Harriet Tubman

She was a heroine, who fought for our ancestors' rightful freedom. Throughout her life, she brought down
tremendous barriers and possessed courage plus strength. Always an advocate for justice, Harriet Tubman
gravitated her actions in the cause of social justice in order for real social change to transpire. She was born
in the Eastern Shore region of Maryland. Not only did she escape slavery into freedom audaciously. She
freed many of her own family members plus hundreds of other black human beings from bondage. Harriet
Tubman was a leader of the Underground Railroad, which was a network of pathways, varied routes, and safe
houses that helped thousands of black human beings to escape the tyranny of slavery. People of diverse
colors and creeds were active participants in the Underground Railroad too. As a humanitarian and an
abolitionist, Harriet Tubman displayed an excellent amount of human compassion and personal conviction.
Threats against her life and posters of rewards (from racist southern slave owners) for her capture didn't
deter her at all.

She persisted onward as a heroine of the ages. Tubman fought for the Union during the U.S. Civil War by
spying and leading a raid (called the Combahee Raid on July 2, 1863. Colonel James Montgomery was part
of it as well. Afterwards, more than 750 black people were freed. Many of them joined the Union Army) to
defeat the Confederate, traitorous enemy. After the American Civil War, she continued to advocate for
equality and suffrage (or giving women the right to vote). Harriet Tubman lived a long life into the early 20th
century. Constantly fighting for freedom, Harriet Tubman exemplified greatness and forthright, glorious
consciousness. She risked her life for us. We owe a lot to her activism, her tenacity, and her indispensable
sacrifice. Therefore, it is time for everyone to give Harriet Tubman even a greater amount of credit including
gratitude for her actions of valor and her unconditional love for black people.
Early Life
Harriet Tubman was born in ca. 1822 in Dorchester County, Maryland. Her original name was Araminta Ross.
Her parents were slaves too. Their names were Harriet Green (or Rit) and Ben Ross. Harriet Green was
oppressed by Mary Pattison Brodess (and later her son Edward). Ben was oppressed by Anthony Thompson,
who was Mary's second husband. Mary and Anthony ran a plantation near Blackwater River in Madison,
Maryland. Also, Tubman's maternal grandmother arrived into America on a slave ship from Africa. She was
told that she was of Ashanti lineage (which is found in Ghana. There is no evidence to confirm or deny the
assertion). Harriet Tubman's mother, Rit, was a cook for the Brodess family. Ben was a skilled woodsman. He
managed the timber work on Thompson's plantation. Rit and Ben married in ca. 1808. They had nine children
together according to court records. Their names are: Linah, Mariah Ritty, Soph, Robert, Minty (Harriet), Ben,
Rachel, Henry, and Moses. Slavery threatened to split the family apart. Edward Brodess sold three of Rit's
daughters (Linah, Mariah Ritty, and Soph). They were separated from the family permanently. One trader
from Georgia wanted Brodess to buy Rit's youngest son, Moses. So, Harriet Tubman hid Moses for a month.
She was assisted by other slaves and free black people in the community. Harriet Tubman confronted the
slave owners about the sale. When Brodess and the Georgia man came into the slave quarters to try to seize
the child, something happened. Rit told them, "You are after my son; but the first man that comes into my
house, I will split his head open." Then, Brodess backed away and didn't participate in the sale. This even
influenced Tubman's resistance mentality according to her biographers.

Tubman's mother worked in the "big house." She struggled to find time for her family. Tubman took care of
a younger brother and baby. Harriet Tubman worked for a woman named Miss Susan when she was five or
six years old. She was a nursemaid. She took care of a baby. She was lashed five times before breakfast on
one day. She had those scars for the rest of her life. She resisted by running away for five days. Harriet
Tubman fought back and wore layers of clothing to protect herself from the beatings. She also worked for a
planter named James Cook. She checked the muskrat traps in marshes. She had the measles. She was so sick
that she went to the Brodess and her mother healed her. As she became older, she did field and forest work.
She drove oxen, plowed, and hauled logs. She was illiterate as a child. She believed in God and in the
deliverance sections of the Old Testament. She was inspired by spirituality throughout her life.

She was beaten constantly by slave owners in Dorchester County, Maryland. She was hit in the head when
she was hit by a heavy metal weight. That injury caused her to have epileptic seizures, headaches, visions,
and dream experiences. This existed throughout her life. This occurred after one time, the adolescent
Tubman was sent to a dry goods store for supplies. She saw a slave owned by another family, who had left
the fields without permission. His overseer wanted her to help restrain the slave. She refused. The slave ran
away. The overseer threw a 2 pound weight at him. It struck her. Her hair saved her life. She was unconscious
and bleeding. She had no medical care for 2 days. It was a miracle that she survived. She was sent back to
the fields. She had blood and sweat on her face. Some believe that she had temporal lobe epilepsy as a
product from the injury. She had seizures and many like-minded episodes.

