Harriet Greene Short Biography

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In 1820 a person that would soon change history as we know it was being born. She was the eleventh child of Benjamin Ross and Harriet Greene, who were both slaves on Edward Brodas Plantation near Bucktown, Maryland. Who was this woman? As a child she was Araminta or better known as “Minty” however, when she became an adult she took her mother’s name “Harriet”. She was one of the most important slaves ever known. Her exact birth date is a mystery since she was born into slavery and most slave owners did not take the time to record them. During the eighteenth century Harriet’s ancestors were being brought from Africa in shackles to serve as slaves. (“Women in History” 4/18/10) Her own slave years began at a very young age, as most do.…show more content…
She got involved with the city’s large and active anti-slavery organizations and also with the organizers of the Underground Railroad. Using the checkpoint of Abolitionist Tomas Garrett’s home in Wilmington, Delaware Harriet managed to undertake some twenty dangerous missions where she journeyed to the south, found slaves, and led them to freedom in the north, sometimes even as far as Canada. She carried a long rifle in hand on her journeys, always warning the slaves that if they were to return or surrender their penalty would be death. Her persuasiveness made her never lose a “passenger” on the Underground Railroad. Harriet received nicknames like “Moses” and “General Tubman” because of her bravery and hard work during these journeys. Her name spread like lightning through slave quarters and abolitionist societies, southern slaveholders soon became angered and offered $40,000 rewards for her capture. She always avoided slave catchers and would never give up, even when she was almost got caught while sleeping under one of her own “wanted”…show more content…
The plan consisted of distributing weapons to the slaves and trying to get a rebellion started. Harriet mostly helped John with fundraising but would have been a part of it if she had not been ill at the time. “During one of her last interviews in 1912 she referred to John as one of her dearest friends.”(Women in History 4/18/10) Between 1861 and 1865 Harriet served with the Union army during the Civil War as a laundress, scout, nurse, cook, and spy behind Confederate lines. In 1865, she was caring for the wounded black soldiers as the Matron or senior nurse at the Colored Hospital in Fortress Monroe, Virginia. Even after the war she continued helping others such as raising money for the Freedmen’s School, helping the not so wealthy children, and caring for her
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