WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.680 The figure we are diving into today is, I mean, 00:00:02.700 --> 00:00:04.780 she's one of the foundational icons of American 00:00:04.780 --> 00:00:08.279 history. But the image we often carry, it's this 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:11.019 idea of the kindly, brave conductor. And that 00:00:11.019 --> 00:00:15.039 image, it really masks a revolutionary, a deeply 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:18.980 complicated and profoundly effective military 00:00:18.980 --> 00:00:21.829 mind. It really does. So today we're taking a 00:00:21.829 --> 00:00:24.429 deep dive into the life of Harriet Tubman, and 00:00:24.429 --> 00:00:26.589 we're moving far beyond the Underground Railroad 00:00:26.589 --> 00:00:29.149 mythology to uncover the scout, the spy, the 00:00:29.149 --> 00:00:32.490 uncompromising warrior, and the woman who fought 00:00:32.490 --> 00:00:35.170 for compensation and dignity long after the war 00:00:35.170 --> 00:00:37.359 was even won. And what's so great is that the 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:39.500 sources we have now give us a truly comprehensive 00:00:39.500 --> 00:00:41.859 look. We can actually connect the dots between 00:00:41.859 --> 00:00:45.439 the early life trauma she suffered as Araminta 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:47.859 Ra, as Minty, right? And then see her development 00:00:47.859 --> 00:00:49.560 into this religious mystic and revolutionary 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:51.920 and then her critical, even formal role as a 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:54.340 Union military asset. This mission for us is 00:00:54.340 --> 00:00:56.100 really about understanding the full spectrum 00:00:56.100 --> 00:00:59.420 of her 90 years from, well, roughly March 1822 00:00:59.420 --> 00:01:02.579 until 1913. And when you just look at the list 00:01:02.579 --> 00:01:05.420 of her contributions, American abolitionist. 00:01:05.420 --> 00:01:09.120 social activist, nurse, suffragist. It's just 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:12.359 overwhelming. It is. But today, we are really 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:15.180 focusing on her operational genius. I mean, her 00:01:15.180 --> 00:01:18.340 work involved guiding enslaved people to freedom 00:01:18.340 --> 00:01:22.579 through 13 separate missions. 13. Rescuing approximately 00:01:22.579 --> 00:01:26.420 70 individuals directly. Directly. That's a key 00:01:26.420 --> 00:01:29.180 word. And then providing explicit guidance to 00:01:29.180 --> 00:01:32.819 another 50 to 60. The success rate in an environment 00:01:32.819 --> 00:01:36.579 of total existential risk is just. It's unmatched. 00:01:36.659 --> 00:01:38.540 And we really have to start by recognizing the 00:01:38.540 --> 00:01:40.819 absolute pinnacle of her operational career. 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:42.819 I mean, our sources confirm this stunning piece 00:01:42.819 --> 00:01:44.599 of history that often just gets relegated to 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:47.180 a footnote. Tubman is widely credited as the 00:01:47.180 --> 00:01:49.239 first woman to lead an armed military operation 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:51.579 in the United States. And this wasn't just participation. 00:01:51.819 --> 00:01:54.780 This was leadership. It was command and strategy 00:01:54.780 --> 00:01:57.840 during the crucial Combahee River Raid of 1863. 00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:01.599 Leadership that was fueled by success. The name 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:04.870 that defines her. Moses. It stems directly from 00:02:04.870 --> 00:02:07.359 the results. She was the one leading people out 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:09.580 of bondage in a way that just echoed the Old 00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:11.840 Testament narrative she held so dear. Indeed. 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:15.240 And her personal motto and claim, which, you 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:17.319 know, historians rely on heavily when discussing 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:19.539 the operational success of the Underground Railroad, 00:02:19.620 --> 00:02:22.479 was that she never lost a passenger. Never lost 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:25.020 a passenger. In all her journeys. And given the 00:02:25.020 --> 00:02:27.199 sheer difficulty, the psychological pressure, 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:29.960 the constant threat of betrayal and capture, 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:33.120 that claim just speaks volumes about her planning, 00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:35.860 her discipline, and frankly. the ruthlessness 00:02:35.860 --> 00:02:38.620 she was willing to apply to ensure the group's 00:02:38.620 --> 00:02:41.300 safety. OK, so let's unpack the origins of this 00:02:41.300 --> 00:02:43.280 legend. We have to start in Dorchester County, 00:02:43.460 --> 00:02:46.840 Maryland. She was born Araminta Ross to Ritt 00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:49.180 Green and Ben Ross, who were both enslaved by 00:02:49.180 --> 00:02:51.180 the brightest family. Right. But even just her 00:02:51.180 --> 00:02:53.699 birth date is shrouded in the, you know, the 00:02:53.699 --> 00:02:56.180 obfuscation of the slavery system. That's exactly 00:02:56.180 --> 00:02:59.219 right. For those born into bondage, precise records 00:02:59.219 --> 00:03:02.080 were rarely kept. Or if they were, they were 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:05.199 often based on economic value, not on, you know, 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:07.379 human record. Of course. Historians generally 00:03:07.379 --> 00:03:10.580 place her birth around March 1822, and that's 00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:12.340 based on scattered records like a payment to 00:03:12.340 --> 00:03:14.479 a midwife and then later runaway advertisements. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:17.300 But the dates on her death certificate and her 00:03:17.300 --> 00:03:19.580 gravestone are all over the place. All over the 00:03:19.580 --> 00:03:24.520 place. 1815, 1820, 1825. This uncertainty immediately 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:26.960 illustrates how slavery just stripped away a 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:29.900 fundamental right, the knowledge and documentation 00:03:29.900 --> 00:03:32.340 of your own existence. And the threat to her 00:03:32.340 --> 00:03:34.659 existence and her family unit was immediate. 00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:37.800 It was constant. Her mother, Ritt, was a cook 00:03:37.800 --> 00:03:39.900 for the Broadus family, and she fought desperately 00:03:39.900 --> 00:03:42.860 to keep her nine children together. But the system 00:03:42.860 --> 00:03:45.000 was just designed to destroy those bonds. It 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:47.340 was inevitable. Three of her sisters, Lena, Mariah 00:03:47.340 --> 00:03:49.930 Ritty, and Sephora, were sold away. Just permanent 00:03:49.930 --> 00:03:52.289 separations that deeply scarred the family. I 00:03:52.289 --> 00:03:54.810 can't even imagine. When we think of Tubman's 00:03:54.810 --> 00:03:57.509 later dedication to her family, it's rooted right 00:03:57.509 --> 00:04:00.050 here in this traumatic experience of witnessing 00:04:00.050 --> 00:04:04.189 those losses. The knowledge that any day, any 00:04:04.189 --> 00:04:06.629 of them could be pulled away and sent south to 00:04:06.629 --> 00:04:10.469 the cotton fields. That was the central, unrelenting 00:04:10.469 --> 00:04:13.349 anxiety of their lives. But there's a powerful, 00:04:13.430 --> 00:04:16.250 pivotal moment of defiance that really seems 00:04:16.250 --> 00:04:18.449 to have set a precedent for Tubman's own resistance. 