Escape from Slavery

On 1840, Tubman's father (or Ben) was manumitted from slavery at the age of 45. This was stipulated in a
former owner's will. His actual age was closer to 55. He worked as a timber estimator and foreman for the
Thompson family. Years later, Tubman used a white attorney to investigate her mother's legal status. He was
paid 5 dollars. The lawyer found that a former owner had issued instructions that Rit like her husband would
be manumitted by 45 years old. The record showed a similar provision to Rit's children and any children born
after she reached 45 years old age were legally free. The Pattison and Brodess families ignored this
document. Tubman wanted to free her family. At 1844, Harriet Tubman married a free black man. His name
was John Tubman. It was a complicated union since Tubman was once a slave during this time. Blended
marriages of free people of color marrying enslaved people were common in the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Half of the black population in that region was free. Most African American families had both free and
enslaved members. Tubman changed her name from Arminta to Harriet after her marriage. She might have
adopted her mother's name out of religious conversion or to honor another relative.
Harriet Tubman was ill again in 1849. Edward Brodess tried to sell her, but no one would buy her. She was
angry at slavery and her family’s suffering. So, Tubman Harriet Tubman prayed for the owner to change his
ways. She said later: "I prayed all night long for my master till the first of March; and all the time he was
bringing people to look at me, and trying to sell me." When it appeared as though a sale was being
concluded, "I changed my prayer," she said. "First of March I began to pray, 'Oh Lord, if you ain't never going
to change that man's heart, kill him, Lord, and take him out of the way." A week later, Brodess died, and
Tubman expressed regret for her earlier sentiments. Brodess's death could have increased the likelihood that
Tubman would be sold and her family broken apart. His widow was Eliza. Eliza worked to sell the family's
slaves. Then, Tubman decided to escape. She didn't wait for Eliza to continue evil any longer among
her and her family. "[T]here was one of two things I had a right to," she explained later, "liberty or
death; if I could not have one, I would have the other." Tubman was hired out to Dr. Anthony Thompson.
He owned a large plantation in Popular Neck in neighboring Caroline County. On September 17, 1849,
Tubman (and her brothers Ben and Henry) escaped from slavery. Eliza didn't realize her escape for a time,
because the slaves were hired out for some time. Eliza posted a runaway notice in the Cambridge Democrat.
Eliza offered 100 dollars for each slave returned. Tubman's brothers had second thoughts in the beginning.
Ben may have just become a father. The 2 men went back. Tubman returned with them.

Later, Tubman escaped again. She left without her brothers. She tried to tell her mother of her plans. She
sang a coded song to Mary, a trusted fellow slave, that was a farewell. "I'll meet you in the morning," she
intoned, "I'm bound for the promised land." Harriet Tubman used the Underground Railroad to help her
travel into the North. The Underground Railroad was made up of organized systems of free and enslaved
black people plus abolitionists including other activists. One large member of the network was the Religious
Society of Friends or Quakers. The Preston area near Poplar Neck in Caroline County contained a substantial
Quaker community and was probably an important first stop during Tubman's escape. She took a route
northeast along the Choptank River via Delaware and then north into Pennsylvania. She traveled almost 90
miles. She walked by foot. This took from 5 days to three weeks. She used the North Star to travel by night.
She avoided slave catchers. The conductors of the Underground Railroad were very successful. Tubman
traveled into a friendly house and hid in many locales. She knew of the land. She was happy to reach
Pennsylvania. She said that it felt like Heaven to be free. She was called Moses by abolitionist William Lloyd
Garrison because of her courageous actions. Moses was from the story of Exodus who freed Hebrews from
slavery in ancient Egypt She worked in Maryland to rescue people. Moses was used in code via songs like Go
Down Moses to signal her act to free her people. She changed the tempo of singing to mention whether it
was either safe or too dangerous. Go Down Moses song was sung by black regiments during the Civil War
and it's song today to pay tribute to Tubman and to various struggles for freedom.

