Harriet Tubman
Born a slave, she escaped to the North at the age of thirteen. She opposed slavery and appreciated freedom so much that she returned to the south nineteen times bringing back as many slaves seeking freedom as she could. Armed with only a pistol and her strong will to free her people, she led the escapees through the safe houses and secret ways of the Underground Railroad. She became a figure head for freedom to southern slaves and became such a problem for slave owners that a bounty on her head reached $40,000. Once the civil war started, she still leant her hand to the idea of freedom by serving as a nurse and a spy for the Union.
Maria Miller W. Stewart
Born in Connecticut, Maria became an orphan at the age of five. While working as a domestic servant, she attended Sunday school literary classes and became quite educated. When her husband died and her estate was stripped from her by white business men, she then began to become a strong public speaker against the injustices done to slaves and African Americans. She was a very good public speaker and an equally good writer. She shot down the stereotypes that black women could not voice their feelings and fight against victimization. Often, she cited the bible in her speeches and essays, which proved very effective to her audiences. She died shortly after the civil war, not quite able to see her dreams for the end of victimization and injustices to her people come true.
Margaretta Forten
Wife and daughter to abolitionists, she already had a background when the big arguments began. She founded her own line of grammar schools for African Americans to educate her people so they could hopefully be regarded with respect in society. When her father helped establish American Anti-Slavery Society, she wanted to take part in history as well. However, membership was denied to women, so she and a few others founded the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, where women could join together against slavery and sexism.
