Harriet Tubman Timeline

  • Harriet Tubman's Birth

    Harriet Tubman's Birth
    Harriet Tubman was born as Araminta "Minty" Ross. She was born into slavery on the plantation of Edward Brodess.
  • Minty's Hired Out

    Minty's Hired Out
    Araminta was hired out. She was hired for the first time to a women named as "Miss Susan" as a nursemaid and later to a planter named James Cook. Both beat her.
  • Head Injury

    Head Injury
    Araminta had a severe head injury caused by a heavy metal weight that was aimed at a runaway slave. This lead to seizures which affected her for the rest of her life. She claimed to have started having vivid dreams in which she claimed that God communicated with her.
  • Marriage

    Marriage
    Harriet married a free man named John Tubman at the age of 25. He did not share her dream of moving north and threatened to tell her master if she ran away.
  • Escape along the Underground Railroad

    Escape along the Underground Railroad
    Along with her brothers, Ben and Harry, Harriet escaped from the Polar Neck Plantation. Her brothers turned back but Harriet kept going despite the bounty on her return. She traveled 90 miles using the Underground Railroad to get to the free state of Pennsylvania.
  • First Rescue Trip

    First Rescue Trip
    Using connections with the Underground Railroad, Harriet makes her first rescue trip. She guided her niece, Kessiah, and Kessiah's husband and two children to safety. She later returned again for her own husband, but he refused to come.
  • Tubman's Land

    Tubman's Land
    William H. Seward, a U.S. senator and abolitionist, sold Tubman a piece of land on the outskirts of Auburn, New York for $1,200. It became her home for the rest of her life
  • The Last Rescue Mission

    The Last Rescue Mission
    She took her last rescue mission in 1860 to take her sister to safety; however, she found her sister dead upon her arrival. Instead, she transported the Ennals family to safety.
  • Civil War

    Civil War
    The civil war began and at first Tubman worked as a nurse and cook. She also helped General David Hunter recruit former slaves for an African American regiment. In addition to that, under command of Col. James Montgomery she served as a spy and scout.
  • First Women to lead an Assault

    First Women to lead an Assault
    Harriet became the first women to lead an assault during the civil war in the Combahee River Raid where 700 slaves where set free.
  • Gertie

    Gertie
    Harriet and adopted a baby girl named Gertie with her second husband, Nelson Davis
  • Women's Suffrage

    Women's Suffrage
    Tubman became involved in women's suffrage. She gave speeches in Boston, New York, and Washington.
  • Death

    Death
    Harriet Tubman died of pneumonia at the age of 93. She was buried with military honors at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, New York