Harriet Tubman traveled into Philadelphia. She missed her father, mother, brothers, and sisters. She saved
money by working jobs. The evil Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 wanted to punish slaves who escaped. It funded
law enforcement to kidnap black people. Therefore, many black people sought refuse in Southern Ontario.
Ontario banned slavery by that time. In Philadelphia, many poor Irish immigrants competed with free black
people for work increasing racial tensions. On December 1850, Harriet Tubman was told something. It was
about her niece Kessiah and her two children (6 year old James Alfred and baby Araminta) about to be sold
in Cambridge. She came into action to stop this. She came into Baltimore where her brother in law Tom
Tubman hid her until the sale. Kessiah's husband was a free black man named John Bowley. Bowley, Kessiah,
and their children escaped into a nearby safe house. By night, Bowley sailed the family to Baltimore where
they met Tubman. Tubman brought the family to Philadelphia. During the next spring, Harriet Tubman
helped to free her other family members. During this second trip, Tubman found her brother Moses and 2
 other men. She might have worked with the Quaker Thomas Garrett in Wilmington, Delaware. He was an
abolitionist. She was more confident with each trip and her family knew of her heroism. She worked with
many people. She said in 1897 (in an interview with Wilbur Siebert) that she stayed with many black and
white people like ministers, activists, and families to help free people. She came back into Dorchester County
in the fall of 1851. She wanted to find her husband John. Yet, John was married to another woman named
Caroline. John wanted to stay put. She freed more slaves and led them to Philadelphia. John and Caroline
lived together and John was killed 16 years later in an argument with a white man named Robert Vincent.
Many slaves went into Southern Ontario because of the Fugitive Slave act made it more difficult for black
people in the North. She led others to escape slavery in December 1851. They could have stopped in the
home of Frederick Douglass as his third autobiography mentioned 11 people at his house before. Harriet
Tubman and Frederick Douglass admired each other a great deal. Harriet Tubman freed more people in the
Eastern Shore of Maryland. She freed her brothers Henry, Ben and Robert (plus their wives and children). She
worked in the winter. She used spirituals in coded messages to help those to freedom. She carried a revolver
to defend herself. She didn't allow others to go back. Harriet Tubman was never captured. Years later, she
told an audience: "I was conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what
most conductors can't say – I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger." She led
many of her relatives into Ontario, Canada.

Remembering Legendary, Heroic Abolitionists

Sister Henrietta Smith Brother Lunsford Lane Sister Harriet Ann Jacobs Brother Solomon Northup
Bowers Duterte was the fought against slavery lived a long life. She was was the author of his
first woman undertaker in throughout his life. He was born in Edenton, North memoir, Twelve years a
America. She was born free born near Raleigh, North Carolina. She escaped from Slave. He was a free born
in Philadelphia, Carolina. His narrative (in slavery and became an African American from
Pennsylvania. She also was the form of an abolitionist. She wrote her New York. He was
an abolitionist and worked autobiography) about his own autobiographical kidnapped and held as a
diligently in growing the experiences in slavery has novel entitled, Incidents in slave for 12 years in
Underground Railroad in gone a long way in the Life of a Slave Girl. She Louisiana. His family,
saving human lives. She exposing how brutal worked in Washington, friends, and the Governor
was a member of Moral American slavery was. He D.C. to promote education of New York (Washington
Reform Retreat, which lived in Boston, for African Americans. Her Hunt) caused him to regain
wanted slavery to end and Cambridge, Massachusetts, spirit was strong and we his freedom on January 3,
equal rights for women. and New York City. praise her excellence. 1853.
Harriet Tubman's Continued Activism
By April of 1858, Tubman met abolitionist John Brown. Brown wanted to use self-defense and violence to
end slavery in America. She didn't agree with violence against whites, but she agreed with the goal of ending
slavery in America. Both of them believed that God told them to fight the evil of slavery. She said that she
had a prophetic vision of meeting Brown before their encounter. Brown wanted to attack Harpers Ferry to
get people to organize a revolt against slavery. She called her General Tubman. She knew of networks and
resources in the border states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. Brown wanted her expertise.
Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison didn't agree with the Harpers Ferry raid. Tubman organized
former slaves to meet with John Brown. John Brown had a meeting in Chatham, Ontario to show his plan for
the raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia on May 8, 1858. Brown put the act on hold when the government knew of
his plans. Tubman aided him in the effort. The fact is that slavery is tyranny and using militant, legitimate,
and revolutionary means to abolish slavery is legitimate. John Brown was a brave man.