00:04:18.689 --> 00:04:22.160 An anecdote involving her mother, Ritt. Oh, this 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:24.199 story is incredible. Our sources detail this, 00:04:24.300 --> 00:04:26.040 and it must have been foundational to how Minty 00:04:26.040 --> 00:04:29.199 understood defiance. A slave trader from Georgia 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:31.740 arrived, intending to buy Ritt's youngest son, 00:04:31.899 --> 00:04:34.920 Moses. Not her eventual husband, but a brother 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:37.319 named Moses. Right, her brother. Ritt managed 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:39.759 to hide him for an entire month, with help from 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:42.079 others in the community. But when Edward Broadus 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:44.639 and the trader finally cornered her, Ritt, a 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:47.600 woman who supposedly had no power, she confronted 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:50.040 them. What did she do? She physically stood between 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:56.879 them and her child. Wow. And what's so fascinating 00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:59.180 here is that the resistance worked. It worked. 00:04:59.459 --> 00:05:02.139 Broadus, the enslaver, he actually backed away. 00:05:02.220 --> 00:05:04.740 He abandoned the sale because writ presented 00:05:04.740 --> 00:05:07.259 such a credible threat of violence. That's a 00:05:07.259 --> 00:05:10.519 crucial, tangible victory. It proves that resistance, 00:05:10.839 --> 00:05:14.040 even by the seemingly powerless, was possible 00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:17.379 and could, you know, alter the system's calculus, 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:20.740 if only temporarily. It could. But Tubman's own 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:22.899 childhood was defined not by victories, but by 00:05:22.899 --> 00:05:25.439 sustained brutality. I mean, she was hired out 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:27.199 as a nursemaid as young as five or six years 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:29.600 old. Basically a disposable laborer. And the 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:32.660 treatment was just appalling. Absolutely brutal. 00:05:32.779 --> 00:05:34.980 We know she was subjected to severe repeated 00:05:34.980 --> 00:05:37.420 beatings. There's one recollection from her later 00:05:37.420 --> 00:05:39.819 life where she speaks of being lashed five times 00:05:39.819 --> 00:05:42.230 before breakfast on a single day. Five times 00:05:42.230 --> 00:05:44.790 with her breakfast. Those scars, physical and 00:05:44.790 --> 00:05:46.689 emotional, she carried them throughout her life. 00:05:46.790 --> 00:05:48.810 Her attempts at resistance back then were small 00:05:48.810 --> 00:05:51.889 but so resourceful. Running away for short periods 00:05:51.889 --> 00:05:53.970 or wearing layers of thick clothing to try and 00:05:53.970 --> 00:05:56.350 cushion the force of the lashes. But the defining 00:05:56.350 --> 00:05:59.110 moment, the experience that irrevocably changed 00:05:59.110 --> 00:06:01.829 her mind, her body, her spirit, that occurred 00:06:01.829 --> 00:06:04.569 in her adolescence. The severe traumatic head 00:06:04.569 --> 00:06:06.860 injury. This is where it gets really interesting, 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:10.279 because the physical violence of slavery literally 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:13.720 rewrote her neurological state and her worldview. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:16.199 How did it happen? She was standing in a doorway 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:19.279 when an overseer, furious that another enslaved 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:23.000 man had attempted to flee, hurled a two -pound 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:25.100 metal weight that was intended for the runaway. 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:28.019 It missed its target and struck Tubman directly 00:06:28.019 --> 00:06:30.839 on the head. And she was left unconscious and 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:34.560 bleeding. A devastating physical blow. The neglect 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:37.879 that followed the injury was just. It was criminal. 00:06:38.100 --> 00:06:41.180 She was laid on a rough loom seat for two days 00:06:41.180 --> 00:06:43.399 without any medical intervention whatsoever. 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.079 For two days. She remained comatose for weeks, 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:48.579 and the impact was permanent. For the rest of 00:06:48.579 --> 00:06:50.779 her life, she suffered from debilitating, painful 00:06:50.779 --> 00:06:53.240 headaches, chronic dizziness, and what observers 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:55.920 just called seizures or spells. And these spells 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:58.480 included episodes of hypersomnia, right? A profound, 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:01.850 uncontrollable urge to sleep. Yes, often causing 00:07:01.850 --> 00:07:03.689 her to fall instantly and deeply unconscious, 00:07:04.189 --> 00:07:06.129 though she claimed that during these spells she 00:07:06.129 --> 00:07:08.029 was actually acutely aware of her surroundings. 00:07:08.490 --> 00:07:11.810 Medically, historians often suggest this symptomology 00:07:11.810 --> 00:07:14.649 aligns with temporal lobe epilepsy, maybe narcolepsy, 00:07:14.769 --> 00:07:18.230 or possibly cataplexy, all conditions directly 00:07:18.230 --> 00:07:21.370 caused by that severe blunt force trauma to her 00:07:21.370 --> 00:07:24.240 head. The specific medical diagnosis is, of course, 00:07:24.259 --> 00:07:26.339 difficult to confirm retrospectively. But the 00:07:26.339 --> 00:07:29.160 fact remains, her brain was permanently altered 00:07:29.160 --> 00:07:32.079 by that violence. And this physical trauma led 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:34.920 directly to a profound spiritual shift. This 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:37.839 is the key. After the injury, she began experiencing 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:41.660 vivid visions, intense dreams, auditory sensations. 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:44.500 Which she immediately and unequivocally interpreted 00:07:44.500 --> 00:07:47.079 as divine premonitions and revelations from God. 00:07:47.259 --> 00:07:50.519 So the pain. The seizures, the sensory overload, 00:07:50.740 --> 00:07:53.379 that became the engine of her faith. She wasn't 00:07:53.379 --> 00:07:55.620 simply a religious woman. She was a mystic who 00:07:55.620 --> 00:07:57.519 believed she was receiving direct, actionable 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:00.639 instructions from God. Precisely. She grew up 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:02.639 absorbing Bible stories, mostly from the Old 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:04.800 Testament, through her mother and likely attended 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:07.399 a Methodist church. But her faith became intensely 00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:09.939 passionate and radically non -passive. Right, 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:11.660 because the religion taught by white slave owners 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:14.199 encouraged submission and obedience. Exactly. 00:08:14.839 --> 00:08:18.069 Tubbin drew on the Exodus story. the god of deliverance, 00:08:18.209 --> 00:08:20.949 and used her mystical inspiration as a guide. 00:08:21.189 --> 00:08:23.709 She came to see her own suffering and her subsequent 00:08:23.709 --> 00:08:26.490 visions as proof that she was chosen for a revolutionary 00:08:26.490 --> 00:08:29.509 purpose. This fusion of physical resilience, 00:08:29.610 --> 00:08:32.649 this unending chronic pain, and this prophetic 00:08:32.649 --> 00:08:36.149 absolute certainty, it fundamentally shaped her 00:08:36.149 --> 00:08:38.929 revolutionary courage. And this spiritual evolution 00:08:38.929 --> 00:08:41.750 seems to coincide with her adopting a new name. 00:08:41.889 --> 00:08:45.149 Yes, she changed her name from Araminta, or Minty, 00:08:45.230 --> 00:08:48.169 to Harriet. She adopted her mother's name, Ritt, 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:50.350 whose full name was reportedly Harriet right 00:08:50.350 --> 00:08:52.029 around the time of her marriage or her escape. 00:08:52.389 --> 00:08:55.129 It was an act of honor and maybe a step toward 00:08:55.129 --> 00:08:57.350 embracing the destiny that the newly named Harriet 00:08:57.350 --> 00:08:59.809 would fulfill. It really marked the transition 00:08:59.809 --> 00:09:02.110 from the enslaved girl to the future conductor. 00:09:02.490 --> 00:09:04.409 So the immediate catalyst for her own escape 00:09:04.409 --> 00:09:07.230 in 1849 was this chilling knowledge that her 00:09:07.230 --> 00:09:09.529 life was measured purely in economic terms. Right. 