What Was Harriet Tubman’s Greatest Achievement?Harriet Tubman had many great Achievements, all of them included helping others. She was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, a Nurse, spy, and a caregiver. Harriet Tubman or Minty Ross, which was her childhood was born in Dorchester, Maryland in 1822 and was born into slavery.
When she was young she was already working in the fields and had to fear being seperated from her family. When Harriet Tubman was 27 she escaped slavery. On the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman was a Conductor who led slaves to freedom. Harriet Tubman’s routes to freedom were very long and treacherous, she travelled all the way from her hometown in Dorchester to Philadelphia, where she travelled to St. Catherines, Canada.
In the 1850’s the Fugitive Slave Act was passed which caused all Northerners to turn in any slaves found that were trying to escape which caused Harriet to escort her slaves to Canada. Harriet Tubman was 28 when she made her first rescue, which was from an area near Baltimore, Maryland, to Philadelphia. To make sure she didn’t get caught Harriet Tubman mainly travelled in December when the nights were longer and less people were out. She would also avoid going on plantations and instead met other slaves in a safer place.
She would start her journey on Saturday nights since slaves usually had Sunday off and they wouldn’t be noticed till Monday. Harriet Tubman rescued 38 slaves in a time period of 10 years. She made her last rescue in 1860, when she rescued 7 fugitives. Harriet Tubman participated in the Combahee River raid on June 2nd, 1863 which is were she lead a team of eight black spies whose job was to rescue slaves and gather information for the union. To rescue the slaves she used three gunboats, and black troop who were led by Colonel James Montgomery. Colonel Montgomery would call Harriet Tubman Moses because she had rescued so many others working on the Underground Railroad. When she got back from Hilton Head she took 100 of the slaves and enlisted them in the army. Colonel Whittle said that she should be paid for every soldier enlisted as much as any recruiting officer but following the law, she never got paid She managed to rescue 800 slaves all in one night.
Seven weeks after the river raid Harriet Tubman became a nurse. Harriet Tubman served as a nurse for the all-black soldiers who attacked Fort Wagner in Charleston Harbor. She would nurse the wounded soldiers day and night and would never get paid. To make money she would sell pies, gingerbread, and root beer through the camps. Harriet Tubman worked hard, long days and put a lot of effort into being a nurse.
For 4 years she served as a nurse and never received anything, no money, no recognition. Between the time that the Civil War ended and the time of her death Harriet was a caregiver in a private home in Auburn, New York. She would spend most of her time taking care of people who were poor, or had a disability. She would take care of people like the deserted, the epileptic, the blind, and the paralyzed.
Harriet Tubman would often have six to eight people in her home who she would be taking care of. This accomplishment added to the other great achievements that she had done over the years.