Tubman spoke to abolitionist audiences and helping her relatives. Brown prepared for the attack. October
16, 1859 was when the raid took place. Tubman wasn't there. The raid failed and Brown was hanged as a
martyr. He was hanged in December 1859. Harriet Tubman praised John Brown as a hero. In early 1859,
abolitionist Republican U.S. Senator William H. Seward sold Tubman land near Auburn, New York for $1,200.
The city was where antislavery activism was real. She was friends with many people in the area. Her relatives
lived in Auburn too. Later, Harriet returned back from Maryland with her niece and a young black girl named
Margaret. November 1860 was the time of her last rescue mission. She rescued her sister Rachels' two
children Ben and Angerine. Rachel died. They lived in the home of David and Martha Wright in Auburn, New
York on December 28, 1860.
The American Civil War
During the American Civil War, Harriet Tubman worked with the Union to end slavery. General Benjamin
Butler aided escaped slavery coming into Fort Monroe. Tubman worked with Union abolitionists in Boston
and Philadelphia. She worked in Port Royal, South Carolina with black newly freed people. She worked with
abolitionist General David Hunter. Hunter organized black regiments. Abraham Lincoln reprimanded Hunter
for his actions and Tubman criticized Lincoln. She helped aiding soldiers in Port Royal. She scouted areas and
used her efforts to aid the Combahee River Raid. That was in South Carolina. She helped to liberate black
men, women, and children. That was when Tubman was the first woman to lead an armed assault during the
Civil War. Montgomery was involved too. It happened on June 2, 1863. She knew of the land, because the
marshes and rivers in South Carolina were similar to those of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The raid freed
more than 750 slaves. Newspapers praised Tubman's energy, patriotism, and integrity. She worked with
Colonel Robert Gould Shaw at the assault on Fort Wagner. This event was shown in the film Glory. She
worked with intelligence alongside with Colonel James Montgomery and gave intelligence that aided the
capture of Jacksonville, Florida. Tubman worked for the Union continuously. She liberated slaves and nursed
the wounded soldiers in Virginia. She cared for her parents too. The Confederacy surrendered on April of
1865. Afterwards, Tubman went home to Auburn, New York.
Later Life
Harriet Tubman continued to live her life. She was assaulted in a train ride to New York. The conductor
wanted her to go into the smoking car. She refused as she worked for the government. He cursed at her. He
grabbed her and she defended herself as she had every right to do. He called 2 other passengers for help.
She clutched at the railing. The men broke her arm at the railing. They threw her in the smoking car causing
her more injuries. She was cursed at by more white passengers and some wanted her to leave the train. She
wasn't paid a regularly salary. She was denied compensation. She was disrespected by racists. Her family was
in poverty and she had difficulties in getting wealth. She lived in Auburn, New York. Nelson Charles Davis
helped Tubman. He was 5 foot 11 inch tall. He was the veteran of the 8th United States Colored Infantry. He
was 22 younger than her, but they fell in love and married on March 18, 1869. They wed at the Central
Presbyterian Church. They adopted a baby girl Gertie in 1874 and the lived as a family. Nelson died of
tuberculosis on October 14, 1888. Sarah Hopkins Bradford (who admired Tubman) wrote an authorized
biography entitled Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman. The 132-page volume was published in 1869, and
brought Tubman some US $1,200 in revenue. She wrote Harriet, the Moses of her People in 1886. Tubman
faced debts. It would be until 1899 that the government increased Tubman's pension after she petitioned
Congress to do so in 1898. She promoted women's suffrage or women having the right to vote. She
promoted equality. She traveled into New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. to promote women voting
rights.

She spoke at the first meeting of the National Federation of Afro-American Women in 1896. She worked in
the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Auburn in 1903. She donated land to the church. She wanted
to helped elderly black people. The Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged opened on June 23, 1908. She had
brain surgery to deal with the seizures. By 1911, her body became frail. She died of pneumonia in 1913. She
was surrounded by friends and family. Just before she died, she told those in the room: "I go to prepare
a place for you." She was buried with military honors at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, New York.

Her Legacy
She inspired African Americans who desired equality and civil rights. She has been by people of all races as a
heroic black woman and people from across the political spectrum respect her a great deal. The city of
Auburn, New York displayed a commemorative plaque erected in 1914 that celebrated the achievements of
Sister Harriet Tubman. She was a hero. The Harriet Tubman home is now a museum and educational center.
By March of 2013, President Barack Obama signed a proclamation creating the Underground Railroad
National Monument on the Eastern Shore. Harriet Tubman was posthumously inducted into the Maryland
Women's Hall of Fame. Today, we honor her heroism and sacrifice for us.

