One of the most influential women of the 19th century was Harriet Tubman. She was born into slavery as Araminta Ross. She was nicknamed Minty by her mother. Her exact birthdate is unknown because slave owners did not keep birth records of their slaves. It is estimated that she was born around 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland. Her parents were Benjamin Ross and Harriet Green. She had ten brother and sisters. They lived on the plantation of Edward Brodas. Edward would sell many of her sisters to plantations further south which tore her family apart. She started out as a slave but she became one of the most famous conductors on the Underground Railroad, fought on the Union side in the Civil War, and ran an elderly home after the war for African Americans.
Harriet was hired out to multiple neighboring masters during her time on the Edward Brodas plantation. Her first job began when she was only five years old. She was hired out to a mistress to be a maid and babysitter. She would tend to her maid duties in the day time and had to stay alert for the baby at night. She dozed off one night and did not get to the crying baby before the mistress woke up. She was punished by being slapped across the face and neck. She was hired out to a new master when she was six years old. Her new master taught her how to catch muskrats and how to weave. She was caught taking a sugar cube from the table one day and ran away to avoid her punishment which only delayed her punishment. She received her punishment when she came back a few days later tired and hungry. She was hired out to another master when she was nine years old. In the new household, she would attend to the housekeeping duties and work as a nurse. She was constantly getting whipped because she could not please any of the masters. This would teach her to wear extra layers of clothing to pad herself from the whipping. She was