00:09:09.629 --> 00:09:12.269 She had fallen ill yet again, probably exacerbated 00:09:12.269 --> 00:09:14.350 by her head injury, which diminished her value 00:09:14.350 --> 00:09:17.129 as property. Her enslaver, Edward Broaddus, tried 00:09:17.129 --> 00:09:19.190 to sell her but failed to find a buyer immediately. 00:09:19.590 --> 00:09:22.409 And this fear of being sold spurred that now 00:09:22.409 --> 00:09:25.009 -famous episode of prayer. It did. She prayed 00:09:25.009 --> 00:09:27.509 initially for Broaddus to change his heart. But 00:09:27.509 --> 00:09:29.870 when that didn't happen, her prayer shifted dramatically. 00:09:29.970 --> 00:09:33.649 It reflected her new, uncompromising, Old Testament 00:09:33.649 --> 00:09:36.490 -inspired faith. She prayed, and I'm quoting 00:09:36.490 --> 00:09:47.710 here, And then, Bodas died a week later. A week 00:09:47.710 --> 00:09:50.309 later. For a woman who interpreted her headaches 00:09:50.309 --> 00:09:53.610 and dreams as direct divine communication, that 00:09:53.610 --> 00:09:55.830 event must have been the ultimate affirmation 00:09:55.830 --> 00:09:58.830 of her mission. It cemented her sense of destiny. 00:09:59.070 --> 00:10:02.129 But his death actually created a more immediate... 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:05.179 practical danger, didn't it? It did. When an 00:10:05.179 --> 00:10:07.299 enslaver died, the estate had to be settled, 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:09.419 which almost always meant the family and the 00:10:09.419 --> 00:10:12.360 enslaved people were sold off to pay debts. So 00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:14.399 this increased the probability that her remaining 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:17.360 family would be scattered forever. Tubman realized 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:19.419 she had to act immediately. And she initially 00:10:19.419 --> 00:10:21.279 tried to leave with her husband, John Tubman, 00:10:21.379 --> 00:10:23.820 who was a free man, but he actively discouraged 00:10:23.820 --> 00:10:26.620 her. He was afraid of the risks, but she rejected 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:29.279 his fear, stating that creed that would define 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:32.399 her life. There was one of two things I had a 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:35.139 right to, liberty or death. She was absolutely 00:10:35.139 --> 00:10:38.360 resolved. Completely. The first attempt, in September 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:42.279 1849, involved her brothers, Ben and Henry. But 00:10:42.279 --> 00:10:44.000 they lost their nerve shortly after leaving, 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:46.259 likely out of fear for the wives and children 00:10:46.259 --> 00:10:48.919 they left behind, and they forced Minty to return 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:51.759 with them. That temporary failure only intensified 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:54.740 her resolve. It did. So the successful solo escape 00:10:54.740 --> 00:10:57.259 came shortly after, in October or November of 00:10:57.259 --> 00:11:00.460 1849. And how did she signal her intentions to 00:11:00.460 --> 00:11:03.480 the few people she trusted? She relied on coded 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:05.799 communication through song. She would quietly 00:11:05.799 --> 00:11:08.179 hum or sing spirituals to trusted members of 00:11:08.179 --> 00:11:10.980 the community, notably a friend named Mary. Her 00:11:10.980 --> 00:11:13.379 farewell song contained the clue, I'll meet you 00:11:13.379 --> 00:11:15.179 in the morning, I'm bound for the promised land. 00:11:15.419 --> 00:11:17.820 Such a subtle, beautiful way to communicate a 00:11:17.820 --> 00:11:20.600 massive, life -altering decision without alerting 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:23.759 the overseers. And that journey itself, nearly 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:26.519 90 miles by foot from Dorchester County, guided 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:28.879 by the North Star, must have been an extreme 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:32.679 test of endurance we need to remember this was 00:11:32.679 --> 00:11:35.419 a woman who suffered from chronic agonizing headaches 00:11:35.419 --> 00:11:38.299 and possible seizures walking through hostile 00:11:38.299 --> 00:11:40.799 territory it's an incredible feat of physical 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:44.059 and mental resilience the road took her through 00:11:44.059 --> 00:11:46.940 the difficult terrain of the eastern shore traveling 00:11:46.940 --> 00:11:50.039 northeast along the chop tank river then into 00:11:50.039 --> 00:11:52.700 Delaware, and finally crossing into Pennsylvania. 00:11:53.059 --> 00:11:55.559 And she relied heavily on that informal, network 00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:59.019 -free, and enslaved black people and white abolitionists, 00:11:59.059 --> 00:12:01.120 particularly the Quakers in the Preston area, 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:03.960 who risked everything by giving her shelter and 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:06.019 aid. And her description of finally crossing 00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:08.480 into freedom is just so evocative of the shift 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:10.500 she experienced. It was an epiphany for her. 00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:12.720 She recalled looking at her hands and questioning 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:26.379 if she was the same person. She said, But that 00:12:26.379 --> 00:12:28.679 feeling of pure freedom was threatened almost 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:31.559 immediately by changing federal law. Oh, absolutely. 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:33.940 You're referring to the Fugitive Slave Act of 00:12:33.940 --> 00:12:37.580 1850. How did that law change the operational 00:12:37.580 --> 00:12:40.120 environment for Tubman and the Underground Railroad? 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:42.919 Well, it made the North, even Pennsylvania, completely 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:46.279 treacherous. The law essentially deputized federal 00:12:46.279 --> 00:12:49.360 law enforcement and even ordinary citizens to 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:52.220 aid in the capture of fugitives, regardless of 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:54.299 whether the state itself had outlawed slavery. 00:12:54.659 --> 00:12:57.059 So freedom seekers could be legally seized and 00:12:57.059 --> 00:12:59.480 returned to the South from places like Boston 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:02.679 or New York. Exactly. This drastically shifted 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:05.529 Tubman's operational scope. It forced her to 00:13:05.529 --> 00:13:08.529 guide travelers farther north, often all the 00:13:08.529 --> 00:13:10.370 way into British North America, specifically 00:13:10.370 --> 00:13:13.210 southern Ontario, which remained the only truly 00:13:13.210 --> 00:13:15.570 safe destination. The danger was heightened, 00:13:15.710 --> 00:13:18.269 which means her tactical ingenuity had to increase 00:13:18.269 --> 00:13:21.669 tenfold. What were her specific strategies for 00:13:21.669 --> 00:13:24.610 evasion and secrecy? She was a master of operational 00:13:24.610 --> 00:13:26.870 security and timing. For instance, she preferred 00:13:26.870 --> 00:13:28.789 working in the winter months. Why winter? Well, 00:13:28.850 --> 00:13:30.889 the nights were longer, offering more hours of 00:13:30.889 --> 00:13:33.990 cover. And the bitter cold helped dissuade general 00:13:33.990 --> 00:13:36.009 movement and reduce the likelihood of chance 00:13:36.009 --> 00:13:39.789 encounters. But most crucially, she often started 00:13:39.789 --> 00:13:42.809 her missions on Saturday evenings. That timing 00:13:42.809 --> 00:13:45.750 detail, starting on a Saturday, that's the sort 00:13:45.750 --> 00:13:47.889 of operational planning that tells us she understood 00:13:47.889 --> 00:13:50.370 the mechanics of the opposition. Oh, she viewed 00:13:50.370 --> 00:13:52.269 the press as part of the surveillance network. 00:13:52.509 --> 00:13:55.409 She knew that slave owners often placed runaway 00:13:55.409 --> 00:13:57.629 advertisements in local newspapers immediately. 