By Timothy
 Appendix A: The Abolitionist Movement
The abolitionist movement was an international movement that wanted to end slavery forever. In America
alone, thousands of people during the 19th century were involved. Also, the movement was multiracial and
black people acted courageously in the movement too. There were abolitionists in the Americas, England,
France, Africa, and throughout the Earth as slavery existed in the four corners of the Earth. The abolitionist
movement had many groups. Some abolitionists wanted slavery to end gradually and some wanted to end
as soon as possible. Some didn’t want to be involved in political affairs and some wanted to be involved in
political matters. Some were conservative or moderate and other abolitionists were progressive (in desiring
not just an end to slavery, but racial equality in general including the liberation of women). So, the diversity
of the abolitionist movement must be understood fully in understanding this great social movement. First,
the international slave trade was a capitalist enterprise that abused the human rights of black people
including other human beings. Slavery was used in the North and the South. The Portuguese started the
modern Maafa during the late 1400’s. Since the 1400’s, black people and non-black people opposed slavery.
In 1526, the San Miguel de Gualdape rebellion existed. This was when Africans rebelled against the Spanish
colonists for freedom and liberation.
The famous Gaspa Yanga revolt happened in ca. 1570 in Mexico (near the city of Veracruz). The group of
Gaspa Yanga and his allies escaped into the highlands and created a free colony. In 1633, there was the
Gloucester County, Virginia revolt. Slaves fought for freedom in New York State in 1712 and in 1741. The
Stono Rebellion happened in the colony of South Carolina in September 9, 1739. It was the largest slave
uprising in the British mainland colonies, with 42-47 whites and 44 blacks killed. The uprising was led by
native Africans who were likely from the Central African Kingdom of Kongo. Some of the rebels spoke
Portuguese. Their leader Jemmy was a literate slave; in some reports he is referred to as "Cato", and likely
was held by the Cato, or Cater, family who lived near the Ashley River and north of the Stono River. He led 20
other enslaved Kongolese, who may have been former soldiers, in an armed march south from the Stono
River (for which the rebellion is named). They were bound for Spanish Florida. It was suppressed by the
British forces.

Early Developments
Slavery was illegal in Rhode Island in 1652. In February 18, 1688, the Memmonites of Germantown,
Pennsylvania held their monthly meeting and drafted resolutions to oppose slavery. James Otis in 1761 gave
a speech that called for the immediate abolition of slavery. In 1774, the Yearly Meeting of the Society of
Friends (or the Quakers) adopted new rules to their members to not own slaves and not to participate in the
slave trade. Benjamin Rush was a young physician and a Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress.
He helped to organize the 1775 Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery. The
Pennsylvania Abolition Society formed in Philadelphia, was the first abolition society within the territory that
is now the United States of America. Many rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized slavery for
violating human rights like James Edward Oglethorpe. Oglethorpe banned slavery in the Province of Georgia
on humanistic grounds, argued against it in Parliament, and eventually encouraged his friends Granville
Sharp and Hannah More to vigorously pursue the cause. Soon after his death in 1785, Sharp and More
joined with William Wilberforce and others in forming the Clapham Sect. Many in early America banned the
slave trade, but slavery still existed all over America. By the early 1800’s, many Northern states would ban
slavery.

Olaudah Equiano was a great black man who fought against the slave trade and against slavery in the United
Kingdom. He was a writer and a social activist. His autobiography published in 1789 and attracting wide
attention, was considered highly influential in gaining passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807, which ended the
African trade for Britain and its colonies. In London, Equiano (identifying as Gustavus Vassa during his
lifetime) was part of the Sons of Africa, an abolitionist group composed of prominent Africans living in
Britain, and he was active among leaders of the anti-slave trade movement in the 1780s. He published his
autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789), which depicted the horrors
of slavery. Since 1967, his memoir has been regarded as the "true beginning of modern African
literature." William Wilberforce and Sam Sharpe including other fought to end slavery in the UK. The Slavery
Abolition Act of 1833 banned slavery in the UK and in all British colonies. In 1839, the British and Foreign
Anti-Slavery Society was formed. This was created to fight slavery worldwide. The British and Foreign Anti-
Slavery Society campaigned to outlaw slavery in other countries and pressured the British government to do
more to enforce the suppression of the slave trade by declaring slave traders to be pirates and pursuing
them as such. It is in operation today as Anti-Slavery International, the world's oldest international human
rights organization.
Haiti and the early Abolitionist Movement

The year of 1804 changed the world forever. This was the time when the Haitian Revolution was successful.
Haiti during that year became the first black Republic of the Americas. The Haitian people defeated the
French, the Spanish, and the English in order for them to establish their own nation and create
independence. By 1810, 75 percent of black people in Delaware were freed. The white abolitionist movement
before 1830 had a large number of whites who wanted a gradual end to slavery via piecemeal efforts and
gradualism. This was of course was not justice at all. Many of these proponents of gradualism were
conservatives and they compromised. Abolition societies and organizations were spread in the Midwest, the
North, and in the South during the 19th century. Many abolitionists from New York to Kansas experienced
harassment, assault, their houses burned, and even murder. Yet, the abolitionist movement continued.

