She was born ‘Araminta Ross’

Around 1820, Harriet Tubman was born on a Maryland estate in Dorchester County. She was given the names Araminta Ross and "Minty" by her parents, Benjamin Ross and Harriet ("Rit") Green. Rit was a cook in the "great house" of the property, while Benjamin was a lumberjack. In honor of her mother, Araminta later changed her first name to Harriet. Tubman began working at the age of six, first as a maid and then in the fields, where he was subjected to cruel treatment and harsh working conditions.

After fleeing slavery, she took on her mother's name; her first marriage to the free black man John Tubman in 1844 gave rise to her surname. Her status as a slave, which she inherited from her mother, hampered this blended marriage, but it was not unusual. On Maryland's Eastern Shore, half of the black population was free at this point.

She was employed as a muskrat catcher, weaver, and nurse at a young age by various families. She received numerous punishments, one of which was a severe head injury. Tubman frequently visited Maryland to free her family and numerous other slaves. She rose to prominence as the most well-known "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, making at least thirteen trips into a region where slavery was practiced between 1850 and 1860 to help as many as 70 slaves escape to freedom.