The Fight to End Slavery Civil Rights Leaders Leading People to Freedom Timeline

Bang.

It was my gun. I carry a gun to threaten anybody who thinks about going back to the plantation because they think that their Masters may catch them. I liked to do the running during the night to keep from being caught. Also, I couldn’t bear seeing them working in the fields like I used to. I really wanted to help them be free like me. Fortunately I have never had to use my gun.

Yes, I have never had to use it before on anyone. Sometimes I do have to shoot it up in the air to get my fellow slaves’ attention or I will shoot it up if I hear somebody talking about turning back. I try to control that because it is too much of a risk. If I keep shooting it off we may get caught by our masters or people who are looking for a reward before we can run away to the north.

Well, John, since I was a slave, my childhood was very sad and lonely as well as a lot of work. It was also sad and lonely because I was always away from my family. My family worked in the fields while I worked in the house.

Yes, that is true. I didn’t see my family until I was in the early teens when I was hired out in the fields! That is very common for girls because our masters don’t think we are strong enough to work in fields until then. Most boys are hired out when they are about the age of ten.

Well, this may seem funny to you, but I was always afraid of my master dying, because I might have been sent further south-a virtual death to any Negro such as myself.

I told you that people would laugh at me if I told them my worst fear was my master dying. It meant death to me because if I was shipped farther south, I would have been treated very badly. They would make me work harder, too. Also, I would be split up from my family again.

Yes, it did. It happened in 1849 when my master died. Luckily they were not going to start sending slaves to the south until the next morning, so that gave me all night to plan and make my escape to the north!

That is true, John, it was successful, and I want to thank the Underground Railroad for all of their help. The Underground Railroad is a group that helps slaves like me escape to the north. They provided me with food and shelter.

Oh, Harriet, I was wondering if you have seen the newspaper, because I happen to have one. It reads:

Wow, they were offering that much for my catch?

I think they were paying that much for me because nobody wanted to lose their slaves. I made exactly nineteen trips back to help more of my fellow slaves escape to the north to Canada. The Underground Railroad helped the slaves and me a lot on our journey by feeding us, giving us shelter and clothing, and hiding us when slave catchers where nearby. I saved over three hundred slaves by helping them escape north. Out of the nineteen trips, my fourth was the most enjoyable because I finally helped my parents run away north! Because I caused so many masters to lose their slaves, the reward offered for my capture was always very large.

Yes, John, I do think that my life affected other white men or women as yourself, because I think that they saw me helping my fellow slaves escape north from their horrible masters. I think that they will realize how cruel slavery is and they might even join the Underground Railroad and help slaves escape north to Canada. I also think that I am affecting other Negroes as such myself by showing that they can escape and be free from slavery!

One year later the headline read:

Harriet Tubman Timeline

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