Harriet Tubman: Freedom or Death

This is an electronic version of our Glimpses for Kids children's worship bulletin inserts. These are designed to present Christian biographies for Children's church, educational or worship ministries.

Born: a slave in 1820 -- Dorchester County, Maryland
Died: 1913 -- a free woman in Auburn, New York

"Harriet, I can't go no farther," my brother moaned as we ran through the darkened woods. "Just let me go back. I'll take the whipping and promise never to run away again."

I understood his fear. I'd seen it before and had even felt it when I first ran away from the plantation. "The good Lord will see us through, Jim," I reminded him. But poor Jim was so sure we'd be caught that he tried to turn back.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the shiny silver pistol I used when encouraging words weren't enough. "You gonna live free in the north or die right now in the south," I warned. I didn't like doing this, but there were too many people risking their lives for his freedom. Without another word, Jim turned and began walking north. I knew he'd thank me as all the others did once he tasted freedom.

My First Job
Many years earlier, I was playing in the yard when Master Brodas called me to the big house. He was standing on the porch with a white woman who asked how old I was. Master Brodas told me to open my mouth. Seeing that my front teeth were missing, he guessed. "Five or six years old. As I told you," he continued, "she ain't house-trained, but you get what you pay for."

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"I guess she will do," the woman said. She signed some papers and motioned for me to get on the wagon. My mind began to race. Where was she taking me? I had heard the grown folk whispering about how slaves were taken farther south, never to be heard from again. I wanted to jump off the wagon and run to the field where my father was working, but I knew I would be caught and beaten. At just six years old, I was being hired out to make money for the plantation.

No matter how hard I tried, I could not do as good a job as was expected. I was beaten and spat on. Once I ran away and hid, living with the pigs for two days, sneaking their food to survive. After being returned to the plantation, beaten and bruised, my momma warned me, "Child, now that you at hiring age, you better do a good job or they'll sell you south." Being sold south struck fear in every slave's heart. Fortunately, my mother also told me I could call upon the Lord for help at any hour of the day or night. I would remember that during the many difficult times to come.

The Brain Injury
When I was only 13 years old, a friend warned me he was going to make a run for freedom. As the overseer tried to catch him, I jumped in the way to help my friend escape. The overseer threw a two-pound weight at him, but it hit me instead. I spent the next week unconscious on the floor of our cabin. It was many months before I could sit up or walk again. The weight left a permanent, two-inch gash in my head. For the rest of my life, the injury made me black out when I least expected it. All the pain and suffering was worth it to help a fellow slave taste freedom.

Why was a reward of $40,000 offered for Harriet Tubman dead or alive? Find out in part 2 of this "Glimpses for Kids" children's worship bulletin insert.

Fact: Harriet asked the Lord to make Master Brodas kind or to kill him. When he died suddenly, Harriet was heartbroken that she had prayed such a thing. She pleaded with God to be swept clean in her soul.