Escaping slavery; risking everything to save her family; leading a military raid; championing the cause of women’s suffrage; these are just a handful of the accomplishments of one of America’s most courageous heroes.
Pobjeći od ropstva; riskirati sve da spasi obitelj; voditi vojnu raciju; biti prvak u borbi za prava žena; ovo su samo neka od dostignuća jedne od najhrabrijih američkih junakinja.
Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross in Dorchester County, Maryland, in the early 1820s. Born into chattel slavery, Araminta, or Minty, was the fifth of nine children.
Harriet Tubman rodila se kao Araminta Ross u Dorchesteru, Maryland, ranih 1820ih. Rođena u ropstvu, Araminta, ili Minty, bila je peto od devetoro djece.
Two of Minty’s older sisters were sold to a chain gang. Even as a small child, Minty was hired out to different owners, who subjected her to whippings and punishment.
Dvije starije sestre prodane su ropstvo u lancima. Čak i kao malo dijete, Minty su iznajmljivali različitim vlasnicima, koji su je bičevali i kažnjavali.
Young Minty’s life changed forever on an errand to a neighborhood store. There, an overseer threw a two-pound weight at a fugitive enslaved person, missed, and struck Minty instead. Her injury caused her to experience sleeping spells, which we know of today as narcolepsy, for the rest of her life.
Život mlade Minty promijenio se zauvijek kada je otišla do trgovine u susjedstvu. Ondje, nadglednik je bacio uteg na roba u bijegu, promašio i pogodio Minty. Ozljeda je prouzročila da je često spavala, što danas poznajemo kao narkolepsiju, cijelog života.
Minty’s owner tried to sell her, but there were no buyers for an enslaved person who fell into sleeping spells. She was instead put to work with her father, Ben Ross, who taught her how to lumber. Lumbering increased Minty’s physical strength and put her in touch with free black sailors who shipped the wood to the North. From them, Minty learned about the secret communications that occurred along trade routes, information that would prove invaluable later in her life.
Minty su pokušali prodati, ali nije postojao kupac za roba koji spava. Umjesto toga, radila je s ocem, Ben Rossom, koji ju je podučio kako biti drvosječa. Taj posao povećao je njenu snagu i stavio ju u doticaj sa slobodnim crnim mornarima koji su išli na sjever. Od njih, Minty je naučila o tajnoj komunikaciji koja se događala duž ruta trgovine, informacija koje će biti presudne kasnije u njenom životu.
In this mixed atmosphere of free and enslaved blacks working side by side, Minty met John Tubman, a free black man she married in 1844. After marriage, she renamed herself Harriet, after her mother.
U ovoj izmješanoj atmosferi slobode i ropstva koja radi skupa, Minty je upoznala Johna Tubmana, slobodnog crnca za kojeg se udala 1844. Poslije braka, preimenovala se u Harriet, po svojoj majci.
Harriet Tubman’s owner died in 1849. When his widow planned to sell off her enslaved human beings, Harriet feared she would be sold away from everyone she loved. She had heard of an “underground railroad," a secret network of safe houses, boat captains, and wagon drivers willing to harbor fugitive enslaved people on their way north.
Vlasnik Harriet Tubman umro je 1849. Kada je njegova udovica planirala prodati svoje robove, Harriet se bojala da će ju prodati daleko od svih koje voli. Čula je za "podzemnu željeznicu", tajnu mrežu sigurnih kuća, kapetana brodova, i vozača kola koji su bili spremni skrivati bjegunce na putu za sjever.
So Tubman fled with two of her brothers, Ben and Harry. They eventually turned back, fearing they were lost. But in one of her sleeping spells, Harriet dreamed that she could fly like a bird. Looking down below, she saw the path to liberation. And in the autumn of 1849, she set out on her own, following the North Star to Pennsylvania, and to freedom.
Tako je Tubman pobjegla sa svoja dva brata, Benom i Harryem. Oni su se na kraju vratili, u strahu da su se izgubili. Ali dok je spavala, Harriet je sanjala da može letjeti poput ptice. Gledajući dolje, vidjela je put prema slobodi. I u jesen 1849., otputila se sama, prateći sjevernjaču do Pensilvanije, i slobode.
Tubman returned to the South 13 times to free her niece, brothers, parents, and many others. She earned the nickname Black Moses and worked diligently with fellow abolitionists to help enslaved people escape, first to the North, and later to Canada.
Tubman se vratila na Jug 13 puta, kako bi oslobodila svoju nećakinju, braću, roditelje, i mnoge druge. Zaradila je nadimak Crni Mojsije i radila je s abolicionistima kako bi pomogla robovima da pobjegnu, prvo na Sjever, a onda u Kanadu.
Harriet Tubman worked as a Union army nurse, scout, and spy during the Civil War. In 1863, she became the first woman in United States history to plan and lead a military raid, liberating nearly 700 enslaved persons in South Carolina.
Harriet Tubman radila je kao vojna medicinska sestra, izviđač, i špijun za vrijeme Građanskog Rata. 1863, postala je prva žena u povijesti Amerike koja je planirala i vodila vojnu akciju oslobađajući skoro 700 robova u Južnoj Karolini.
After the war, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution legally abolished slavery, while the 14th expanded citizenship and the 15th gave voting rights to formerly enslaved black men.
Poslije rata, trineasti amandman dodan je američkom ustavu ukidajući ropstvo, dok je četrnaesti proširivao građanstvo a petnaesti je dao pravo glasanja prije porobljenim crnim muškarcima.
But she was undaunted, and she persisted. She raised funds for formerly enslaved persons and helped build schools and a hospital on their behalf.
Ali nije bila pokolebana, i ustrajala je. Skupljala je sredstva za prije porobljene osobe i pomogla graditi škole i bolnice u njihovo ime.
In 1888, Tubman became more active in the fight for women’s right to vote. In 1896, she appeared at the founding convention of the National Association of Colored Women in Washington D.C. and later at a woman’s suffrage meeting in Rochester, New York. There she told the audience: “I was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and I can say what many others cannot. I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger.”
1888., Tubman je postala aktivinija u borbi za pravo žena da glasaju. 1896., pojavila se na osnivačkoj sjednici Nacionalne asocijacije obojenih žena u Washingtonu i kasnije na sastanku sufražetkinja u Rochesteru, New York. Tamo je rekla publici: "Bila sam kondukter na Podzemnoj Željeznici, i mogu reći ono što mnogi ne mogu. Nikad nisam iskočila iz šina i nikad nisam izgubila putnika."
As her fame grew, various friends and allies helped her in the fight to collect a veteran’s pension for her service in the Union Army. In 1899, she was finally granted $20 a month. In a fitting twist of fate, the United States Treasury announced in 2016 that Tubman’s image will appear on a redesigned twenty dollar bill.
Kako joj je slava rasla, različiti prijatelji i saveznici pomogli su joj u borbi da dobije vojnu mirovinu za svoju službu u Vojsci Unije. 1899., napokon je dobila 20$ mjesečno. U prikladnom obratu, Riznica SAD-a najavila je 2016. kako će njena slika biti na novčanici od 20 dolara.
Harriet Tubman died on March 10, 1913. Even on her deathbed at age 91, she kept the freedom of her people in mind. Her final words were: "I go away to prepare a place for you.”
Harriet Tubman umrla je 10. ožujka 1913. Čak i na samrti, u 91. godini, imala je slobodu svojih ljudi na umu. Posljednje riječi bile su joj: "Odlazim da pripremim mjesto za vas."