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Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman — page 3
INTRODUCTION H arriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross around 1820 on a plantation near Bucktown Maryland on the eastern shores of Chesapeake Bay Her par ents Harriet Green and Benjamin Ross were slaves That meant Araminta would be a slave too She had ten sib lings Above all else Araminta wanted her large family to stick together Two of her sisters had already been sold carried off farther south despite their protests and tears Her mother stood before her as a powerful example of resistance She had hidden one of Araminta’s brothers for a month with friends in the woods from a Georgia slave buyer From her mother she learned just how strong a woman could be As early as age five Araminta was hired out to help care for a white baby At such a young age she was not at all prepared for the responsibility Her mistress whipped her five times every morning to make sure she did her work Sixty years later she still bore the scars around her neck to prove it She continued to be hired out to do housework and care for white children on nearby farms Quick-thinking and clever Araminta soon adopted habits that cleverly protected her against her mistress whippings She would wear as much clothing as possible and when about to receive the usual morning punishments she would cry out as if she had felt the full force of the whip By the age of twelve she made the transition from an inside slave to a farmhand helping with the harvest But 6