She was born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland...probably born in late February or early March, 1822 in an area south of Madison called Peter's Neck in Dorchester County... She endured years of inhumane treatment from her various masters, including an incident where an overseer hurled a two-pound weight in her direction, striking her in the head while she was protecting one of her enslaved friends from a punishment. As a result of the severe blow, she suffered with intermittent epileptic seizures for the rest of her life... Around 1844 she married John Tubman, a free man.

...She was called "Moses" by those she helped escape on the Underground Railroad. She made many trips to Maryland to help other slaves escape. According to her own estimates and those of her close associates, Tubman personally guided around 70 slaves to freedom in about 13 expeditions. She was never captured and, in her own words, "never lost a passenger." She also provided detailed instructions to many more who found their way to freedom on their own...

...During the American Civil War, in addition to working as a cook and a nurse, she served as a spy for the North. Again she was never captured, and she guided hundreds of people trapped in slavery into Union camps during the Civil War.

In 1863, Tubman led a raid at Combahee River Ferry in Colleton County, South Carolina, allowing hundreds of slaves to run to their freedom. This was the first military operation in U.S. history planned and executed by a woman. Tubman, in disguise, had visited plantations in advance of the raid and instructed slaves to prepare to run in to the river where Union ships would be waiting for them. Union troops exchanged fire with Confederate troops in this incident; there were casualties on both sides...