Question

Include a brief overview of her legacy as a freedom fighter but most of the content should include her personal journey to serve the community as a nurse in the civil war and founder of the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged (which very well could have been the first nursing home)! Emphasis should be placed on her personal traits (persistent, selfless, resilient, courageous etc.) and how those exemplify a super nurse. Please include 1 abstract summarizing paper as well. (This will be for a museum and should be written in a way to grab the audiences attention).

Answer

Harriet Tubman

Contents

Abstract. 2

Harriet Tubman’s Legacy as a Freedom Fighter. 2

Harriet Tubman as Founder of the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged. 3

Conclusion. 4

References. 6

Abstract

Her name was a torment to the slave owners but a sweet song to the runaway slaves. Harriet Tubman was a household name during her time. Nicknamed the ‘Moses of her People’ due to her contributions in guiding slaves to their freedom, she was the most profound member of the Underground Railroad, an underground anti-slavery movement that was helping slaves in the South to their liberty. Her contributions towards the abolition of slavery in the South still abound; she is believed to have led around 300 hundred slaves to their freedom (Carson, 2016). During the American Civil war, she persuaded hundreds of soldiers to defect from Confederate forces. She was also the nurse to the Union army where she played two important roles: spying and scouting the Southern army and nursing. In the post slavery era, Tubman was active in reintegrating the freed slaves by offering them accommodation despite her unfortunate nature. These acts led to the establishment of the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged that Harriet helped to establish and work as a nurse until her demise. On this basis, it is correct to state that Tubman manifested all the character traits of a super nurse, which include persistence, selflessness, resilience, and courage.

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Harriet Tubman’s Legacy as a Freedom Fighter

Tubman’s fight for freedom was a long-nursed dream that started when she saw most of her relatives being sold, as a result separating her from her relations. Harriet embarked on her freedom journey after the death of her owner in 1849. On escaping to Pennsylvania, Harriet made use of the Underground Railroad to save around 300 slaves. In her own words, Harrietsays, “I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say; I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a Passenger.” (Biography.com, 2017). After her escape, Tubman purposed in her heart to save her relatives and their slave colleagues from slavery using the Underground Railroad Movement. Her first freedom struggle started when she helped John Bowley’s family run to safety. This first-experience expedition earned her the name, ‘Moses’.

In all the journeys made, Harriet was present attending to their needs, nursing and guiding them to safety. Even after the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law that stated that the runaway slaves could be arrested and returned. After the promulgation of the law, Tubman re-routed the Underground Railroad to Canada. During the Civil War, Harriet continued her freedom struggles by becoming an armed spy and scout for the Union Army. In the entire time, she was the nurse in the Union Army although she was armed and ready to fight. Using her position in the army, she led the Combahee River Raid thatsaw 700 slaves in South Carolina liberated(Shannon, 2015). Her major role was helping nurse the war soldiers as well as the freed slaves who had traveled long distances to freedom and who had been malnourished due to the limited supply of nutritious foods. Tubman remained active in the army, working as a nurse and cook. Evidently, she was a super nurse who was not only courageous and resilient but also selfless.

Harriet Tubman as Founder of the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged

In 1903, Tubman gave a piece of her land to Ame Zion Church to build a home for the aged and impoverished black people. The idea of giving her home to the destitute was as a result of her resiliency to serve humanity and especially victims of slavery. She had used her savings from pension and her domestic work to buy the land which she gave out to church. The home probably became the first nursing home as we are told that when she became sick, she was attended to at the Harriet Home for the Aged (California Standards, 2000). While dedicating her life to serve former slaves, she became active in Women’s rights movement. Caring for the aged then became her daily work. Her acts of helping the destitute portray her as a person dedicated to serving humanity. From a slave girl to the savior of slaves, a war fighter, and a nurse her life was full of good acts: a devout Christian, a good actor who pretended to be anything if only to set a slave free, a resilient commander and a community nurse. These are just some of the acts that adorned her life. It is evident from the above facts that Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged was a culmination of many humanitarian activities to help the poor and elderly and to institute schools for freed slaves. These acts paint her as a selfless, persistent and courageous person who gave her all to serve humanity.

Conclusion

Harriet Tubman is a person of many firsts in her life. She was the first to escape from slavery in her family line and the first to come back from her freedom to save other slaves. Harriet was also the first woman to command an army and save seventy slaves, the first to serve as a nurse even though she did not have formal education and the first to start a home for the destitute during her lifetime. As an abolitionist, she was a renowned Underground Railroadactivist and conductor. Her daring role in guiding more than 300 people out of servitude to liberty earned her the name “Moses of her People”.Her humanitarian activities continued even after the American Civil Warthat saw the abolishing of slavery.

Tubman helped the poor and aged by donating her home to them and aiding to set up schools for the freed slaves. She further gave her land in which the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged stands even today. Her good acts culminatefrom a life devoted to elevating the plight of those who at one time were doomed to servitude(National Park Service, 2016). Her legacy still lives on. The home is now maintained by a museum and is dedicated to preserving the vision of its founder Harriet who was a humanitarian. In summary, her life can be summed as: a slave cum freedom fighter who at one time worked in the Union Army spy, nurse guide and cook. In her later years, she was a women’s rights activist, and in her last days on earth, a humanitarian worker at the Harriet Home for the Aged, where she served as a nurse and founder member. This analysis demonstrates that Harriet Tubman left an indelible mark in the modern world by spending most of her life as a servant of humanity.

References

Biography.Com. (2017). Harriet Tubman Biography.com.Web.

California Standards. (2000). Harriet Tubman and the End of Slavery. National Standard, 1-6.

Carson, B. (2016). Harriet Tubman has a Legacy Worth Upholding. Independent Journal Review, 12,1-3.

National Park Service. (2016, 12 27). Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged. Web.

Shannon, M. T. (2015). Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. 1-11.