During the 48 years between the end of the Civil War and her death in 1913, much of Harriet

Tubman’s time was spent taking care of poor people in her home, which was considered her third

greatest achievement of being a caretaker. Harriet cared for “The aged .. the babe deserted, the

epileptic, the blind, the paralyzed … all found shelter and welcome.” (Document E, Emma

Telford Memoir, 1911). She took care of 6-8 people per time in her care at her private home in

Auburn, New York. Caretaking was an achievement because it showed that Harriet’s caretaking

got her far in life and she ended up using it on others till the day she died at the age of 81. It was

also what got her through the Underground Railroad.


The most significant achievement Harriet Tubman has done in her whole life was the UGRR, which was a secret network to help slaves be free, but the “railroad” had no rails and expect for the occasional hidden basement, there was no underground. It was a series of safe houses that stretched along routes that extend from the slave border states (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri) to Canada. That’s where the map from Document A , which is Harriet’s several southern UGRR routes to Philadelphia and her northern routes to freedom by foot, wagon, and boat, comes in. Traveling by foot, the route from Bucktown to  Philadelphia was 130.1 miles and from Philadelphia to St.Catharines in Canada was 365.7 miles, in total it was 495.8 miles on these routes. These travels would become risky because of the Fugitive Slave Act, known in the North as the Bloodhound Act (an act passed by the Congress in 1850 required for Northerners to turn in escaped slaves). With these routes, Harriet ended up rescuing 38+ slaves within the years of 1850 to 1860 according to Document B titled, “Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom.” adapted by Catherine Clinton in 2004.


Harriet took great measures for these trips, which included avoiding capture. With many of the trips starting in Harriet’s hometown Dorchester Country, Maryland, the Fugitive Slave Act made these trips take precautions, which is why most of her trips were in December when the nights were long and fewer people were out. “Typically, Harriet did not venture onto plantations but met fugitives at prearranged place … abductions began on Saturday nights since slaves generally had a rest day Sundays and would not be missed until Monday morning,” and drugging the babies during trips so they would not whimper/cry,  were two of the many precautions Harriet took , with being this skillful, it showed how diligent Harriet was with these missions. With the missions, precautions, number of people rescued, and routes Harriet had, was what made the UGRR her greatest achievement compared to spying, nursing, and caretaking.