the safest place for them.
5. Define or explain each of these terms:
Eastern Shore
Fugitive Slave Act
Bloodhound Act
Underground Railroad
1822 — Possible birth date of Minty Ross
1844 — Minty Ross marries John Tubman; changes name to Harriet Tubman
1850 — Harriet conducts first trip on Underground Railroad
1859 — First college baseball game
1860 Tubman conduct last trip on Underground Railroad
Harriet Tubman Mini-Q
1863 Combahee River raid
1890s — Tubman active in women’s suffrage movement
1908 — Harriet Tubman Home for Ae poor dedicated in New York
1913 — Harriet Tubman dies in Auburn, New York
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Harriet Tubman Mini-Q
Document A
Source: Kate Clifford Larson, Bound lor the Promised Land Ballantine Books, New York, 2004.
Document Analysis
1. Including place names, directions and distances, describe a route Harriet Tubman was likely to
have followed from her slave home near Bucktown to Philadelphia.
2. Traveling by foot, about how many miles was it from Bucktown to Philadelphia? From
Philadelphia to St Catherine’s in Canada?
It was about 120 miles from Bucktown to Philadelphia and roughly 300 miles from
Philadelphia to St Catherine’s in Canada.
3. In the 1850s, why did Harriet feel compelled to escort her escaped slaves all the way to St.
Catherine’s? Why, for example, didn't she stop in Albany?
Harriet had to escort her slaves all the way to Canada because the Fugitive Slave Act
allowed the fugitives to be captured and enslaved in the North.
4. In terms of risk or number of people helped, does this document provide evidence of a great
achievement? Explain.
Harriet Tubman Mini-Q
This document does provide evidence of a great achievement because it takes a lot of
bravery in order to risk your own life to save others which Harriet Tubman did 8 times
and although it may not sound a lot, she managed to save 38 people in those 8 trips.
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Harriet Tubman Mini-Q
Document B
Source: Adapted lrom Catherine Clinton, Harriet Tubman: Tha Road to Freedom, Little, Brown and Company,
New York, 2004.
Note: Records of Harriet Tubman's rescue missions ar8 Very incomplete. Trip estimates range ffom 8 to 19. She made
most of her trips in and around December when the nights were long and fewer people were out. Typically, Harriet
did not venture onto plantations but met fugitives at a prearranged placa. When possible, "abductions” began on
Saturday nights since slaves generally had a rest day Sundays and would not b0 fTlissed until Monday morning.
Harriet Tubman’s Rescue Missions
Date
Pick Up Point
End Point
Cargo
Dec. 1850
Near Baltimore, Md.
Philadelphia (?)
Niece Kizzy and 2 children
Spring 1851
Dorchester Co., Md.
Philadelphia (?)
One brother plus two men (?)
Fall 1851
Dorchester Co., Md.
Canada West (Ontario)
11 fugitives including brother
Fall 1852
Probable trip
Probable trip
Numbers Unknown
Fall 1853
Maryland
Niagara Falls area
9 fugitives
Dec. 1854
Caroline Co., Md.
St Catherine’s, Can.
3 of Harriet’s brothers
Summer 1857
Dorchester Co., Md.
St. Catherine’s, Can.
Harriet’s mother and father*
Dec. 1860
Dorchester Co., Md
St Catherine’s, Can.
7 fugitives (HT’s last rescue) **
“Parents were in danger because of sheltering fugitive slaves.
”Most famous escape with drugged babies to prevent crying.
Document Analysis
1. If Harriet was born in 1822, how old was she when she made her first and last rescue?
Harriet was around 28 during her first rescue and about 38 on her last.
2. In what county and state did Harriet collect most of her slave fugitives?
Harriet collected most of her slave fugitives in the state of Maryland, United States.
3. According to this log, what is the total number of slaves Harriet escorted to freedom?
to this log, Harriet escorted approximately 38 slaves to freedom.
4. According to the Document Note, what measures did Tubman take to avoid capture?
Harriet made most of her trips in December because the nights were long and fewer people would be out. She
would also meet fugitives only in prearranged places.
5. In terms of risk, number of people helped, or length of time spent, does this document provide evidence of great
achievement? Explain.
Harriet Tubman Mini-Q
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Harriet Tubman Mini-Q
Harriet Tubman Mini-Q
Document C
Source: Emma Paddock Telford, interview with Harriet Tubman circa 1905. In Jean M. Humez, Harriet Tubman,
The Life and the Lite Stories, University of Wisconsin Press, 2003.
Note: About one year into the Civil War, Harriet Tubman was asked by th0 governor of Massachusetts to join
Union troops In South Carolina. There she headed up a team of eight black spies to operate behind the
Iin0s and provide intelligence lor a Union raid to free slaves. The raid was condumed on June 2, 1863.
It involved three gunboats, and black troops led by a white officer, Colonel James Montgomery.
When we went up the river in the morning,
Well, they wasn’t my people any more
it was just about light, the fog was rising over
than they was his — only we was all Negroes. ...
the rice fields and the people was just done
They didn’t know anything about me and I
their breakfast and was going out to the field.
didn’t know what to say. I look at them about
O minutes, and then I sung to them....
