Harriet Tubman (c.1820 - 1913), the legendary African-American abolitionist, freed hundreds of enslaved people in pre-Civil War America through the “Underground Railroad”. As a Railroad “conductor”, she brought every single one of her passengers to safety, and found them food, shelter, and sometimes even a job, by employing a variety of masterful escape, evasion, and disguise techniques. Tubman also served as a valuable Union spy and guerrilla operative during the Civil War, as well as a nurse who dispensed holistic remedies to both white and black soldiers.
What inspired Harriet Tubman to lead numerous missions back into Confederate territory with such determination and courage, even after she had herself escaped to freedom? One childhood experience as an enslaved child in Maryland may provide a clue. Twelve-year-old Harriet refused to follow orders to tie up an enslaved person who had escaped but been recaptured to be whipped. The overseer was furious at her defiance and hurled a two-pound weight at the girl, hitting her in the head. Tubman sustained a brain injury that resulted in a seizure disorder as well as episodes of sudden, deep sleep from which she could not be roused. These recurrent episodes of unpredictably lapsing into sleep, sometimes in the middle of a conversation, along with frequent throbbing headaches, visions, and vivid dreams continued throughout her life.
Nevertheless, Harriet Tubman’s extraordinary compassion extended beyond freeing enslaved people and caring for the wounded – “I think there's many a slave holder'll get to Heaven. They don't know better. They acts up to the light they have.”