Why Is Harriet Tubman Important

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Underground Railroad
When researching the Underground Railroad, the key components to research is the history and the path the railroad took. We all know the Underground Railroad was the secret pathway fugitive slaves took to escape the cruel Southern plantation owners. Conductors of the railway helped the slaves continue on the right passage to freedom. The most famous conductor that most know is Harriet Tubman. The conductors led the slaves to safe places, in which many regular citizens risked their own freedom by offering a safe house to these runaway slaves. The Fugitive Slave Act was made in spite of these perilous citizens. The Fugitive Slave Act did not discourage the slaves, they kept on dreaming to go north in the hopes to make …show more content…
Harriet’s early life seemed to influence her later life decisions. Harriet was born a slave in the state of Maryland. Her life was very tasking as she took on many roles as a maid, nurse, field hand, cook, and a woodcutter (“Harriet Tubman”). But, these jobs were not as awful as the physical abuse she endured as an enslaved African American. The most severe injury Tubman received was when she was accused of helping a runaway slave. She denied it because she had nothing to do with it; she was sent to get supplies at the local store by her owner. When Harriet opposed the white man's accusation, he threw a two-pound weight striking Tubman in the head. For the rest of her life she suffered migraines, seizures, and narcoleptic episodes. This incident gave incentive for Harriet to obtain freedom. In 1849, when Harriet’s owner contracted an illness that killed him, Tubman decided this was her given time to escape slavery. Harriet and her two brothers left for Maryland, but her brothers instantly had second thoughts and returned to the plantation. Harriet was on her own and had no intent on remaining in bondage, so she rerouted to Philadelphia. She reach freedom in Pennsylvania, but Instead of remaining in safety, she made it her mission to rescue her family and other slaves from the cruel punishment of the South. Tubman helped her whole family escape to the free …show more content…
The biggest bump in the road would definitely be the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act. With the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act, federal government gave the local power the right to issue warrants, in both free and non free states, to bring back runaway slaves to the South. This law even made it a federal crime with aiding a runaway slave. Before this act was passed, people who helped slaves escape had the punishment of a fine or little jail time. Punishment was significantly bigger after the act was passed considering the people charged with guiding slaves to freedom could face death if they were caught by the officials. This is why citizens had to be extra careful, because their lives were on the line tll. On top of all this, slave hunters could claim any black they saw as fugitive slave, even if the slave was free before. This angered many blacks, but there was nothing they could do about it besides keeping the Underground Railroad an even bigger secret than before ("How the Underground Railroad
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