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.
Lari dari perbudakan, bertaruh segalanya agar keluarganya selamat, memimpin serangan militer, memperjuangkan gerakan hak pilih wanita, hanya sedikit dari pencapaian salah satu pahlawan Amerika paling berani.
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 lahir bernama Araminta Ross di Dorchester County, Maryland, di awal 1820-an. Lahir sebagai budak, Araminta atau Minty adalah anak kelima dari 9 bersaudara.
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.
Dua dari kakak perempuan Minty dijual ke gerombolan penjahat. Bahkan saat masih anak-anak, Minty dijual ke beberapa majikan berbeda, yang mencambuk dan menghukumnya.
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.
Kehidupan Minty muda berubah selamanya saat ditugaskan ke toko dekat rumah. Di sana, pengawas toko melempar 1 kg beban ke budak buronan, namun meleset dan mengenai Minty. Luka itu membuatnya tertidur tiba-tiba, yang saat ini dikenal sebagai narkolepsi, seumur hidupnya.
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.
Majikan Minty berusaha menjualnya, tapi tidak ada yang mau membeli budak yang sering tertidur tiba-tiba. Dia lalu dipekerjakan bersama ayahnya, Ben Ross, yang mengajarinya cara memotong kayu. Memotong kayu meningkatkan kekuatan fisik Minty dan menghubungkannya dengan pelaut kulit hitam yang mengirim kayu ke Utara. Dari mereka, Minty belajar tentang komunikasi rahasia yang muncul selama rute perdagangan, informasi yang terbukti sangat berharga dalam hidupnya.
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.
Di suasana gabungan orang berkulit hitam yang bebas dan budak bekerja bersama, Minty bertemu John Tubman, pria bebas berkulit hitam yang dinikahinya pada 1844. Setelah menikah, dia mengganti nama menjadi Harriet, seperti nama ibunya.
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.
Majikan Harriet Tubman meninggal di tahun 1849. Saat janda majikannya ingin menjual budak-budaknya, Harriet takut dia akan dijual jauh dari semua orang yang dia cintai. Dia mendengar tentang jalur kereta api bawah tanah, jaringan tempat aman, kapten kapal, dan pengemudi wagon yang mau melindungi para budak buronan dalam perjalanan mereka ke utara.
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.
Jadi, Tubman kabur dengan dua saudara laki-lakinya, Ben dan Harry. Mereka akhirnya kembali, takut tersesat. Suatu hari saat dia tiba-tiba tidur, Harriet bermimpi dia bisa terbang seperti burung. Saat terbang melihat ke bawah, dia melihat jalan menuju kebebasan. Pada musim gugur 1849, dia melarikan diri sendiri, mengikuti Bintang Utara ke Pennsylvania, dan ke kemerdekaan.
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 kembali ke Selatan 13 kali untuk membebaskan keponakan, saudara laki-laki, orang tua, dan masih banyak lagi. Dia dijuluki Musa Hitam dan rajin bekerja bersama rekan abolisionis lainnya untuk membantu para budak melarikan diri, ke Utara terlebih dahulu, lalu ke Kanada.
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 bekerja sebagai perawat militer Union, pengintai, dan mata-mata selama Perang Saudara. Di tahun 1863, dia menjadi wanita pertama dalam sejarah Amerika Serikat yang merencanakan dan memimpin pasukan militer, membebaskan hampir 700 budak di Carolina Selatan.
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.
Setelah perang, Amendemen ke-13 Konstitusi Amerika Serikat secara legal menghapuskan perbudakan, Amendemen ke-14 menambahkan kewarganegaraan dan yang ke-15 memberikan hak pilih bagi eks budak pria kulit hitam.
But she was undaunted, and she persisted. She raised funds for formerly enslaved persons and helped build schools and a hospital on their behalf.
Tapi dia berani dan gigih. Dia menggalang dana untuk eks budak dan membantu membangun sekolah dan rumah sakit untuk mereka.
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.”
Di tahun 1888, Tubman menjadi lebih aktif memperjuangkan hak pilih untuk wanita. Di tahun 1896, dia menghadiri konvensi pendiri Asosiasi Nasional Wanita Kulit Warna di Washington D.C. kemudian pertemuan hak pilih wanita di Rochester, New York. Di sana dia memberi tahu hadirin: "Aku konduktor Jalur Kereta Api Bawah Tanah, dan bisa mengatakan yang tak bisa dikatakan banyak orang. Keretaku tak pernah keluar jalur atau kehilangan penumpang."
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.
Sementara ketenarannya berkembang, berbagai teman dan sekutu membantunya berjuang untuk mengumpulkan pensiun veteran untuk pelayanannya di pasukan Union. Di tahun 1899, dia akhirnya mendapatkan 20 dolar per bulan. Dalam ikatan takdir, Perbendaharaan Amerika Serikat mengumumkan pada tahun 2016 bahwa foto Tubman akan muncul di uang kertas dua puluh dolar berdesain baru.
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 meninggal pada 10 Maret 1913. Bahkan pada akhir hayatnya di usia 91 tahun, dia masih memikirkan kemerdekaan kaumnya. Kalimat terakhirnya adalah: "Aku pergi untuk menyiapkan tempat bagi kalian."