Davis Walker was a black abolitionist who early on fought for black freedom. He wrote his famous anti-
slavery literature called “Appeal” in 1829. He supported “Freedom’s Journal” which was the first black-owned
newspaper in America. He lived in Boston and he promoted black unity and self-help in fighting injustice and
oppression. He was Boston’s leading spokesman against slavery back then. His “Appeal” opposed the policy
of deporting black people to Liberia (Walker targeted groups like the American Colonization Society which
wanted all free black people to go into Liberia). He criticized Thomas Jefferson because of his racist anti-
black views. David Walker passed away in 1830. Additions of his Appeal were found in Virginia, Louisiana,
Georgia, and throughout America. His son Edward G. Walker was one of the first two black men elected to
the Massachusetts State Legislature. In 1831, Nat Turner led his slavery revolt in Southampton County,
Virginia. He was against tyranny and he was captured and executed in Courtland, Virginia. By 1840, the
Liberty Party was created. It ran Presidential candidates in the 1840 and 1844 elections. In 1850, the evil
Compromise of 1850 was established including the Fugitive Slave Act (that allowed people to kidnap black
people from anywhere in America and be forced into slavery unjustly). The growth of the Underground
Railroad existed in the 19th century.

The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century enslaved
people of African descent in the United States in efforts to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of
abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,
both black and white, free and enslaved, who aided the escaped slaves. Various other routes led to Mexico
or overseas. An "Underground Railroad" running south toward Florida, then a Spanish possession, existed
from the late 17th century until shortly after the American Revolution. By 1850, about 100,000 slaves were
freed via the Underground Railroad. Its peak was between 1830 and 1865. The North Star was code for the
North or Canada where many black people came into. Great leaders of the Underground Railroad were
Harriet Tubman, Levi Coffin, and other human beings.
 Never Back down from oppression. Stand up
always for your freedom.
The Diversity of the Abolitionist Movement
Henry Highland Garnet was another black man who was influenced by David Walker’s views. Garnet wanted
an end to oppression. At first, he opposed emigration policies and then later he supported black people
going into Africa. Martin Delany was a person who opposed the American Colonization Society and at first
opposed emigration. Later, he was one of the strongest proponents of emigration within the black
abolitionist movement. He wanted to set up a nation (which is similar to Black Nationalist thinking). In fact,
some people consider the abolitionist Martin R. Delany (who was in Harvard Medical School) as the father of
Black Nationalism (from America). He visited Africa before and he opposed the Liberia nation in the early
1800’s as a weak example of colonization. Martin wanted black people to leave America and form a new
nation in the West Indies or South America. Martin Delany would be the only black officer who had the rank
of Major as a Union Army soldier during the Civil War too.

Frederick Douglas was a very well-known black abolitionist. He was born a slave in 1817. His autobiography
is a must read to people of a wide spectrum of ages. At age 16, he escaped from slavery and became a
lifelong abolitionist and social activist. He opposed slavery and fought for women’s rights too. He supported
the human rights of immigrants courageously. His own newspaper was the North Star. He advocated
freedom and armed resistance against slavery. During this time, William Lloyd Garrison was another
promoter of immediate emancipation. Garrison once supported colonization temporarily, publicly
apologized for his mistake, and continued with the fight to end slavery. He co-founded the weekly anti-
slavery newspaper in 1831 from New England called the Liberator. His friend Isaac Knapp helped to create
the newspaper too.
Revolutionary Abolitionism
By the 1830’s, the abolitionist movement became more radicalized. Garrison and Frederick Douglas were
friends. Each wanted the same goal. Yet, they disagreed on the tactics to end it. Frederick Douglas wanted
armed resistance and political involvement to end slavery while Garrison wanted no physical force in ending
slavery. Garrison denounced churches, political parties, even voting. He also believed that the U.S.
Constitution was a pro-slavery document. Frederick Douglas didn’t want the break up or he didn't want the
dissolution of the Union while Garrison wanted the breakup of the Union. Douglas felt that slavery can be
abolished in America without breaking up the Union. Frederick Douglas went overseas to speak about
slavery in Canada and in England. Williams Garrison was a promoter of women’s rights and he supported
women involvement in the abolitionist movement as well. Frederick Douglas evolved in his thinking. He
believed in political actions, he rejected emigration, and he wanted self-defense to fight against slavery. His
famous 1852 speech about the Fourth of July exposed the hypocrisy of American society. He promoted
struggle to end slavery. Other famous black abolitionists include Charles Henry Langston and John Mercer
Langston, who helped found the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society.

