Harriet Tubman Case

Harriet Tubman, and the countless thresholds she had to cross, is among the many names immediately thought of when the word courage is mentioned. Courage is a person's ability to overcome something or to face their fears head on even when the consequences could mean death. A person who show's courage is often forced to cross a threshold that many around them would be frightened to do. Even at a young age, Harriet Tubman has always shown courage and became one of the most famous conductors of the Underground Railroad. In her early teens, always ready to stand up for someone, Harriet placed herself between another slave and their owner, or overseer, in order to block them from injury. In doing this, Harriet suffered a massive head wound which caused her to have seizures and severe headaches for the rest of her life. Not many slaves would stand up to an overseer, let alone put themselves in a life threatening situation for another, which is what made Harriet stand out from the very beginning. The most notorious threshold she had to cross was running away in order to free others. In 1844 she married a freed slave at the age of 25 and in fear of being sold, and separated from her new husband, she ran away in the middle of the night heading north. She was able to find work in Pennsylvania which allowed her to save money and eventually venture back south for her family and other slaves. She traveled to the south 19 times and was able to free 300 slaves, if a slave became fearful on their journey she would threaten them by saying "you'll be free or die a slave". She did this knowing that if the slave were to return to their owner's then it would threaten her safety as well as the identity of the Underground Railroads path. The courage of Harriet Tubman and the many thresholds she had to cross is such an inspiration to people today and will always be an inspiration for future generations.

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