Harriet Tubman: Abolitionist, Suffragist, Military Leader, & Civil Rights Pioneer “I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty, or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other; for no man should take me alive; I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted, and when the time came for me to go, the Lord would let them take me.” – Harriet Tubman to Sarah Bradford in “Harriet, The Moses of Her People” 1886 On December 6, 1849, Harriet Tubman, born Araminta “Minty” Ross, escaped from slavery to freedom. Within a decade, she became the most well-known “conductor” of the infamous Underground Railroad. However, Tubman was not only one of the most effective abolitionists in U.S. History, she was also instrumental in the Civil War effort as a secret spy and the first woman in U.S. History to plan and lead a military expedition. To this day, Tubman remains a lasting symbol of hope and human agency.