Harriet Tubman was born 1820 in Dorchester county, Maryland as a slave. Harriet was born Araminta Ross. She was nicknamed Minty by her parents. She had 8 siblings 4 brothers and 4 sisters, she was the fifth born.  Harriet was owned by Joseph and Mary Pattison Brodess.

Tubman’s childhood was cut short when she was hired at age 5 to take care of an infant, being awake at all hours of the night to make sure the infant would not cry. If her mistress ,Susan, heard the baby cry even once Harriet would get whipped across the neck. She became weak and malnourished so she was sent back to her owners where her mother nursed her back to health as best as she could.

By age 12 Harriet was considered strong enough to work in the fields, she was hired by a man named Barrett. One day as Tubman was leaving a store she spotted a fugitive slave about to be confronted, she stepped in front of the door long enough for the slave to escape. The man had aimed a large hunk of metal for the fugitive but instead it hit Harriet's young skull instead.

The terrible incident from the metal to the head permanently messed Harriet Tubman's head up. She would have random sleep spells that she couldn't be woken from, she said that she would have vivid dreams related to her religion during said sleep spells. This continued until she received surgery later in life to put an end to the horrible symptoms. In about 1844 she married John Tubman, a free black.

In 1849 Harriet's owner, Edward Brodess, needed to sell slaves in order to cover his debts. A week later Edward died, and the death of her master put even more uncertainty over her and her brothers' futures. They had already seen 2 of their sisters go and they couldn't bare anyone else being sold.

Harriet decided that trying to escape, even if they were caught, was better than being sold to the South. Harriet was ready, she had saved enough money hiring her labor and knew some people conducting the underground railroad. In preparation to her escape she changed her name to Harriet, after her mother, and adopted her husband’s last name, Tubman. Changing their names was a common thing among fugitive slaves. They did not want to leave traces, all they wanted was a total break from their lives in slavery.

Tubman gathered her brothers, Harry and Ben, and convinced them to escape with her. On Monday September 17, 1849 they escaped their plantation but Harry and Ben changed their minds and decided to return. Harriet had already decided to free herself and after making sure her brothers were safe, she started north. Later she would come for the rest of her family and bring them to freedom.

At the time of her escape she had been hired out to Anthony Thompson, and her owner, Eliza Brodess, did not know of her escape until about two weeks later. Her notice was printed in the newspaper on October 3rd, 1849 offering a $300 reward for her capture.