Black Women in America – Part 28
For the past year we have been relating the stories of remarkable black women in America. We began during Black History Month in 2022 with the stories of African American women in the field of education. We recounted the stories of the first black women to earn PhD’s. They faced many obstacles to success, but all of these women were indomitable examples of what can be done by a woman who does not let her circumstances dictate to her. These women rose above many hardships including poverty, illness, prejudice, internal conflicts, and the limitations of their times to follow their call from God and affect the lives of many other people for good. Why were they able to live in a realm above their circumstances? It is because they all received strength from God. They all answered the call in their lives to help others.
There have been so many courageous female African Americans who sought for justice for their people. We will cover many of them in the months to come. We will continue with our theme of Black Female Firsts.
This month, Black History Month 2023, we will focus on four women who broke the laws and/or social rules, albeit in a mostly peaceful fashion, to force the culture to deal with the problem of racial prejudice.
Harriet Tubman, Moses to her people (1820-1913)
Ida B. Wells, Tireless Crusade against lynching (1862-1931)
Rosa Parks, Mother of the Civil Rights Movement(1913-2005)
Rev. Addie Wyatt- Justice for Everyone (1924-2012)
Harriet Tubman- A Moses to her People
“I’ll meet you in de mornin’,
When you reach de promised land;
On de oder side of Jordan,
For I’m boun’ for de promised land.”
We do not know how even in our country, the land of the free, we could have allowed the evil of slavery to continue for so long. It is tragic, but we can look back with thankfulness for the people that God raised up to work in their own way to end the oppression.
One woman who did just that was Harriet Tubman, a woman who rescued three to four hundred slaves in the mid-nineteenth century, earning the title – a “Moses to her people”. Harriet did not blame God for any hard circumstances but instead she acknowledged that her difficult upbringing prepared her for the tasks ahead of her when she followed her calling to rescue slaves.
Born Araminta Ross around 1820 to Benjamin Ross and Harriet Greene, both slaves, she later took her mother’s name, Harriet. She took her husband’s name when she married John Tubman.
Harriet was born in Maryland and had ten brothers and sisters. She was later able to rescue many family members and her parents, who retired in New York on property that Harriet purchased for them.
When Harriet was six years old she was sent to live with the James Cook family and learn the trade of weaving. Her mistress was cruel. James Cook sent her out to check muskrat traps, and so she had to wade in water. Already ill from measles she grew very sick and was eventually sent home.
When she was in her teens she worked as a field hand. While working for that farmer she received a wound to her head that would affect her for the rest of her life. The farm overseer was trying to punish a disobedient slave and threw a two-pound weight at him which fell short and hit Harriet, cracking her skull. It took her a long time to recover from this and for the rest of her life she was subject to sleeping spells. At times a sort of stupor would come over her even in the midst of a conversation and she would need to sleep. This would give the appearance of laziness or stupidity, but Harriet would show that she really had a fine mind and a courageous strength.
After this Harriet worked for John Stewart. She did many jobs usually given to men, such as cutting and hauling wood. Here she built up the incredible strength that would later allow her to do such things as carry grown men through the water to their safety.
Harriet married a free “colored” man named John Tubman around 1844. They had no children. (I would like to remind readers that I will respectfully refer to black people as black or African American in my posts where I can. However, when quoting historical sources, I must not change the words of those authors. In their day other words such as “Negro” or “colored” were used. Let us just note it and be glad that there have been changes made.)
In 1849, she and some other slaves were to be sold. She determined not to be sold and so one night she just walked away. Eventually she arrived in Philadelphia where a white woman befriended her and she got a job. She saved her money and two years after her own escape from slavery she went south to rescue her husband. She found him living with another woman and unwilling to take her back. This did not stop her from her plan of rescuing other family members. She just moved on trusting in the Lord.
Between 1852 and 1857 she made many journeys to the south rescuing many people. It was during this time that people began to call her “Moses”, a name she retained for the rest of her life. She rescued so many people that a reward was put out for her capture.
