Harriet Tubman: 8 Facts About the Daring Abolitionist
Born into slavery, Harriet Tubman escaped to freedom in the North in 1849 and then risked her life to lead other enslaved people to freedom.
Author:
Her admirers called her “Moses” or “General Tubman,” but she was born Araminta Ross.
It’s unclear exactly when the woman who would be known as Harriet Tubman was born, with dates ranging from 1815 to 1822. Historians do know that she was one of nine children born to Harriet “Rit” and Ben Ross, enslaved people owned by two different families on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
With her parents separated, Tubman’s mother struggled to keep her family together, and three of Tubman’s sisters were sold to other plantation owners. Tubman’s owners, the Brodess family, “loaned” her out to work for others while she was still a child, under what were often miserable, dangerous conditions.
This President Secretly Purchased Enslaved Children While in Office
James Polk bought 19 people during his presidency, at least 13 of whom were children.
Author:
James Polk bought 19 people during his presidency, at least 13 of whom were children.
James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States, is probably best known for growing the the size of the country by more than one-third. This territorial expansion pushed the U.S. border all the way to the West Coast, precipitating a heated national debate about whether to spread slavery to even more territories. Yet as white northerners in particular became increasingly uncomfortable with slavery’s expansion, Polk sought to downplay his personal investment in the institution.