00:13:58.169 --> 00:14:00.870 By starting on Saturday night, she and her passengers 00:14:00.870 --> 00:14:04.570 gained a critical 48 -hour window before the 00:14:04.570 --> 00:14:06.730 newspapers could print those runaway notices 00:14:06.730 --> 00:14:09.149 on Monday morning. Giving them a vital head start 00:14:09.149 --> 00:14:11.809 on the search parties. A huge head start. And 00:14:11.809 --> 00:14:14.129 her use of disguise and psychology was equally 00:14:14.129 --> 00:14:16.950 effective. She utilized the societal assumptions 00:14:16.950 --> 00:14:19.970 about enslaved black women as camouflage. You 00:14:19.970 --> 00:14:22.179 have to tell us about the chickens. Horses provide 00:14:22.179 --> 00:14:24.779 these two incredible examples of her subterfuge. 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:27.740 Once, she disguised herself with an old bonnet 00:14:27.740 --> 00:14:30.519 and carried two live chickens. Upon realizing 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:32.799 she was walking straight toward a former enslaver, 00:14:32.940 --> 00:14:35.320 she just yanked the strings holding the bird's 00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:38.820 legs, causing them to flap violently. The distraction 00:14:38.820 --> 00:14:41.200 was enough that the enslaver just glanced at 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:43.980 her, saw a poor woman struggling with farm animals, 00:14:44.179 --> 00:14:46.960 and ignored her completely. A perfect use of 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:49.500 chaos and misdirection to avoid recognition. 00:14:50.299 --> 00:14:53.120 And the second, equally powerful instance occurred 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:56.559 on a train. She recognized a former enslaver 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:59.240 sitting nearby. Knowing that she was illiterate, 00:14:59.240 --> 00:15:02.279 she quickly snatched a nearby newspaper and pretended 00:15:02.279 --> 00:15:04.840 to read it. The enslaver? who would have been 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:06.879 looking for a fugitive, likely dismissed her 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:08.799 because the sight of a black woman reading a 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:11.480 newspaper just defied his preconceived notions 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:14.039 of who she was. She was calculating the psychology 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:17.000 of the oppressor. She was turning his own assumptions 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:19.200 against him. And the spirituals she used, like 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:21.539 Go Down Moses, they were adapted specifically 00:15:21.539 --> 00:15:24.019 to communicate those operational shifts in the 00:15:24.019 --> 00:15:26.600 moment, weren't they? Yes, the spirituals acted 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:29.840 as a living code. They might signal that a safe 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:32.840 house was clear or, conversely, that danger was 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:35.299 ahead, requiring a change in route or a sudden 00:15:35.299 --> 00:15:37.940 retreat. And when a group successfully reached 00:15:37.940 --> 00:15:40.779 freedom, her customary exclamation was a profound 00:15:40.779 --> 00:15:44.279 affirmation of that faith. Glory to God and Jesus 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:47.980 too. One more soul is safe. Okay, let's discuss 00:15:47.980 --> 00:15:50.340 the most difficult moral aspect of her leadership, 00:15:50.500 --> 00:15:53.480 the extreme measures she took to ensure success. 00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:56.769 We know she carried a revolver. Yes. primarily 00:15:56.769 --> 00:15:58.830 for protection against slave catchers, but also 00:15:58.830 --> 00:16:01.529 for her own passengers. This is where the term 00:16:02.269 --> 00:16:04.929 uncompromising warrior truly applies she made 00:16:04.929 --> 00:16:07.750 it absolutely clear she threatened to shoot anyone 00:16:07.750 --> 00:16:10.350 in her group who tried to turn back and her logic 00:16:10.350 --> 00:16:13.389 was brutal but practical completely one person 00:16:13.389 --> 00:16:15.870 turning back out of fear or duress could be captured 00:16:15.870 --> 00:16:18.149 tortured and forced to betray the entire network 00:16:18.149 --> 00:16:20.409 the roots the safe houses the identities of those 00:16:20.409 --> 00:16:22.330 who helped them so she forced resolve on the 00:16:22.330 --> 00:16:24.350 entire party to protect the fragile existence 00:16:24.350 --> 00:16:27.580 of the operation go on or die The sources suggest 00:16:27.580 --> 00:16:29.960 that while she was capable of immense empathy, 00:16:30.299 --> 00:16:32.980 her prophetic conviction just superseded that 00:16:32.980 --> 00:16:35.919 emotional burden. She believed she was enacting 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:38.500 God's will. And in that framework, the risk of 00:16:38.500 --> 00:16:41.600 failure, the risk of dozens of people dying or 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:44.179 being returned to bondage, that was a greater 00:16:44.179 --> 00:16:46.899 moral offense than forcing one fearful person 00:16:46.899 --> 00:16:49.419 forward. And there are stories that confirm this. 00:16:49.620 --> 00:16:52.379 There is one story that confirms her steadfastness. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:55.679 A man insisted on returning to the plantation. 00:16:56.620 --> 00:16:59.620 Tubman held the gun to his head, and days later, 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:02.419 that same man successfully crossed into Canada 00:17:02.419 --> 00:17:05.160 with the rest of the group. Her perfect record, 00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:08.559 never losing a passenger, is deeply intertwined 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:11.200 with that uncompromising discipline. It is. Now, 00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:13.400 before we move on to her military service, we 00:17:13.400 --> 00:17:16.299 have to address the financial myth. This idea 00:17:16.299 --> 00:17:19.599 of a $40 ,000 bounty on her head is almost as 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:22.039 famous as her name. It's a classic example of 00:17:22.039 --> 00:17:24.599 historical hyperbole. It was propagated by later 00:17:24.599 --> 00:17:26.660 supporters, including her biographers, who wanted 00:17:26.660 --> 00:17:28.859 to dramatically underscore her value and the 00:17:28.859 --> 00:17:31.079 scale of her defiance. So there's no documentation 00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:34.720 for that? None. No documentation exists for a 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:38.380 reward anywhere near $40 ,000 or even the $12 00:17:38.380 --> 00:17:41.180 ,000 that was sometimes reported. The actual 00:17:41.180 --> 00:17:43.720 runaway notices for Minty and her brothers offered 00:17:43.720 --> 00:17:46.720 $100 for each of them. $100 was significant, 00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:49.599 but it tells us the legendary threat level wasn't 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:51.799 really reflected in the paper trail. Correct. 00:17:51.819 --> 00:17:53.900 But the real numbers, they speak for themselves. 00:17:54.420 --> 00:17:57.660 Forget the mythic reward. Focus instead on the 00:17:57.660 --> 00:18:02.339 reality. 13 separate expeditions, rescuing approximately 00:18:02.339 --> 00:18:06.779 70 people directly and guiding dozens more, all 00:18:06.779 --> 00:18:09.630 while remaining uncaptured. That is the true 00:18:09.630 --> 00:18:12.170 measure of her operational genius. So the natural 00:18:12.170 --> 00:18:14.430 progression from this highly effective armed 00:18:14.430 --> 00:18:16.950 operative of the Underground Railroad was into 00:18:16.950 --> 00:18:19.529 direct conflict. And that shift seems to have 00:18:19.529 --> 00:18:21.490 been catalyzed by her meeting with John Brown 00:18:21.490 --> 00:18:24.450 in 1858. Brown, who advocated for the violent 00:18:24.450 --> 00:18:26.809 overthrow of slavery, he immediately recognized 00:18:26.809 --> 00:18:29.470 her competence and ferocity. He was the one who 00:18:29.470 --> 00:18:31.650 first gave her that unofficial military title, 00:18:31.769 --> 00:18:34.289 calling her General Tubman. And she was ready 00:18:34.289 --> 00:18:37.109 for his message. Oh, absolutely. She claimed 00:18:37.109 --> 00:18:39.549 she had a prophetic vision of their meeting before 00:18:39.549 --> 00:18:42.509 it even happened, which in her mind affirmed 00:18:42.509 --> 00:18:44.970 his revolutionary path. So she actively helped 00:18:44.970 --> 00:18:47.789 him plan and recruit for his mission. Yes. Leveraging 00:18:47.789 --> 00:18:49.890 her extensive network and her deep, intimate 00:18:49.890 --> 00:18:52.230 knowledge of the abolitionist and fugitive networks 00:18:52.230 --> 00:18:55.329 spanning the border states, Pennsylvania, Maryland 00:18:55.329 --> 00:18:58.509 and Delaware. She was instrumental in bringing 00:18:58.509 --> 00:19:01.130 former slaves living in southern Ontario into 00:19:01.130 --> 00:19:04.089 Brown's planned fighting force. But she missed 00:19:04.089 --> 00:19:07.220 the actual. 