south for her assumed master, or just as one of the many slaves in the area. Her demeanour and the way she carried herself were also important in her success — she would not have allowed herself to outwardly seem afraid or worried as her papers were being checked or as someone who could identify her came near. Her belief in the good of her cause gave her the resources to deal with obstacles. But it took more than Harriet Tubman’s confidence — she made all the necessary arrangements that she could in advance of her departure. Her bag carried the essentials for her trip: from the sharpened clam shells for protection or influence through to the tranquillizer to quiet babies. She knew what safe houses she was aiming to reach and where there would be food for her group. She had a plan for extra clothing for disguises or warmth and knew where she could find the “stockholders” of the UGRR — those who would provide her with funds or actual train tickets. She was the master of communications and worked her trusted and potential connections to the best of her ability.
In order to get to Canada, Harriet did not always follow the same route, and sometimes she actually travelled south in order to avoid suspicion if she felt she had been identified. She might pre-arrange to meet her group at the beginning of the month or during a new moon, as the lack of light would make the group more difficult to see. If enough money was available, passage would be purchased on the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroads, or water routes and canal trenches could also be utilized. Harriet and her party would primarily be using their own two feet, and often wore out more than one pair of shoes on their escape. She is known to have used stations in Camden, Dover, Blackbird, Middleton, New Castle, Wilmington, Laurel, Milford, Millsborough, Concord, Seaford, Smyma, and Delaware City. She also used stations in Pennsylvania and New York, including Syracuse, Auburn, Rochester, and Niagara Falls.
Harriet is known to have crossed on the actual railroad suspension bridge from Niagara Falls, New York, into Niagara Falls, Ontario, which has been documented at least once. Being such a well patrolled site, and given that Harriet used many routes to transport her human cargo, it is unlikely that she made the suspension bridge her only point of entry into Canada. The Niagara River, away from the falls, is rather narrow, and many UGRR stations existed all along the shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Some accounts indicate that UGRR crossings included Astibula and Port Albino, sites closer to the Fort Erie/Buffalo area. There was also a well-organized ferry crossing between Buffalo, New York, and Fort Erie, Ontario, which could have been used or that provided a route to follow. The Native people crossed the river on rafts at several points that might have been used by freedom seekers working with indigenous people. Harriet and other determined people would have to assess their situations and decide whether to try a familiar or new crossing point.
Because freedom seekers felt protected in her company and because Harriet had been able to avoid recapture or death, she came to be referred to as “Moses,” freeing her people, and she earned the respect of whites working in the abolition movement. Thomas Garrett said of her, “If she had been a white woman, she would have been heralded as the greatest woman of her age.” Her charm and perseverance also made her credible and gained her allies from among the elite in society. The spiritual song “Go Down Moses” could not be sung by blacks in the south for fear of exposing Harriet’s nickname, but it is a beautiful song full of the indignation of enslaved people:
Oh go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt’s land.
Tell old Pharaoh,
Let my people go.
Oh Pharaoh said he would go cross,
Let my people go,
And don’t get lost in de wilderness,
Let my people go.
Oh go down Moses,
Way down in Egypt’s land.
Tell old Pharaoh,
Let my people go.
You may hinder me here, but you can’t up dere,
Let my people go,
He sits in de Hebben and answers prayer,
Let my people go.
Oh go down Moses,
Way down in Egypt’s land.
Tell old Pharaoh,
Let my people go.
A famous photo of Harriet Tubman. Known as the “Moses of Her People,” she served the Union Army as a nurse, scout, and a spy during the Civil War.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Others feel that Harriet’s success in rescuing enslaved people may have inspired the spiritual “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” The chorus suggests that freedom will be yours if you get on board:
Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home.
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.
Harriet had a pattern of working to earn enough money to finance travel into slave states during the summer months, followed by attempting rescues in the fall; working during the winter and rescuing in the spring. In November 1856, Harriet returned to the Bucktown area to bring another group to the north. One member of her group was Josiah Bailey who had cost his new owner $1,000 down and $1,000 to be paid later. To learn respect for his new owner, despite being a loyal worker without a behaviour problem, Josiah was flogged on the very first day of the new ownership arrangement. Consequently, Josiah decided to run, joining Bill, Peter Pennington, Eliza Nokey, and one other on board Harriet’s train. A reward of $1,500 was offered for Josiah’s return, $800 for Peter, $300 for Bill, and $1,200 for Harriet Tubman. The reward for Harriet was higher than the others because of the significant losses she had caused slave owners in the area.
By June 1859, the Society of Slaveholders decided at their nationwide convention that there should be insurance policies to protect the slaveholders against the loss of their “property” through slaves escaping. This Society also offered a reward of $40,000 (equivalent to more than half a million dollars in current dollars) for the capture of Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman was one of the most wanted people in the United States because of her success in conducting people to freedom. The number of people in her party varied from a small group of three up to a group of thirty-nine. Discipline was very important to the success of the rescues. On one rescue mission, Harriet hid in the woods with her passengers and watched as her pursuers stood guard over a well-travelled road. Harriet would later say, “And how we laughed: We was de fools, and dey the wise men; but we wasn’t fools enough to go down de high road in de broad daylight.”
Harriet learned that her parents were suspected of having assisted with the escape of some “fugitive” slaves and were likely to be arrested. She had waited to rescue them because she knew that they would probably not be sold further south because they would not earn much money on the auction block now that they were so old. With money from the New York Anti-Slavery office, Harriet went to Maryland and made a horse-drawn vehicle out of the remnants of an old buggy, boards, wheels, and a harness out of straw. Her frail parents were thus able to ride all night out of the Bucktown area with some of the belongings they did not want to part with; Rit prized her feather bedtick (comforter) and Ben wanted to keep his broadaxe and other tools. In southern Delaware, Harriet was able to board a train
