Harriet Tubman Chapter 1 Conventional

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Contents

Chapter 1
Life as a Young Girl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 2
Escape to the North . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 3
Going Back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Chapter 4
The Second Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Chapter 5
The Signs of War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Chapter 6
No Fear of Trouble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Chapter 7
A Hero for All Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

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Chapter 1

Life as a Young Girl

Harriet Tubman is a great

American hero. She was born in 1820.

At that time, people called Harriet

a slave because they believed that

people could own someone like Harriet.

Today, we say that Harriet was

enslaved — enslaved by people

who forced her to work for no pay.

Millions of people were enslaved.

But enslaved people wanted to be free.

They wanted freedom. They did not

want to have anything to do with

slavery (enslavement).

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Enslavement made enslavers rich,

but enslavement kept enslaved

people poor.

In some states, almost all of

the black people were enslaved.

In other states, some black people

were enslaved, and other black people

were free. The state of Maryland

was like that.

Harriet Tubman’s family lived in

Maryland. Her father’s name was Ben.

Her mother’s name was Rit.

Life as a Young Girl

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Ben was a free man but Rit was

enslaved. They had ten children

before Harriet was born. Since Rit

was enslaved, all of her children were

enslaved. The law said that it did not

matter that their father was a free man.

In those days, people in the

southern states of the United States

could enslave black people. But people

could not enslave others in the northern

states. So, enslaved people could

run away to the North and become free.

But it was a hard and dangerous thing

to do.

Life as a Young Girl

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Enslaved people often did not have

many clothes, so they could not keep

warm. Their houses were small,

and many of them had to sleep on

the floor. The floors were often made

of dirt. Many enslaved people did not

get enough to eat. Enslaved children

had to work. They were not allowed

to go to school.

When Harriet was about six years

old, she was put to work. Her job

was to carry water out to the people

who were working in the fields.

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When Harriet was older, she started

working in the fields herself.

After a few years, Harriet got

very strong. Sometimes, she worked

in the woods with her father. Her father

was an expert at cutting down trees.

Harriet learned how to find her way

in the woods. She was a hard worker,

but she hated being enslaved.

When Harriet was 15, she saw

an enslaved boy trying to escape.

The enslaver had trapped the boy

in a store.

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The enslaver told Harriet to help him

hold the boy, but Harriet said no.

She decided to help the boy run away.

Harriet blocked the door and the boy

got away.

The enslaver hit Harriet with

a heavy piece of metal. Harriet fell

to the floor. Everyone thought that

she would die. Harriet’s mother, Rit,

took Harriet home and took care of her.

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Life as a Young Girl

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Harriet finally did get better,

but she had a scar on her forehead

and brain damage. The brain damage

caused her to suddenly fall asleep

in the middle of the day. Harriet never

knew when that might happen.

She could fall asleep in the middle

of talking, and no one would be able

to wake her up. They just had to wait

until she woke up by herself.

Harriet had helped a boy run away

to freedom, and now she wanted

to run away. People told her that

it was too dangerous.

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Life as a Young Girl

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When enslaved people got caught,

they could be sold away from their

families. But Harriet didn’t care

about danger. She only cared about

freedom — freedom for herself

and freedom for others.

Harriet married a man named

John Tubman who lived near the

plantation where Harriet lived.

John was black like Harriet, but he was

a free man. Harriet asked John to run

away with her and help her become

free like him.

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But John refused to go. Why did

he refuse? Maybe he was happy

with his life the way it was. Or maybe

he was just afraid of what would

happen to him and Harriet if they

got caught.