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry. She 00:19:07.220 --> 00:19:09.480 did. She was ill in New Bedford, Massachusetts, 00:19:09.660 --> 00:19:12.180 but her support was unwavering even after his 00:19:12.180 --> 00:19:14.500 failure and subsequent execution. She saw him 00:19:14.500 --> 00:19:17.819 as a martyr, not a failure. Exactly. She famously 00:19:17.819 --> 00:19:20.500 said Brown done more in dying than a hundred 00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:23.049 men would in living. For Tubman, who merged her 00:19:23.049 --> 00:19:25.730 spiritual beliefs with political action, Brown's 00:19:25.730 --> 00:19:28.009 sacrifice became this sacred act of revolutionary 00:19:28.009 --> 00:19:30.809 martyrdom. And this belief was important because 00:19:30.809 --> 00:19:32.809 at the same time she was securing a physical 00:19:32.809 --> 00:19:34.970 base of operations for herself. The seven -acre 00:19:34.970 --> 00:19:37.470 farm in Auburn, New York, which she purchased 00:19:37.470 --> 00:19:41.210 in 1859 from Frances Adeline Seward. That was 00:19:41.210 --> 00:19:44.130 an incredibly complex move, given her status 00:19:44.130 --> 00:19:46.509 as a fugitive. It was complicated and very risky. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:49.079 The sale was technically illegal under federal 00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:51.680 law. However, the Sewards, that's the family 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:54.539 of Senator William Seward, they managed the transaction 00:19:54.539 --> 00:19:57.349 carefully. They held the mortgage as a private 00:19:57.349 --> 00:20:00.109 arrangement and strategically delayed the official 00:20:00.109 --> 00:20:02.930 deed transfer. And that act of abolitionist support 00:20:02.930 --> 00:20:05.549 provided Tubman with a crucial sanctuary. It 00:20:05.549 --> 00:20:07.890 did. A place where she could finally bring her 00:20:07.890 --> 00:20:10.150 aging parents back from Canada to live permanently 00:20:10.150 --> 00:20:12.910 in the U .S. and a place that served as a safe 00:20:12.910 --> 00:20:15.049 haven for other Black Americans. So when the 00:20:15.049 --> 00:20:18.430 Civil War erupted in 1861, how did she interpret 00:20:18.430 --> 00:20:20.210 the meaning of the conflict through her prophetic 00:20:20.210 --> 00:20:23.920 lens? She saw it as divine intervention. A certainty 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:26.140 that the war would inevitably lead to abolition. 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:28.960 Her conviction was immediate. She volunteered 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:32.180 for the Union cause in January 1862, traveling 00:20:32.180 --> 00:20:34.779 to Port Royal, South Carolina. Which was a crucial 00:20:34.779 --> 00:20:38.039 Union staging ground. And home to vast encampments 00:20:38.039 --> 00:20:41.440 of newly escaped enslaved people, often called 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:44.880 contraband. She initially served as a cook and 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:47.579 a nurse. And she wasn't shy about offering political 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:49.839 critique to the Union leadership. Not at all. 00:20:49.900 --> 00:20:52.740 She condemned President Lincoln's initial reluctance 00:20:52.740 --> 00:20:55.180 to make the war explicitly about ending slavery. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:58.680 Her critique was sharp and theologically grounded. 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:01.900 God won't let Master Lincoln beat the South till 00:21:01.900 --> 00:21:03.900 he does the right thing. She believed that by 00:21:03.900 --> 00:21:06.380 freeing and arming the enslaved, the Union could 00:21:06.380 --> 00:21:09.140 win quickly. And save the lives of white soldiers 00:21:09.140 --> 00:21:11.799 who were dying needlessly. That was her argument. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:14.480 Her nursing methods were also really resourceful, 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:17.400 moving beyond official government supplies. She 00:21:17.400 --> 00:21:19.720 was a folk healer. She had an intimate knowledge 00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:22.099 of local plants and prepared traditional remedies, 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:24.759 which proved highly effective in treating soldiers 00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:27.099 suffering from infectious diseases common in 00:21:27.099 --> 00:21:29.859 camp, like dysentery. And she rejected government 00:21:29.859 --> 00:21:32.720 rations entirely. She did to avoid any perception 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:35.039 that she was benefiting unduly from the government. 00:21:35.299 --> 00:21:37.900 Instead, she earned her own money by making and 00:21:37.900 --> 00:21:40.539 selling pies and root beer in the evenings. That's 00:21:40.539 --> 00:21:42.799 a fascinating detail. She's running a military 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:45.059 intelligence operation during the day and a small 00:21:45.059 --> 00:21:47.900 business at night. The sheer exhaustion must 00:21:47.900 --> 00:21:50.619 have been unimaginable. It speaks to her ceaseless 00:21:50.619 --> 00:21:53.839 drive. But her role changed fundamentally after 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:57.500 the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. She transitioned 00:21:57.500 --> 00:22:00.839 fully from a civilian nurse to an official military 00:22:00.839 --> 00:22:03.740 intelligence operative. That's the key shift. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:06.680 How did her Underground Railroad experience translate 00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:09.339 into her new role as an armed scout and spy? 00:22:09.799 --> 00:22:12.279 Perfectly. I mean, her decades of moving covertly 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:14.220 through hostile terrain, her ability to memorize 00:22:14.220 --> 00:22:16.980 routes, her deep connections with enslaved people 00:22:16.980 --> 00:22:19.819 who remained behind Confederate lines, all of 00:22:19.819 --> 00:22:22.279 that made her invaluable. She was formerly working 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:24.420 under the authority of Secretary of War Edwin 00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:27.400 Stanton. She led a band of scouts. Yes, mapping 00:22:27.400 --> 00:22:30.079 unfamiliar terrain, identifying Confederate logistical 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:32.640 points, and gathering crucial strategic intelligence 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:35.359 around the Port Royal region. Her work even aided 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:37.539 Colonel James Montgomery in the temporary capture 00:22:37.539 --> 00:22:40.640 of Jacksonville, Florida in March. 1863. But 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:43.599 the single greatest military action she led was 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:47.859 the Combahee River Raid of June 1863. So take 00:22:47.859 --> 00:22:49.900 us through the operational details of that day. 00:22:50.019 --> 00:22:52.839 All right. So Tubman guided three Union steamboats 00:22:52.839 --> 00:22:55.619 up the Combahee River, a crucial waterway in 00:22:55.619 --> 00:22:58.799 South Carolina's Lowcountry. Her specific knowledge 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:01.279 of the river was critical because the Confederates 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:04.279 had strategically placed mines, or torpedoes, 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:07.599 in the water to sink Union vessels. And she successfully 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:10.579 guided the boats past these hidden dangers. She 00:23:10.579 --> 00:23:13.000 did. Once past the mines, Colonel Montgomery's 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:15.240 troops assaulted several major plantations along 00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:18.380 the riverbanks. The Union troops set fires, destroyed 00:23:18.380 --> 00:23:21.039 key Confederate infrastructure wharves, storehouses, 