An American Heroine
by
Sylvester Lawrence Jackson II
In the United States, the month of March is dedicated to women.
In March 1822, a great woman was born into slavery. Her name was Araminta Ross. She lived on a plantation on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and the Brodess family owned her and her family.
In a little town called Bucktown, Mr. Brodess wasn't actually wealthy enough to own slaves but had eight children to support, which he did by any means.
Ms. Ross was a house slave in the Brodess family home, cooking, cleaning, and whatever other chores were demanded. When she failed to do them correctly she was punished. She was also sent to other plantations to work for those slave owners and suffered the same fate. After years of such treatment, Miss Ross came up with an idea. She convinced her slave owner to take out a stipend of her wages so that she could choose which plantation she would work at, and she learned a multitude of skills. She learned how to do housework and field work and she was allowed to work on the shipping dock.
She was even allowed to walk to town on occasion to get supplies. On one such occasion, a young 17-year-old African male escaped his owner and ran into the store where Araminta Ross was. A white man was hired by the slave owner of this young man, to capture and return him to his owner. Miss Ross stood in front of the young man to protect him. The slave owner’s hired help was so angry at her that he picked up a heavy metal object and threw it, hitting Ms. Ross in the head, injuring her severely, and causing her to have intense migraine headaches for the rest of her life. The young man was taken back to the slave owner's plantation and subsequently beaten.
Once Miss Ross recovered from her injuries, she continued to work around the Brodess family home and was allowed to go and work by Maryland's Eastern shore where the ships came in and her father Ben Ross worked. Doing this new line of work, Araminta came in contact with seagoing slaves.
The historical figure honored in Ohio, Maryland, and New Jersey.
She learned about all the free slave states North of Maryland and was fortunate enough to meet free slaves. She learned new skills working on the pier, and speaking to the free slaves she saw a little of what freedom would be like. Araminta Ross would go on to marry a free slave, her first husband, John Tubman in 1844. They had no children. Araminta Ross changed her name to Harriet Tubman, Harriet being her mother's name. Eventually, Ms. Harriet Tubman came up with a plan to escape. She asked her husband to join her. He declined, fearing that if they were caught, he’d lose the only freedom he had known. So late one night Ms. Harriet Tubman and her two cousins escaped into freedom, making their way to Pennsylvania, a free state, in 1849.
Ms. Tubman would return to the Confederate Southern states 19 times to help enslaved men, women, and children secure their freedom, even helping the Union Army to enlist freed slaves to join their ranks. Thus, the beginning of the underground railroad. Ms. Tubman once remarked to Frederick Douglass, “I never lost one passenger.”
Dedicated to Professor Joni Schwartz
Sylvester Lawrence “Sonny” Jackson II is a writer and retired Marine. As many of you know, Sonny is one of the most important members of our writing workshop for people returning from incarceration.
