Today widely celebrated, Harriet Tubman was long ignored by the official stories of American history. A major figure in the abolition of slavery, it has never benefited from the honors granted to its male contemporaries. Born a slave, she became one of the most committed faces of the struggle for freedom in the 19th century, operating in the shadows with clandestine work of formidable efficiency. Its trajectory, between resistance, faith, military strategy and social commitment, reveals a decisive part of African-American and female struggles.
A childhood marked by violence and family separation
Born around 1822 under the name of Araminta Ross in the county of Dorchester (Maryland), Harriet Tubman grew up in a slave system based on dehumanization. His mother, laughs Green, is a slave, while his father, Ben Ross, is freed. Despite this, their children automatically inherit maternal status. The family therefore remains entirely subject to the owner Edward Brodess. The legislation of the time allows the sale or rental of children from an early age. Harriet is thus rented at six to keep babies, beaten when she cannot calm them down, and nourished insufficiently.
At thirteen, she underwent a serious head trauma after being hit by the head by a weight of two kilos, launched by a supervisor targeting another slave. This injury leads to life sequelae for lifetime: loss of consciousness, hearing and visual hallucinations, and cataplexis episodes. Today, neurologists agree to diagnose a probable epilepsy of the temporal lobe, a rare condition, but compatible with its symptoms.
These episodes, which she perceives as divine revelations, reinforce her Christian faith. This mixture of suffering, spiritual vision and resilience forges in her an acute awareness of injustice. But it was not until 1849, on the death of his master Edward Brodess, that a breach opens. Fearing to be sold as his sisters were, Harriet made the decision to flee. She abandons her husband, John Tubman, who refuses to accompany him, and begins alone her march towards freedom, following the rivers, the swamps and the stars, to the Pennsylvania, a free state. This first act of personal liberation will be the prelude to a much larger mission.
Underground Railroad A clandestine escape network at the service of oppressed
As soon as he arrived in Philadelphia, Harriet Tubman understands that his own freedom is not enough. She works for a year to save enough money, and then return to illegally in Maryland to save her family. It will be its first rescue mission. It then fits into the Underground Railroad, which could be translated by “clandestine rail”, but it had neither rails nor locomotives. It was a secret network of abolitionists, farmers, pastors and former slaves coordinating the flight of people who are enslaved to free states or Canada. Harriet Tubman became one of her most effective “drivers” in 1850. She was not content to guide the fugitives. It organizes, plans and performs very risky rescue operations.
About 70 people are thus released by him during at least 13 documented expeditions, without any captive being never taken up. It leads the night groups, is oriented thanks to the polar star, and uses coded songs to communicate in all discretion. His mastery of Maryland's trails, swamps and rivers is essential to his success. “” I released hundreds of slaves and I could have released hundreds of others if they had known that they were slaves “, She will say later.
The adoption of the fleeting Slavic Act in 1850 made the flight even more dangerous. The law requires northern authorities to arrest the slaves on the run, under penalty of fine. Harriet Tubman then chooses to guide the fugitives to Canada-West, mainly in St. Catharines (Ontario), where she settles for a while. There, she joins the Slavian refugee 'Friends Society, an interracial organization that provides assistance and housing to new arrivals.
It becomes a public figure of the abolitionist cause, although its action remains clandestine. The nickname of Black Moses, which is given to it by African-American communities, is not a simple flattering metaphor. It is real recognition of her role as a collective liberator, anchored in faith and in fact.
From military espionage to guerrilla warfare organized against the South Slaver
During the Civil War (1861–1865), Harriet Tubman did not remain a spectator. As early as 1862, she joined the Union's troops as a volunteer infirmer. Then she became a spy and scouting on behalf of the northern army, especially in South Carolina. She collaborates closely with the colonel abolitionist James Montgomery. Harriet will then play a central role in the Combahee Ferry raid, a major military operation conducted on June 1, 1863.
This operation, supported by the Union navy, aims to destroy southern economic infrastructure and release slaves on several plantations. Tubman provides precise information on crossing points, safe paths and the position of Confederate troops, thanks to its network of local sources. About 750 people are freed in a single night. She became the first woman to command a military mission in the American army.
She assumes several roles: collection of information, identification of safe roads, distribution of food and medical care. However, his commitment is not recognized at its true value at the time. In 1898, she underwent a cranial operation to relieve the pain caused by her childhood injury. She refuses anesthesia and bites a bullet, like soldiers during the war. This anecdote, documented by her biographers like Kate Clifford Larson, illustrates her exceptional endurance.
It was not until 2021 that the US military officially honored it, integrating it into the Military Intelligence Corps, thus recognizing its pioneering role in the history of military intelligence. Tubman was not only an activist. She was also a formidable strategist and a direct actress of the fall of the slave system.
Social heritage a life turned towards help with the most vulnerable
After the war, Harriet Tubman returned to Auburn, in New York State. There, she bought a house on credit thanks to the help of Senator William H. Seward, then Secretary of State of Lincoln. She founded a real reception center there for the most deprived: the Home for Aged and Novers Negroes. This home welcomes former slaves, elderly people with no resources, patients and people with disabilities.
Tubman finances the first works herself by selling vegetables and giving conferences. She lives modestly, having never received a fair balance for her years of military service. It was not until 1899, 34 years after the war, that a special Congress law granted him a pension of 20 monthly dollars. It donates part to the home.
Tubman also actively participates in the movement for the right to vote for women. She collaborates with figures like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, although white suffragettes are not always receptive to the claims of black women. Tubman nevertheless embodies a rare junction between abolitionist, feminist and social struggles.
His vision of care, anchored in community action, prefigures modern forms of African-American solidarity. Harvard historian, Tiya Miles recalls in Night Flyer that Tubman was guided by an “eco-space-space”: a deep Christian faith, combined with empirical knowledge of the living, acquired in marshes and forests.
Tubman died in 1913, at the age of 91, in the home she had founded. His last words, inspired by John 14: 3, were: ” I will prepare a place for you ». It leaves a concrete heritage, turned towards social justice and collective care, far beyond the symbols.
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