Harriet Tubman Essay

Her deeds not only saved lives during these terrible time’s but also gave other African Americans the courage to stand up for what they believe in and achieve equal rights for men in women in the world no matter what their skin color or gender was. Born to the parents of slaves Harriet Tubman changed the world in more ways than one and will be explained in the essay. Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross to her slave parents Ben and Harriet Green. The specific date of her birth is said to be between the years of 1820 and 1821 but there is no actual record of her birthday. This was a common problem of the time for many of the American slaves born in this era. Being born into an African American slave family during the 1800’s, Harriet took on the task of being a slave during the early time in her life period. Her first task as a child was to take care of her of her younger brother and also was responsible for the care of one of one of the slave owner’s babies. The work that Harriet was assigned was work that the men never had to do but all work that was done on these plantations or farms should’ve been looked at as equal in all ways. During this time even women slaves were being discriminated against, they automatically were discriminated against at birth when they came out as a girl. The women were thought of as less because they didn’t go out into the fields to do the hard work, but without the women doing their work the men’s work wouldn’t have been done. Life was hard for Harriet during these early years as she was responsible for this young baby and had to take care of it day and night. One would perceive that taking care of this baby at such a young age would be a reason for Harriet’s motherly side towards all the slaves she later helped escape from slavery so they could be free. Harriet’s young life was filled with many experiences and hard times during her childhood. She contracted the measles at a young age she had an incident when at a store, a slave owner threw a two pound weight at another slaves head and hit Harriett. The other slave had left their field without out permission and went to the store. The slave owner told her to help restrain the irate slave but she refused to. The slave owner threw the two pound weight at the problem slave but missed and instead hit Harriet. Harriet did not have any serious damage done to her from the weight but one would think this was a key point in her life when she realized she wanted to be free and to also help other slaves become free of these evil slave owners. Women have been oppressed in the world since the start of time. Men have always been looked at as if they are more important or more useful in the world we live in. We can see that in Harriet Tubman’s case, Her work as a child was mainly as a babysitter of the children or used in the house as a slave. Even during the time of slavery women weren’t granted the same rights as their men counterparts. Most of the time the women slaves were used as maids, caretakers, or doing gardening. These were duties that they thought were suitable for the women and without the women doing these duties the farm or plantation wouldn’t run. Men were mainly used to the harder and more physical labor on the plantations or farms. They were sent out into the fields every day to harvest the crops so that the owner could make his money to maintain his lifestyle. The women were kept back to do the chores around the house and this is where the persona that women are supposed to stay home and do housework comes from even today. The sad part is that people that thought the men were the most important workers, but without the women none of the duties would have been finished. They served and equal role in making the plantation work and weren’t given the credit they deserved. Without the women staying in the house and looking after the children or cooking the meals, none of the men would have food or somewhere to sleep when they were done with their work. One can see that every duty should’ve been seen as equal. The women could do the same duties as the men and vice versa either way the duties are all needed to make the system work. Women’s rights have improved drastically since that time but there still is a stigma that men are better than women. This type of view is wrong and shouldn’t even be thought about in the world we live into today. Woman server a great purpose in the world we live in and should be considered equal in all aspects of life. If one were to ponder this idea seriously we can see without out women no children are born. The sad truth is that women still have to fight for their rights in every aspect of their daily lives. The typical women in society makes only . 70 cents for every dollar that a man would make doing the same job. One would think that one hundred and fifty years later women would be considered equal counterparts to men. â€Å"There has been progress toward greater workplace equality, but we still have a long ways to go. In the United States, most occupations are gendered. Many jobs are segregated by sex; there are large wage gaps, and numerous women experience sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination. These types of walls are being broken down every day but still need to be dealt with in a faster and more efficient fashion. As we know slavery was a horrible part of the American society until December of 1865 when it was abolished and Harriet Tubman experienced this horrendous travesty of American society. Harriet Tubman experienced this until one day she decided it was enough a nd escaped from her slavery with her brothers on September 17, 1849. This escape was delayed because of her brothers wish to go back to his family, but weeks later Harriet had had enough and finally escaped. Guided by the light of the moon Harriet traveled at night for the fear if she traveled during the day she could be caught by slave catchers, who would’ve taken her home for a bounty. She passed through many conductors’ houses during her travel, conductors of the Underground Railroad, and finally escaped to Pennsylvania a northern state that had already abolished slavery. This escape thus allowed Harriet Tubman to one day become a conductor in the underground railroad herself to allow other slaves to escape to the freedom they deserved. The author explains how and when slavery was finally abolished throughout the whole United States and a cause of the civil war. [ â€Å"The U. S. House of Representatives passes the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery in the United States. It read, â€Å"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude†¦ shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. â€Å"] This single, yet monumental, law would go on to start a bloody civil war of the north versus the south and end with freedom of all slaves throughout the whole United States of America. When the Civil War began, President Lincoln’s professed goal was the restoration of the Union. But early in the war, the Union began keeping escaped slaves rather than returning them to their owners, so slavery essentially ended wherever the Union army was victorious. In September 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in areas that were still in rebellion against the Union. This measure opened the issue of what to do about slavery in Border States that had not seceded or in areas that had been captured by the Union before the proclamation. In 1864, an amendment abolishing slavery passed the Senate but died in the House as Democrats rallied in the name of states’ rights. The election of 1864 brought Lincoln back to the White House and significant Republican majorities in both houses, so it appeared the amendment was headed for passage when the new Congress convened in March 1865. Lincoln preferred that the amendment receive bipartisan support–some Democrats indicated support for the measure, but many still resisted. The amendment passed 119 to 56, seven votes above the necessary two-thirds majority. Several Democrats abstained, but the 13th Amendment was sent to the states for ratification, which came in December 1865. With the passage of the amendment, the institution that had indelibly shaped American history and had started the Civil War was eradicated. † This excerpt shows that the hard work and dedication of Harriet Tubman had paid off during her times a slave and thus created freedom for all her African American brothers and sisters to become free. Though it did not make an immediate impact for African Americans to have equal rights it started that movement that has caused everyone in the United States to be equal today. The amazing aspect of Harriet Tubman is her knack for always wanting to help other’s in their slavery. In 1851 Harriet decided to go back to her hometown of Dorchester County to get her husband any many other slaves. Even thought this amazing woman was free she decided to risk her own life and freedom to help other have their own freedom. After a short time of being there she helped eleven other slaves escape in the December of 1851. They escaped safely back to Harriet’s new life in Philadelphia and in freedom. For someone to risk there own life just to help others shows the humanitarian she is. Harriet’s life was full of many different stories but the most important one is work in suffragist activism towards the end of her life. She was one of the women who fought for all women’s rights and also the right to vote. Sadly that would not be passed during Harriet’s life time. Harriet was a woman who fought for the freedom of slaves and also showed that a woman can change the world. She was one of the very prominent women who helped to free slaves and help them start their new life’s and even risked her own life doing so.