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:24.420 rice mills, and seized supplies. A significant 00:23:24.420 --> 00:23:26.900 logistical blow to the Confederate war effort 00:23:26.900 --> 00:23:29.680 in the region. A huge blow. But the liberation 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:32.099 was the lasting legacy. Right, because Tubman's 00:23:32.099 --> 00:23:34.140 spy network had pre -warned the enslaved communities 00:23:34.140 --> 00:23:37.259 nearby. They had. As the Union steamboat sounded 00:23:37.259 --> 00:23:39.559 their whistles, enslaved people realized this 00:23:39.559 --> 00:23:42.019 was their moment. Yeah. Over 700 individuals 00:23:42.019 --> 00:23:44.519 rushed to the riverbank seeking freedom. And 00:23:44.519 --> 00:23:46.339 Tubman personally went ashore to help manage 00:23:46.339 --> 00:23:48.920 the chaos. Directing the newly liberated onto 00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:51.880 the boats, armed overseers tried desperately 00:23:51.880 --> 00:23:54.299 to stop the flight, but they just failed against 00:23:54.299 --> 00:23:57.119 the speed and surprise of the raid. 700 people 00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:00.880 liberated in a single action, and over 100 of 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:03.200 those newly freed men immediately joined the 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:06.420 Union Army. That's a strategic win of staggering 00:24:06.420 --> 00:24:09.119 magnitude. It's a phenomenal human and military 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:12.160 success, and it cemented her recognition as the 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:14.700 first woman to lead an armed military operation 00:24:14.700 --> 00:24:17.730 in the U .S. Though she held no official rank, 00:24:17.930 --> 00:24:20.549 her nickname, General Tubman, was widely used 00:24:20.549 --> 00:24:23.190 by the press and her colleagues. And she ensured 00:24:23.190 --> 00:24:25.910 that the official reporting credited the bravery 00:24:25.910 --> 00:24:28.470 not just of Montgomery, but of the black troops 00:24:28.470 --> 00:24:31.049 and scouts in his regiment. She did. She later 00:24:31.049 --> 00:24:33.670 gave a historian this incredible, almost biblical 00:24:33.670 --> 00:24:36.109 description of the brutal reality of battle, 00:24:36.269 --> 00:24:39.069 describing the assault on Fort Wagner in July 00:24:39.069 --> 00:24:42.109 1863. I want to hear this. She said, we saw the 00:24:42.109 --> 00:24:43.829 lightning, and that was the guns, and then we 00:24:43.829 --> 00:24:45.309 heard the thunder, and that was the big guns, 00:24:45.390 --> 00:24:46.519 and then we heard... heard the rain falling, 00:24:46.579 --> 00:24:48.480 and that was the drops of blood falling. And 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:50.599 when we came to get the crops, it was dead men 00:24:50.599 --> 00:24:53.400 that we reaped. She continued her service, nursing 00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:56.240 the wounded, for two more years until several 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:58.880 months after the Confederacy surrendered in April 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:03.500 1865. So after three years of monumental, life 00:25:03.500 --> 00:25:06.599 -risking, service -guiding military vessels scouting 00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:09.539 enemy lines, nursing the sick and wounded Tubman 00:25:09.539 --> 00:25:12.569 received almost nothing. Little to no official 00:25:12.569 --> 00:25:15.170 compensation. Our sources indicate she received 00:25:15.170 --> 00:25:19.089 a total of only $200 for those three years. $200. 00:25:19.190 --> 00:25:22.009 Her status was largely unofficial, making it 00:25:22.009 --> 00:25:24.170 nearly impossible to document her service to 00:25:24.170 --> 00:25:26.390 the U .S. government. And this condemned her 00:25:26.390 --> 00:25:28.490 to constant poverty for the rest of her life. 00:25:28.710 --> 00:25:31.589 That administrative injustice, the failure to 00:25:31.589 --> 00:25:33.609 recognize her formal military contributions, 00:25:33.910 --> 00:25:37.170 it's shocking. But the indignity she faced didn't 00:25:37.170 --> 00:25:39.569 stop at bureaucracy. It was physical and personal, 00:25:39.750 --> 00:25:43.490 exemplified by that horrific 1865 train incident. 00:25:43.690 --> 00:25:46.250 This incident is such a stark reminder that military 00:25:46.250 --> 00:25:48.869 service did not erase the reality of post -war 00:25:48.869 --> 00:25:51.390 racism. She was traveling home on a half -fare 00:25:51.390 --> 00:25:53.769 ticket granted specifically because of her service. 00:25:54.029 --> 00:25:56.630 When a conductor demanded she move from the regular 00:25:56.630 --> 00:25:59.430 passenger car to the smoking car, she refused, 00:25:59.730 --> 00:26:02.650 asserting her right as a veteran. And she physically 00:26:02.650 --> 00:26:05.069 resisted, didn't she? She did. The conductor 00:26:05.069 --> 00:26:08.329 became abusive, cursing her, grabbing her. When 00:26:08.329 --> 00:26:10.529 she resisted forcefully, he called for assistance. 00:26:11.089 --> 00:26:13.529 They physically dragged her out of the seat and 00:26:13.529 --> 00:26:16.109 muscled her into the smoking car, injuring her 00:26:16.109 --> 00:26:18.250 in the process. And the worst part is what the 00:26:18.250 --> 00:26:20.710 other passengers did. The source material confirms 00:26:20.710 --> 00:26:22.769 that the white passengers did not come to her 00:26:22.769 --> 00:26:25.769 aid. Instead, they cursed her and cheered on 00:26:25.769 --> 00:26:27.970 the assault. Some even yelled for the conductor 00:26:27.970 --> 00:26:30.849 to physically kick her off the train. She returned 00:26:30.849 --> 00:26:33.940 home, General Tubman. physically assaulted, and 00:26:33.940 --> 00:26:36.180 publicly humiliated because of the color of her 00:26:36.180 --> 00:26:38.880 skin. That is just a profound tragedy, a complete 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:41.579 betrayal of her service. It is. So back in Auburn, 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:43.700 she settles into what was still a life dedicated 00:26:43.700 --> 00:26:46.599 to community. She took in boarders. She supported 00:26:46.599 --> 00:26:49.940 her parents on this meager income. In 1869, she 00:26:49.940 --> 00:26:52.559 found some stability, marrying Nelson Davis, 00:26:52.859 --> 00:26:55.819 a former enslaved man and Civil War private who 00:26:55.819 --> 00:26:57.720 was significantly younger than her. And they 00:26:57.720 --> 00:27:01.799 adopted a baby girl, Gertie, in 1874. But even 00:27:01.799 --> 00:27:04.500 with that support, the poverty was grinding, 00:27:04.740 --> 00:27:07.619 and it made her desperate, leading to one of 00:27:07.619 --> 00:27:10.359 the most tragic episodes of her later life, the 00:27:10.359 --> 00:27:13.700 swindle of 1873. The story of the trunk of gold. 00:27:13.940 --> 00:27:17.539 Right. Given her history as this highly intelligent 00:27:17.539 --> 00:27:20.000 operative, how could she have been lured into 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:23.369 such a scheme? The context is crucial here. She 00:27:23.369 --> 00:27:25.450 was approached by two men claiming they knew 00:27:25.450 --> 00:27:27.829 of a former slave who had escaped South Carolina 00:27:27.829 --> 00:27:31.210 with a trunk full of gold coins. Now, during 00:27:31.210 --> 00:27:33.950 the Civil War, many wealthy white families in 00:27:33.950 --> 00:27:36.210 the South had buried valuables to keep them from 00:27:36.210 --> 00:27:38.710 Union troops, and black men were often tasked 00:27:38.710 --> 00:27:41.210 with the digging. So the claim that a former 00:27:41.210 --> 00:27:43.509 slave had recovered a trunk seemed plausible 00:27:43.509 --> 00:27:46.549 to her. It did, and she was deeply desperate 00:27:46.549 --> 00:27:48.970 for money to maintain her home and care for her 00:27:48.970 --> 00:27:51.329 family. So believing this might be her only way 00:27:51.329 --> 00:27:53.970 to achieve financial security, she borrowed money 00:27:53.970 --> 00:27:56.069 from a wealthy friend to purchase this trunk. 00:27:56.309 --> 00:27:59.109 Exactly. She arranged a meeting for a late -night 00:27:59.109 --> 00:28:01.569 transaction, but it was a setup. She was lured 00:28:01.569 --> 00:28:03.470 into the woods where she was violently assaulted, 00:28:03.750 --> 00:28:06.109 knocked unconscious with chloroform, and robbed 00:28:06.109 --> 00:28:07.970 of the money she had borrowed. And the trunk? 00:28:08.170 --> 00:28:10.009 When they finally found the trunk, it contained 00:28:10.009 --> 00:28:12.970 nothing but rocks. It was a vicious crime committed 00:28:12.970 --> 00:28:15.630 against a national hero. It's just gut wrenching. 