Harriet+Tubman-a+19th+Century+American+Hero+by+flamingooo

Harriet Tubman  1)Intro to your 19th Century hero

__ Harriet Tubman is well-known as the woman that helped the slaves pass through the illegal Underground Railroad. Once she escaped slavery, she helped to save over seventy slaves. __

2)Put hero’s life into perspective–when did they live, where, who were they trying to help, why, how, why was this important?

__ She was born in 1820 and she died in 1913. She was born in Maryland. She was mainly focused on helping the slaves that were still being beaten. (pretty much any slave in general) because she was beaten multiple times as a slave and she knew how bad slaves were treated. She wanted to help put an end to slavery, so she did all she could. Once she found the Underground Railroad, she did all she could to get as many slaves onto in and into the north. Once she was free, she went back to rescue her family. Once all of her relatives were in the free states, she went back to free many other groups of slaves. This was very important because if she hadn't had enough courage to go BACK to the slave state, all of the slaves would have still been there and then pretty much all of the slaves there might have not survived. __

3)What makes your person a hero–you must prove that your person meets the criteria of your own personal definition(this is the meat of your wiki page and your submission to the My Hero website-your looking at a good four paragraphs here–focus on that spark, that moment the person decided to be heroic or do heroic acts

__What makes Harriet Tubman a hero? Well, I think that her bravery to make a change in the world makes her a hero. Although at the time, she probably wasn't thinking, "Wow, this is going to change the world. 200 years from now, people will be talking about me in History classes across the country. I'm changing something, I'm doing something BIG." She was probably thinking more on the lines of doing everything she could to ensure the fact that the people that were slaves had a fair chance to live a fufilling life. My definition of a hero describes how a hero is simply someone that changes something in a life, in the world--anywhere--for the good, no matter how big or small the change is. I think that when someone does something, as extrordinary as Harriet Tubman did---without thinking about how great it will be for themself in the future---is when a true hero emerges.__ __ How a slave could have enough courage to not only think about leaving but ACTUALLY leave is beyond me. I think that if I was a slave back then, I would be too afraid to leave because of all of the mean things that they did to fugitives. When Harriet Tubman decided to leave, she had to decide if running away was worth getting beaten or anything worse. Harriet needed to make the choice. She was determined. She was going to be free. The first time she escaped with her brothers, September 17, 1849, freedom overwhelmed her but soon after, Harriet's brothers began to have second thoughts. They forced her to come back with them before the people searched and found her. Then, Harriet decided to escape again but this time without her brothers. She traveled on the Underground Railroad like most of the slaves did. Harriet traveled in the night and hid in the stations during the day. Soon, she once again made it to freedom. But then, she was making her way back to where she came from, but for a different reason. Harriet Tubman returned to the "land of enslavement" in December of 1850 when she heard heartbreaking news: her niece, Kessiah, was going to be sold along with her two children; six-year-old James Alfred, and baby Araminta. She went down to Maryland to retrieve her children and neice and then returned to Pennsylvania so that they could be free. In the spring, she returned to Maryland to free other family members. Then once her family was free from slavery, she returned to make eleven more trips to free slaves. She ended up freeing more than seventy slaves during her trips. __

4)What is the person’s legacy?

__ If someone told me to describe Harriet Tubman in one word it would either be courageous or brave. Harriet had the bravery of a thousand soldiers. She did what most slaves would be afraid to do. She is courageous because she never gave up on doing what she wanted to do. She stuck with it through and through. She was going to accomplish her goal. By doing that, she changed the world. __

5)What advice would they have for today’s youth? __If I could say one thing to a person and have it impact their life to the point where they walk away with a new perspective, I would tell them to not be afraid to take risks. Taking risks is one of the biggest problems that people face. Either a person is afraid to take a risk because they are simply not brave enough, or because they are afraid of the outcome in the end. I think that if a person had enough courage to take a risk, then things would be alot different. People are sitting around thinking about what could've happened if they took a risk. Why leave that empty space in your life for wonder? Take a chance. Do you think that you can do something? Do it. Go with your first instinct; that's why God gave you them. If you're lucky, it will be good and you can make a difference; just like Harriet Tubman.__