Let’s don’t forget that a Fugitive Slave Law had been passed, making it a crime for people to help slaves escape. Harriet had to find ways to get the rescued slaves all the way to Canada since even many Northerners would not help for fear of getting fined or arrested for breaking the law. Many Christians would say that Harriet should not have defied the government because of what it says in Romans 13 about obeying all those in authority over us (see Romans 13:1). But Peter and John disobeyed the leaders (Acts 4:19). Many Christians were thrown to the lions for disobeying Caesar. Slavery is evil and the Lord helped Harriet to rescue many people.
Harriet was able to discern the voice of the Lord speaking to her, warning her and giving her guidance. Because of this she was able to avoid capture many times. She said that she always knew when danger was near though she didn’t understand quite how exactly, but “pears like my heart go flutter, flutter,” and she would know that something bad was going to happen.
One example of this was a time when Harriet was going back north and she had a premonition that told her to turn aside and cross a stream. The stream was swollen in that place and she did not know how deep it was. She obeyed the whispered warning in her head and stepped in to cross the water. The men that were with her hung back, but when they saw that the water was only up to her chin, they followed her and all of them safely crossed the stream. Later they found out that there was a party waiting down the road to arrest her and if she hadn’t crossed the stream she would not have escaped.
Another time Harriet fell asleep in a park beneath a notice that was offering a reward for her capture! Of course, Harriet couldn’t read and had no idea of the irony until some friends found her and told her.
Because she was on the run, Harriet slept in wet swamps or in potato fields where she could lie hidden. Besides the obvious risk to her health there was always danger of being spotted. But the Lord always rescued her, sometimes through friends or by her own wits. And Harriet always gave the credit to God. When someone would express surprise at her boldness and daring she would reply, “Don’t I tell you, Missus, ’twasn’t me, ’twas de Lord!”
All through the War Between the States Harriet rescued slaves and nursed wounded soldiers. She was never paid for her efforts. Harriet remained poor for the rest of her life but she never complained.
Harriet died on March 10, 1913, in Auburn, New York at around the age of ninety-three! All through her life she had depended on the Lord and God had never disappointed her trust in Him.
Harriet’s life made a difference to hundreds of black slaves and their families. She didn’t try and start a revolution; she just did what was right. Shamefully, the United States did not make righteous changes in the laws very quickly. The work is still going on. Harriet’s example of peaceful protest has been followed by many others, including Martin Luther King, Jr., who we just honored a couple of weeks ago. I’m sure many feel that change is not happening quickly enough; good lasting changes take time. I pray that they will continue.
So much has been written about Harriet Tubman in the last several years. There are several movies now and here is one which I recommend. I read a biography of Harriet Tubman and this movie is fairly close to actual events.
A Woman Called Moses (2001), Starring Cicely Tyson
(Running time – 200 minutes)
(Distributed by Xenon Pictures, Inc., available at: Amazon.com – https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Called-Moses-Jason-Bernard/dp/B0000560W6
This video is a wonderful presentation of Harriet Ross Tubman’s life. Slavery is cruel and evil and it is inconceivable how Christians let it go on for so long in our country before finally ending it. This story is indispensable for students of black history.
This older video is worth watching as Cicely Tyson’s performance was wonderful. I think she portrayed Harriet’s life accurately.
Her faith was portrayed in the movie, but not as much as I would have liked to see. If you get the book, you will see that Harriet always gave the credit to God for her escapes. (The book is: Sarah Bradford. Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People (Applewood Books, 1993))
All through the War Between the States Harriet rescued slaves and nursed wounded soldiers. She was never paid for her efforts. Harriet remained poor for the rest of her life but she never complained. Harriet’s life is an example of what can be done, even in the most horrible of circumstances, when a person does not give up or give in. Harriet’s attitude in life made all the difference in the world. Her childlike faith and determination are an example for us all.