00:28:15.650 --> 00:28:18.710 But ironically, that public humiliation and the 00:28:18.710 --> 00:28:21.369 news coverage of the swindle drew attention back 00:28:21.369 --> 00:28:24.650 to her neglected military service, forcing local 00:28:24.650 --> 00:28:27.480 leaders and politicians to. finally try and secure 00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:30.940 her some form of compensation. The irony is powerful. 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:34.660 In 1874, a bill was finally introduced in the 00:28:34.660 --> 00:28:37.240 United States Congress, specifically seeking 00:28:37.240 --> 00:28:40.900 a $2 ,000 lump sum payment for her years of service 00:28:40.900 --> 00:28:45.140 as a scout, nurse, and spy. The attempt was serious, 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:47.759 backed by her network of prominent abolitionist 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:50.059 friends. And did Congress approve the payment? 00:28:50.299 --> 00:28:52.910 No. It was defeated in the Senate. The political 00:28:52.910 --> 00:28:55.109 landscape of the post -Reconstruction era was 00:28:55.109 --> 00:28:57.549 hardening against official recognition and financial 00:28:57.549 --> 00:28:59.849 support for black veterans, especially those 00:28:59.849 --> 00:29:02.150 who had performed unofficial roles. So the government 00:29:02.150 --> 00:29:04.289 wanted to acknowledge nursing, which was seen 00:29:04.289 --> 00:29:06.829 as a charitable, appropriate role for a woman, 00:29:06.910 --> 00:29:09.390 but not armed espionage or scouting. That's it. 00:29:09.470 --> 00:29:11.589 That crossed institutional gender and racial 00:29:11.589 --> 00:29:14.769 boundaries. So after the swindle and the failed 00:29:14.769 --> 00:29:17.490 congressional bill, what was the actual final 00:29:17.490 --> 00:29:21.269 outcome of her decades -long fight for a military 00:29:21.269 --> 00:29:23.880 pension? The compensation she finally received 00:29:23.880 --> 00:29:27.660 was piecemeal and conditional. It began in 1895 00:29:27.660 --> 00:29:30.559 when she was granted a widow's pension of $8 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:33.220 per month, and that was based solely on the service 00:29:33.220 --> 00:29:36.200 of her late husband, Nelson Davis, a Civil War 00:29:36.200 --> 00:29:39.390 private. Not her own. Not her own. Four years 00:29:39.390 --> 00:29:42.589 later, after relentless lobbying, Congress finally 00:29:42.589 --> 00:29:45.589 approved a compromise. This compromise raised 00:29:45.589 --> 00:29:48.549 her monthly payment to $20. But even this was 00:29:48.549 --> 00:29:51.309 carefully categorized. It was the original $8 00:29:51.309 --> 00:29:54.289 for being a widow, plus $12 for her service as 00:29:54.289 --> 00:29:56.849 a nurse. The distinction is critical. They refused 00:29:56.849 --> 00:29:59.309 to acknowledge the scouting and spy work. They 00:29:59.309 --> 00:30:02.190 did. Congress never officially recognized her 00:30:02.190 --> 00:30:04.710 contributions as an armed scout and spy in the 00:30:04.710 --> 00:30:06.970 military records during her lifetime. It was 00:30:06.970 --> 00:30:09.829 a painful institutional dismissal of her revolutionary 00:30:09.829 --> 00:30:12.650 effectiveness in the field. She was, in the government's 00:30:12.650 --> 00:30:14.750 eyes, a widow in a nurse roles deemed acceptable, 00:30:14.970 --> 00:30:17.549 but never the General Tubman who led men into 00:30:17.549 --> 00:30:19.849 battle. And beyond these battles for financial 00:30:19.849 --> 00:30:22.529 security, she found time to fight for the future 00:30:22.529 --> 00:30:25.059 of all women. becoming active in the women's 00:30:25.059 --> 00:30:27.599 suffrage movement alongside leaders like Susan 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:30.000 B. Anthony. Her presence in the suffrage movement 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:33.059 was profoundly impactful. She would stand before 00:30:33.059 --> 00:30:35.579 audiences and describe her wartime actions and 00:30:35.579 --> 00:30:38.359 her life of sacrifice, asking the audience to 00:30:38.359 --> 00:30:40.579 judge her capabilities against those of men. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:43.000 And when asked directly if women should vote. 00:30:43.180 --> 00:30:45.900 Her response just perfectly encapsulated her 00:30:45.900 --> 00:30:48.809 life. I suffered enough to believe it. She felt 00:30:48.809 --> 00:30:51.369 that her physical and existential sacrifice had 00:30:51.369 --> 00:30:53.849 earned her the franchise, and by extension, all 00:30:53.849 --> 00:30:56.650 women deserved it. She used her experiences as 00:30:56.650 --> 00:30:58.869 concrete proof that women were not simply passive 00:30:58.869 --> 00:31:01.329 citizens. She also established a major piece 00:31:01.329 --> 00:31:04.390 of her local legacy in Auburn, the Harriet Tubman 00:31:04.390 --> 00:31:07.019 home for the aged. She deeded her property to 00:31:07.019 --> 00:31:10.140 the AME Zion Church in 1903, and it officially 00:31:10.140 --> 00:31:13.380 opened in 1908. She was immensely proud of it, 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:16.059 seeing it as a realization of her lifelong commitment 00:31:16.059 --> 00:31:18.839 to the most vulnerable. But she was quickly frustrated 00:31:18.839 --> 00:31:21.259 by the church's financial necessities. Right, 00:31:21.339 --> 00:31:24.160 specifically their rule requiring a $100 entrance 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:26.819 fee for new residents. Her original vision was 00:31:26.819 --> 00:31:29.440 far more radical. She didn't want any barriers 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:31.920 to entry, did she? Her commitment to the destitute 00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:35.450 was absolute. She stated clearly that she wanted 00:31:35.450 --> 00:31:37.869 the rule to be that nobody should come in unless 00:31:37.869 --> 00:31:40.769 they didn't have no money at all. It shows that 00:31:40.769 --> 00:31:43.250 even in her retirement, her instincts remain 00:31:43.250 --> 00:31:46.190 focused on providing absolute charity and refuge, 00:31:46.509 --> 00:31:49.250 a continuation of the mission that began on the 00:31:49.250 --> 00:31:51.630 Underground Railroad. And even as she provided 00:31:51.630 --> 00:31:54.190 care for others, her own physical health was 00:31:54.190 --> 00:31:56.809 failing her, haunted by the violence of her youth. 00:31:57.240 --> 00:31:59.740 The lifelong pain from that head injury became 00:31:59.740 --> 00:32:02.539 unbearable. The symptoms, the crushing headaches, 00:32:02.680 --> 00:32:04.599 and the constant buzzing she reported in her 00:32:04.599 --> 00:32:06.980 head, they became debilitating toward the turn 00:32:06.980 --> 00:32:09.640 of the century. In the late 1890s, she sought 00:32:09.640 --> 00:32:12.339 surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, and 00:32:12.339 --> 00:32:14.319 she gave a harrowing description of the procedure, 00:32:14.579 --> 00:32:17.640 the doctor sawing open her skull to relieve the 00:32:17.640 --> 00:32:20.220 pressure and pain. And the incredible detail 00:32:20.220 --> 00:32:22.619 that accompanies this surgery, a detail that 00:32:22.619 --> 00:32:24.920 just perfectly summarizes her life as a warrior. 00:32:25.309 --> 00:32:28.930 It's tragic and profoundly symbolic. She reportedly 00:32:28.930 --> 00:32:31.670 received no anesthesia for this extremely painful 00:32:31.670 --> 00:32:34.569 procedure. Instead, she bit down on a bullet, 00:32:34.730 --> 00:32:37.390 mimicking the action she had seen Civil War soldiers 00:32:37.390 --> 00:32:40.470 perform during amputations. It was her final 00:32:40.470 --> 00:32:42.890 act of endurance. Meeting her physical pain with 00:32:42.890 --> 00:32:44.950 the grit and discipline of a hardened soldier, 00:32:45.170 --> 00:32:48.529 she died of pneumonia on March 10, 1913, surrounded 00:32:48.529 --> 00:32:51.390 by friends and family. Her last quoted words 00:32:51.390 --> 00:32:53.829 were from the Gospel of John, an affirmation 00:32:53.829 --> 00:32:57.029 of her enduring faith. I go away to prepare a 00:32:57.029 --> 00:32:59.690 place for you. Her impact was recognized immediately 00:32:59.690 --> 00:33:02.759 upon her death, though. She was buried with semi 00:33:02.759 --> 00:33:05.420 -military honors at Fort Hill Cemetery, and her 00:33:05.420 --> 00:33:07.279 stature has only grown in the decades since, 00:33:07.420 --> 00:33:09.539 solidifying her place as one of the most famous 00:33:09.539 --> 00:33:11.839 figures in American history. Inspiring generations 00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:14.960 of civil rights leaders and the tangible honors 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:17.259 they continue to accumulate, recognizing her 00:33:17.259 --> 00:33:19.779 diverse contributions. We see national parks 00:33:19.779 --> 00:33:21.980 and historical sites dedicated to her in Maryland 00:33:21.980 --> 00:33:25.059 and New York. She broke barriers, even posthumously, 00:33:25.180 --> 00:33:27.440 becoming the first African -American woman honored 00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:30.579 on a U .S. postage stamp in 1978. And the modern 00:33:30.579 --> 00:33:34.559 recognition is strong. In 2024, the U .S. Mint 00:33:34.559 --> 00:33:36.960 issued commemorative coins depicting her various 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:39.819 stages of life, the conductor, the soldier, the 00:33:39.819 --> 00:33:42.500 humanitarian. But perhaps the most visible and 00:33:42.500 --> 00:33:45.059 widely discussed symbol of her enduring legacy 00:33:45.059 --> 00:33:48.160 is the ongoing plan to feature her portrait on 00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:51.160 the front of the $20 bill replacing Andrew Jackson. 