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Harriet Tubman

Speaking of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman is responsible for saving the lives of hundreds (if not thousands) during her work with the slave rescue network. A former slave herself, Tubman dedicated her life to freeing other men and women, and she wasn’t afraid to use any means necessary to save them. She was the most successful conductor on the Underground Railroad, and one of the fiercest people you could ever meet.

When Tubman met fellow abolitionist John Brown, she felt it was a fated match-up. Tubman claimed to have seen Brown in a prophetic vision before they met, so she felt they shared the same destiny. Brown felt violence was permissible in the rescues, and he and Tubman went on to save a great many people with their efforts.

Even after Tubman moved on from the Underground Railroad, she continued to fight. She worked for a cook and maid for the Union Army and became an armed scout and spy as well. She was the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, and went on to guide the Combahee River Raid, liberating more than 700 slaves in South Carolina.

Tubman was married twice, first to a freeman whom she left in Maryland when he refused to join her cause, and second to a Civil War veteran with whom she adopted a baby girl.