I am a black person. My dignity is not dependent on anyone. I

was born equal and I have the right to fight for justice
unapologetically.

Other unsung heroes of the abolitionist movement were human beings like Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, the
Grimké sisters--Angelina and Sarah, J. W. C. Pennington, William Still (whose daughter Caroline V. Still
Anderson was a great black physician), and other human beings opposed oppression. Abolitionist Harriet
Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852. The story exposed the brutality of slavery and the
character Uncle Tom ironically was the hero in the story. The story was so popular that President Abraham
Lincoln heard about it. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" caused more people in the North and across the world to be up
in arms and oppose slavery. Yet, the evil Southern racists were strident in trying to defend slavery.

In 1854, there was the passage of Kansas-Nebraska Act which determined the status of slavery in these two
territories (of Kansas and Nebraska) according to the principle of “popular sovereignty.”
 Anthony Burns and Harriet Tubman helped so many human beings during the
19th century.
Frederick Douglas' friend John Brown would advance this courageous resistance against tyranny. Douglass
had aided John Brown by offering him a place to stay and raising funds to equip his men with uniforms and
ammunition. John Brown greatly opposed slavery and he has many black allies. He was an anti-slavery
fighter in Kansas when Kansas has a battle between pro and anti-slavery forces during the 1850’s. That is
where the term “Bleeding Kansas” came from. In 1859, James Brown had 18 other armed men to fight in
Harpers’ Ferry, Virginia. John Brown wanted to organize an insurrection at the Ferry, so more slaves can
rebel in the South (and soon slavery would end in America). His raid failed and John Brown plus his allies
were executed. John Brown kissed a black child before he was executed. John Brown acted against tyranny
and sacrificed his life for the cause of human justice. After John Brown’s death, the abolitionist movement
continued and the Civil War began in 1861.
 Many of the Slave Rebellions and other Acts of Resistance against Slavery
The San Miguel de Gaspar Yanga’s The New York Slave The First Maroon War The St. John Slave
Guadalupe rebellion Revolt in ca. 1570 Revolt in 1712. in 1730 Revolt in 1733
in 1526
The Stono Rebellion The New York Tacky’s War in 1760 Abaco Slave Revolt in Mina Conspiracy plan
in 1739 Conspiracy plan in 1787 in 1791
1741
The Pointe Coupee The Haitian Gabriel’s Rebellion The Igbo Landing The Chatham Manor
Conspiracy plan in Revolution from 1791 from 1800. event in 1803 event in 1805
1795 to 1804
The German Coast George Boxley’s The Bussa’s Denmark Vesey’s Nat Turner’s rebellion
Uprising in 1811 actions in 1815 Rebellion in 1816 plan in 1822 in 1831
The Baptist War (from The 1839 Amistad The Creole case and The Slave Revolt in The raid at Harper’s
1831-1832) ship rebellion ship rebellion of 1842 the Cherokee Nation Ferry in 1859
of 1842

The image on the left shows Zumbi dos Plamres and the image on the right shows Queen Nanny of
Jamaica (leader of the Maroons)

Our people have always resisted tyranny today and back then. We honor the
ancestors who fought against slavery and against any injustice. We respect their
sacrifice and courage. Our black ancestors certainly inspire us to this very day to
fight for justice in our time during the 21st century too.
 The 13 the Amendment of 1865
ended slavery in America. Ava
Duvernay’s documentary called
The 13th has shown the truth that
the prison industrial complex must
end and the prison system should
never enslave or oppress human
beings.
Andrew Johnson was impeached
on 1868. Andrew Johnson was not
only a racist President, but he was
a man of repugnant political views.
He was an enemy of black people
and I don’t have any form of
respect for him.
The 14th Amendment existed since
1868. It promotes equal protection
under the law and it states that the
states can never oppress people.
This concept applies to black
people, immigrants, and other
human beings in America.

