What is freedom? Sometimes we take freedom for granted. Freedom means “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.” Sometimes it is hard for us to picture not having freedom. Harriet Tubman was a woman that had to fight for her own freedom; it wasn’t just handed to her the day she was born. Harriet Tubman was the most influential person in the abolitionist movement. She fought hard every day to keep her freedom and give others the opportunity to gain their freedom. She took 13 trips to the south to free people and give them the chance to have a life of freedom. She partook in the civil war to help end slavery. Harriet also went on a mission and raided Combahee Ferry.
Harriet Tubman escaped slavery on December 6, 1849, at age 30. When she felt the sense of freedom, she wanted to share it with everyone else who didn't have it. Before she left she vowed to return to the plantation and bring her family and friends to freedom. So she went back to get them. Was her first “trip” back in the year was 1850. Not even a full year after her own escape. She loved helping her family and friends get their freedom that she went back to Maryland an additional 12 times. Over these 13 trips, she was said to free 300plus slaves. Out of the 300 plus slaves, she saved she didn’t lose a single one. Which was very difficult because she was essentially “stealing” them. So people came after them, trying to get their slaves back. If she was found she would be returned to her “owner” who at the time had a $100 bounty on her head. She then would have been killed. But Harriet Tubman had a strategy to free them. She used the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad is a “network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States.” On her trips, she would tell some slaves that weren’t ready to leave yet how to get to the railroad. So she was saving slaves indirectly as well. She freed so many of the slaves that their “owners” got very upset. They were losing a lot of money. So they passed the Fugitive Slave Act, because of Harriet Tubman. “The Act gave the local government the ability to seize and return escapees to their owners and impose penalties on anyone who helped in their flight”. They wanted their slaves back from Harriet. So in response to this act, she re-routed some slaves to Canada. Then they responded with another law, preventing escapees from going through New York to Canada. Harriet never gave up, and always fought for what she thought was right.
Harriet Tubman was a warrior that fought for what she believed in. When it was time for the civil war, she stepped up and helped in the war. She was dedicated to getting the slaves freed and wasn’t going to stop until she won this never-ending battle. She was on the union army’s side. She served as a nurse, cook, and spy. “Her experience leading slaves along the Underground Railroad was especially helpful because she knew the land well.” Harriet contributed her skill set and knowledge instead of actually using a firearm. She knew that area so well from all her trips she could show her troops the backways and shortcuts to help them to a victory. She had her own friends and people she knew that wanted to help out looking for the confederate troops and to report back. Then Harriet could lead her troops around the enemy. She herself was also a spy. She led the Combahee Ferry Raid. The first woman ever leading an armed military option. A huge achievement for her. She worked as a spy and she figured out the lay of the land and then wrote down where everything was. This helped the Union army plan a good attack plan that they would have never done unless they had her intel. She was the reason for this raid. She was with them when they raided because she was such a help (June 1863). This one-act ended up saving 700 plus slaves. This led to her helping them with other missions and raids since she performed so well. This still affected people 100 years after her. A group of women named themselves Combahee River because they were so inspired. She was also a cook. She supported the soldiers by preparing them daily meals so they could fight for what’s right. She wanted to help any way she could so she also became a nurse. She was so happy all these men started fighting for the right thing to do she began saving their lives too. So in the end she ended up saving the slaves and the Union soldiers. She truly did everything possible to help fight in this war.
Harriet Tubman not only wanted to help save the slaves but she then started helping the soldiers who were the people who really helped put an end to this horrible habit. So she worked as a doctor and came up with a cure for the sickness that would have been terminal. She cured one of the most common terminal illnesses in the soldiers' hospitals. She cured dysentery. This usually would have made that soldier unable to fight because they would go to the hospital and die. But Tubman went to Maryland and stayed up all night searching for the ingredients she needed in the woods to save the men. This was served to the men in a liquid form. It saved their life then most soldiers were ready to go back to battle and fight for the slaves. So, just by saving the people who fought for the right cause, she was indirectly saving the slaves.