00:33:51.380 --> 00:33:54.160 Who was an enslaver himself. Right. And perhaps 00:33:54.160 --> 00:33:56.779 the most fitting, if long overdue, acknowledgement 00:33:56.779 --> 00:34:00.039 came recently in 2024. The ultimate military 00:34:00.039 --> 00:34:02.759 honor that official records denied her in life. 00:34:03.160 --> 00:34:05.519 What was that? She was posthumously commissioned 00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:07.660 as a one -star general in the Maryland National 00:34:07.660 --> 00:34:10.619 Guard. It is a powerful official recognition 00:34:10.619 --> 00:34:13.400 of her Civil War service as a scout and spy, 00:34:13.679 --> 00:34:15.860 the very contribution that Congress dismissed 00:34:15.860 --> 00:34:18.360 and refused to pay for during her lifetime. This 00:34:18.360 --> 00:34:20.860 delayed honor finally rectifies that historical 00:34:20.860 --> 00:34:23.300 oversight. But her story also gives us a crucial 00:34:23.300 --> 00:34:25.880 lesson in historiography, how history is actually 00:34:25.880 --> 00:34:28.500 created and passed down, especially for an individual 00:34:28.500 --> 00:34:30.239 who was illiterate and couldn't write her own 00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:32.679 memoirs. This is a critical point for a deep 00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:35.639 dive audience. For decades, the public's understanding 00:34:35.639 --> 00:34:38.019 of Tubman was filtered almost entirely through 00:34:38.019 --> 00:34:41.719 the lens of early authorized biographies. Specifically, 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:44.599 Sarah Hopkins Bradford published two key works 00:34:44.599 --> 00:34:48.159 in 1869 and 1886. And Bradford took significant 00:34:48.159 --> 00:34:51.420 artistic license. A lot. She wasn't seeking objective 00:34:51.420 --> 00:34:54.059 truth. She was primarily trying to raise money 00:34:54.059 --> 00:34:56.880 for Tubman and make her story palatable to white 00:34:56.880 --> 00:34:59.320 abolitionists and religious audiences. So she 00:34:59.320 --> 00:35:01.579 essentially created a persona for the public 00:35:01.579 --> 00:35:04.219 to digest. Precisely. Bradford portrayed her 00:35:04.219 --> 00:35:07.260 less as a nuanced, complex woman and more as 00:35:07.260 --> 00:35:09.840 a moralistic figure, a latter -day Joan of Arc. 00:35:10.079 --> 00:35:12.260 While these books preserved her memory, they 00:35:12.260 --> 00:35:14.380 often dramatized events and suppressed the more 00:35:14.380 --> 00:35:16.559 difficult realities, like her violent resistance, 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:19.340 her political critiques, the true extent of her 00:35:19.340 --> 00:35:21.840 medical condition, all to fit a narrative of 00:35:21.840 --> 00:35:24.519 saintly heroism. So the objective truth, the 00:35:24.519 --> 00:35:27.179 full historical picture, remained largely obscured 00:35:27.179 --> 00:35:29.599 by this romanticized version for a long time. 00:35:29.739 --> 00:35:33.260 A very long time. It wasn't until Earl Conrad, 00:35:33.460 --> 00:35:36.500 an academic, published his work in 1943 that 00:35:36.500 --> 00:35:40.480 the first full biography based on rigorous, objective 00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:43.159 academic research appeared. And he reportedly 00:35:43.159 --> 00:35:45.619 struggled for four years just to find a publisher 00:35:45.619 --> 00:35:48.280 willing to take on a serious, complex look at 00:35:48.280 --> 00:35:51.079 her life. Which demonstrates how firmly entrenched 00:35:51.079 --> 00:35:53.679 that simplified moralistic narrative was in the 00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:56.400 American consciousness. Exactly. It has taken 00:35:56.400 --> 00:35:58.699 academic work since the mid -20th century to 00:35:58.699 --> 00:36:01.300 synthesize the identity we now recognize. The 00:36:01.300 --> 00:36:03.579 identity of a religious mystic whose visions 00:36:03.579 --> 00:36:06.780 were likely fueled by severe trauma, a phenomenally 00:36:06.780 --> 00:36:09.539 skilled and uncompromising military operative 00:36:09.539 --> 00:36:12.360 at the Underground Railroad, and an unyielding 00:36:12.360 --> 00:36:14.639 warrior for justice whose fight for dignity continued 00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:16.940 long after the official conflict ended. That's 00:36:16.940 --> 00:36:18.840 the woman. So this deep dive has truly taken 00:36:18.840 --> 00:36:21.659 us from Araminta Minty Ross, the enslaved girl 00:36:21.659 --> 00:36:24.320 profoundly scarred by physical violence, all 00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:25.920 the way to Moses, the resourceful conductor, 00:36:26.099 --> 00:36:28.920 and finally to General Tubman, the military intelligence 00:36:28.920 --> 00:36:31.840 operative. It's an incredible arc. The core insight 00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:34.900 remains this intrinsic link between her trauma 00:36:34.900 --> 00:36:38.159 and her revolutionary courage. Her unwavering 00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:40.980 faith, arguably intensified by her head injury, 00:36:41.159 --> 00:36:43.920 was the psychological engine that drove the discipline 00:36:43.920 --> 00:36:47.599 ensuring that perfect record. She truly never 00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:49.699 lost a passenger. And for you, the listener, 00:36:49.840 --> 00:36:52.179 understanding her post -war life is essential 00:36:52.179 --> 00:36:54.659 to understanding the full scope of American freedom. 00:36:54.820 --> 00:36:58.019 The shift in narrative from victory to this exhausting 00:36:58.019 --> 00:37:00.940 fight for recognition, the brutal train assault, 00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:04.179 the calculated swindle, the decades -long battle 00:37:04.179 --> 00:37:07.039 for a proper military pension. It reveals that 00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:09.320 the battle for dignity and institutional recognition 00:37:09.320 --> 00:37:12.619 often continues long after official freedom is 00:37:12.619 --> 00:37:15.090 declared. It does. Her relentless pursuit of 00:37:15.090 --> 00:37:17.030 compensation shows she understood the material 00:37:17.030 --> 00:37:19.389 value of her sacrifice, even if the government 00:37:19.389 --> 00:37:21.409 would only recognize the acceptable roles of 00:37:21.409 --> 00:37:23.769 nurse and widow. It's a powerful lesson in who 00:37:23.769 --> 00:37:26.449 gets paid for heroism and whose sacrifice is 00:37:26.449 --> 00:37:28.730 simply expected. Which brings us to our final 00:37:28.730 --> 00:37:30.769 thought for you to consider. We have detailed 00:37:30.769 --> 00:37:33.230 how Tubman's most effective tactics, both in 00:37:33.230 --> 00:37:35.730 escape and in military intelligence, involved 00:37:35.730 --> 00:37:38.869 blending in, using subterfuge, and appearing 00:37:38.869 --> 00:37:41.130 harmless carrying agitated chickens pretending 00:37:41.130 --> 00:37:44.250 to read, using the assumed illiteracy of a black 00:37:44.250 --> 00:37:46.909 woman as camouflage. What? Given the constant 00:37:46.909 --> 00:37:49.530 mortal threat of capture she faced across 13 00:37:49.530 --> 00:37:52.010 missiles, how might this mastery of deception 00:37:52.010 --> 00:37:54.730 honed by the very system that oppressed her have 00:37:54.730 --> 00:37:57.400 been her most powerful and enduring weapon? Was 00:37:57.400 --> 00:37:59.900 she primarily a mystic guided by God, or was 00:37:59.900 --> 00:38:02.039 she a brilliant strategist who successfully convinced 00:38:02.039 --> 00:38:04.059 her enemies to underestimate her until the very 00:38:04.059 --> 00:38:04.780 moment she struck?