OUR EYES ARE ON THE PRIZE

Monumental changes During Reconstruction

The 15th Amendment of 1870 gave
voting rights to black men. This
amendment changed America
forever. Later, women would
rightfully get the right to vote
during the 20th century.
President Ulysses S. Grant passed
the Enforcement Acts of 1870 to
fight the Klan and promote civil
rights among black Americans.
Grant was one President during
Reconstruction who was a General
and a Union veteran.
During the 1860’s, the 1870’s, and
beyond, many African American
Congressmen were in national,
state, and local governments. They
served in a progressive fashion
and stood up for freedom
heroically.
The Struggle Continues
The last country to abolish legal
slavery was Mauritania, where it
was officially abolished by
presidential decree in 1981.
Slavery existed worldwide and
abolitionists fought to abolish
slavery worldwide too. Slavery
was abolished in the French
Republic in February 4, 1794.
Slavery was abolished all over
the French empire during the
French Revolution of 1848
(with the efforts of Victor
Schœlcher and others). The
Trans-Atlantic slave trade
completely ends by 1859. Slavery
is abolished in the Indian
Territory or Oklahoma today in
1866. People ended slavery in
Puerto Rico in 1873. In 1822, the
Ottoman Empire abolished all
forms of slavery regardless if the
slave was black or white. Slavery
ended in Cuba in 1886. Brazil
banned slavery in 1888. In 1906,
China ends slavery effective
January 31, 1910. The 1926
Slavery Convention, an
initiative of the League of
Nations, was a turning point in
banning global slavery. Article 4
of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, adopted in 1948
by the UN General Assembly,
explicitly banned slavery. The
United Nations was convened
to outlaw and ban slavery
worldwide, including child
slavery. In December 1966, the
UN General Assembly adopted
the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, which
was developed from the
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. Article 4 of this
international treaty bans slavery.
The treaty came into force in
March 1976 after it had been
ratified by 35 nations.
The last nation on Earth to ban
slavery was Mauritania in 1981
and it was made a crime in
Mauritania in 2007. Slavery is
illegal in all countries. Yet,
slavery continues to exist in the
21st century. It is estimated that
about 21 to 29 million slaves
exist worldwide. Modern slavery
is a worldwide business worth
with estimates up to $35 billion. racism, slavery, and other it by any means necessary. The
The slave trade industry is evil. injustices in Libya. This has NATO destruction of Libya is
The Global Slavery Index 2013 been going on for years. The linked to the present crisis in
states that 10 nations account 2011-2012 NATO intervention Libya. Also, innocent refugees
for 76 percent of the world's in Libya caused massive political are trying to get into Europe in
enslaved. India has the most instability. During that time, trying to achieve their sense of
slaves of any country, at happiness, but many are
14 million (over 1% of unfairly scapegoated
the population). China and demonized in many
has the second-largest European locations.
number with 2.9 Today, many African
million slaves, followed refugees are being sold
by Pakistan with 2.1 in slave markets. The
million, Nigeria with UN Security Council
701,000, Ethiopia with hasn’t done enough
651,000, Russia with This is a rally against slavery and the slave about this situation.
516,000, Thailand with trade in Libya (plus against slavery worldwide) Therefore, we want the
473,000, Congo with on November 25, 2017. This was held in slave trade to end. We
462,000, Myanmar Geneva, Switzerland. also want a puppet
with 384,000, and regime in Libya to end,
Bangladesh with black people in Sirte, Benghazi, so independent Libyan
343,000. Mauritania still has Tripoli, and in Ban Walid have people can govern their own
slavery when slavery is illegal been massacred, lynched, country without racism and
there too. Modern slavery exists assaulted, and raped by racist without slavery.
in different forms like forced terrorists (many of the anti-
labor, forced marriage, sex Qaddafi rebels were vicious There are many organizations
slavery, human trafficking, anti-black racists. NATO is that are fighting against modern
forced migrant labor, bonded complicit in ignoring what these slavery, human trafficking, etc.
labor, and other evil actions. terrorists did). That is why They include: 3Strands, 5-
courageous protesters are Stones, the A21 Campaign,
Recently, hundreds of people in speaking out. Imperialist Abolish Slavery Coalition,
London protested at the Libyan policies by the West and slavery Abolition International,
embassy. The reason was that enacted by many Libyan Abolition Now, Against Child
they are opposing the slave trade authorities should be Trafficking (ACT), Agape
against black Africans taking condemned. Slavery still exists International Missions, Anti-
place in Libya. It is no secret and we have the right to defeat Slavery International, etc.
that black Libyans have suffered
We won’t stop until slavery and any injustice
is gone from the Earth.
By Timothy