Harriet Tubman Facts For Kids | A Slave Girl

She was an African-American woman. She worked as a spy for the Union in US Civil War. She was part of the movement that was launched to abolish slavery from the United States. Harriet Tubman was certainly a famous name for African-Americans when it comes to US Civil War. Now let’s explore further in Harriet Tubman Facts for kids.

Harriet Tubman Facts For Kids

Original Name: Araminta Ross

Date of Birth: March 1822

Place of Birth: Maryland, USA

Date of Death: March 10, 1913

Place of Death: New York, USA

Age: 91

Early Years of Harriet Tubman

1. She was born in a slave family.
2. The precise date of birth for Tubman is unknown. However, it is believed that she was born in early 1820s or perhaps in 1820.
3. During her early years, Tubman was hammered quite badly by her master. She had a very serious injury on her head because her head was struck with a metal.
4. While she was a kid, she was informed that she came from Ghana.
5. When Tubman was a child of just about 6 years, she was made nursemaid to look after a baby for Miss Susan. Tubman used to get beaten up very badly every day in the morning.
6. In her early years, Tubman used to work for James Cook in his residence. Cook was a planter.

Family and Marriage

1. The name of her mother was Harriet Green. She was known as ‘Rit’.
2. The name of her father was Ben Ross.
3. Ben and Rit got married in 1808.
4. Ben and Rit had 9 kids.
5. The master of her mother was Mary Pattison Brodess. Later on, Mary’s son named Edward Brodess became her master.
6. Her father was owned by Anthony Thompson.
7. When her father (Ben) reached 45 years, he was allowed to set free.
8. In 1855, Tubman’s father Ben bought Rit (her mother) for just about $20. At the time, Rit was owned by Eliza Brodess.
9. The name of her maternal grandmother was Modesty.
10. There was a time when Tubman did not really know the actual status of her mother legally (whether she is a slave or not). So she gave $5 to one of the lawyers (a white man) to examine the case. Later on, it was stated that Rit would remain slave until she became 45 years old.
11. Tubman got married to an African-American called John Tubman in 1844. He was not a slave.
12. The original name of Tubman was Araminta. Following her marriage with John, she gave her new name called Harriet.

Later Years and Death

1. The last years of Tubman’s life were spent in Auburn.
2. She also saved one of the veterans of US Civil War named Nelson Davis.
3. Davis was just about 22 years older than Tubman. Tubman fell in love with him.
4. Davis and Tubman got married on March 18, 1869. The wedding took place in Central Presbyterian Church.
5. The marriage of Davis and Tubman continued for about 20 years.
6. They took a baby as their daughter in 1874. They gave her name Gertie.
7. She died in 1913. The cause of her death was pneumonia.
8. Auburn is the resting place of Tubman. She is buried in Fort Hill Cemetery.

More Harriet Tubman Facts For Kids

1. Tubman was 5 feet tall.
2. She was also known as ‘Moses’ and sometimes ‘Minty’.
3. Tubman made 13 different tasks to release African-American families from slavery.
4. She had set free 70 families from slavery with the help of a secret course which was called Underground Railroad. Among these were her 3 brothers namely Robert, Ben and Henry along with their kin.
5. Three sisters of Tubman had been sold by Edward Brodess, who was the master of her mother.
6. She was a practicing Christian and believed in God with all her heart.
7. When Tubman was in poor health in 1849, Brodess wanted to put her up for sale. However, since she was very ill no one was willing to buy her.
8. While Brodess was making an effort to sell her, Tubman prayed to God for his death. Soon afterwards, Brodess passed away and Tubman felt sorry for what she did.
9. On September 17, 1849, Henry, Ben and Tubman ran away.
10. After her escape with her brothers, Tubman worked for a planter named Dr. Anthony Thompson.
11. She traveled for about 90 miles on her feet and entered Pennsylvania.
12. John Tubman was murdered in 1867 after having a dispute with one of the white men called Robert Vincent. At the time, he had got married to Caroline.
13. John Brown used to call her by the name of ‘General Tubman’. Brown was a white man and he was against slavery. He worked along with Tubman to set free black slaves. Brown wanted to free slaves but by fighting those who were in charge of slaves.
14. John Brown attacked Harpers Ferry in Virginia on October 16, 1859. However, the attack was failed and Brown was executed because of disloyalty. Tubman was not there with Brown perhaps she was ill or somewhere else helping other slaves to set free.
15. In the US Civil War, General David Hunter was commanding the forces of the Union. He cooperated with Tubman to abolish slavery.
16. Tubman helped Col. James Montgomery to take hold of Jacksonville.

Did you really find these Harriet Tubman facts for kids helpful? Is it what you’re looking for? Please comment and help us improving this article. Thanks for reading it!