I was in the forward boat.... (T)he Colonel
blowed the whistle and stopped the boat and
Come from the East, Come from the West
. .. a company of soldiers went ashore. About a
Mong all the glorious nations,
quaner of an hour after ... you could look
This glorious one’s the best....
oxer the rice fields, and see them (slaves)
Then they throwed up their hands and
coming to the boat from every direction. 1
began to rejoice and shout Glory! And the
never see such a sight.. .. Some had bags on rowboats would push off.
their back with pigs in them; some had chickens
I kept on singing until we brought all
tied by the legs, and so child squalling,
aboard. We got 800 people that day, and we
chickens squawking, and pigs squeeling they
tore up the railroad and fired the bridge, and
all came running to the gunboats....
we went up to a big house and catched two
... When they got to the shore, they’d get
pigs and named the white pig Beauregard and
in the rowboat, and they’d start for the gunthe black pig Jeff Davis.
boat; but the others would run and hold on so
When we got back to Hilton Head in the
they couldn’t leave the shore.... They was
morning ..., I took 100 of the men to the
afraid the gunboats (would ) go off and leave
recruiting office and they enlisted in the army.
them. At last the Captain looked at them and
Colonel Whittle said I ought to be paid for
he called me. .... “Moses, come here and speak
every soldier as much as a recruiting officer.
a word of consolation to your people!”
But laws! I never done got nothing.”
Document Analysis
1. When and in what state was the Combahee River raid?
The Combahee River raid took place on June 1-2, 1863 in South Carolina.
2. What role did Harriet play in the raid?
Harriet was asked to join the Union troops and there, she lead a team of eight black spies to operate behind the
lin0s and provide intelligence for a Union raid to free slaves.
Colonel Montgomery called Harriet “Moses.” Why?
Harriet was called “Moses” because she helped people escape from slavery like Moses did.
3. Which is the greater achievement, making eight trips into slave country to free 38 slaves
over a ten-year period, or leading a spy ring and helping to free 800 slaves on a single night?
Both of the achievements are equally great because even though more slaves were rescued in the second achievement,
Harriet knowingly put her own life at risk over half a dozen times for the slaves in the first achievement.
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Harriet Tubman Mini-Q
Document D
Source: Sarah Bradford, Scenes in ffie Life of Harriet Tubman, Auburn, New York, 1869.
Note: Just seven weeks after the Combahee River raid, the all-black Massachusetts 54th made their mark on
history with thelr assault on Fort Wagner in Charleston Harbor. Harriet Tubman served as a nurse for the
wounded survivors of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers. The assault on Fort Wagner was the subjeM of
the 1989 Academy Award-winning film “Glory.” Below is Harriet's description of her nursing experiences
along with a comment from her biographer.
Harriet Tubman.- “Well, Missus, I’d go the hospital, I would, every morning. I'd get
a big chunk of ice . . . and put it in a basin, and fil1 it with water; then I'd
take a sponge and begin. First man I’d come to, I’d thrash away the flies,
and they’d rise, they would, like bees round a hive. Then I’d begin to bathe
the wounds, and by the time I’d bathed off three or four, the fire and heat
z'ould have melted the ice and made the water warm, and it would be as red
as clear blood. Then I'd go and get more ice ... and by the time I got to the
next ones, the flies would be round the first ones black and thick as ever.”
Biographer Sarah Bradford: In this way (Harriet) worked, day anew day, till late
at night; then she went home to her little cabin, and made about fifty pies, a
great quantity of gingerbread, and two casks of root beer. These she would
hire some contraband* to sell for her through the camps, and thus she
would provide her support for another day; for this woman never received
pay or pension, and never drew for herself but twenty days’ rations during
the four years of her labors.
“Contraband: An escaped staye taken in behind Union lines
Document Analysis
1. When and where did Harriet do this Civil War nursing?
Harriet did the civil war nursing in 1862 in Beaufort, South Carolina.
2. Who were the soldiers that Harriet nursed?
The soldiers that Harriet nursed were the wounded survivors of the 54 th Massachusetts Volunteers.
3. Without army pay, how did Harriet earn money to live?
Harriet earned money for herself without army pay by selling pies, gingerbread, root beer, etc. through the
camps, allowing her to earn money on a day to day basis.
4. How well were Harriet Tubman’s nursing efforts recognized by the Union army? Evidence?
Harriet’s efforts as a nurse went unrecognized by the Union Army which is evident because she never received
any pay or pension for all that she did.
5. Which is the more important achievement — conducting slaves to freedom on the Underground
Railroad, scouting a raid to free slaves behind enemy lines, or nursing wounded battle heroes?
All three achievements are equally important as Harriet put in the same amount of effort in all
three of the achievments.
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Harriet
Tubman Mini-@
Mini-Q
Harriet Tubman
Document E
Sourco: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Note: During the 48 years between the end ol the Civil War and her death in 1913, much of Harriet Tubman’s
time was spent taking care ol poor people in her home. Harriet often had six to eight people in her care.
the aged, ... Ihe babe deserted, the epileptic, the blind, the paralyzed, ... all lound shelter and welcome."
Emma Telford Memoir, 1911.
A group portrait (circa 1885) of Tubman (far left), her second husband,
Nelson Davis (seated, hat) and residents of her private home in Auburn, New York
Document Analysis
1. After the Civil War, what was the focus of Harriet Tubman’s life?
2. Who did Harriet care for? For about how many years did she do this?
3. In terms of value to society and to her country, how does Tubman’s caregiver work in Auburn
compare with her other achievements?
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