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Black History and Blacks in U.S. History
Women's History
 Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.7

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    coma, inspiration, overseer, rebellious, extremely, refused, social, saying, slave, needy, master, escape, ever, lead, whatever, owner
     content words:    Harriet Ross, When Harriet, John Tubman, Deep South, Mason-Dixon Line, Underground Railroad, Civil War, Union Army, New York State, Freedom Train

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Harriet Tubman
By Mary L. Bushong 		  
1     Have you ever thought what it would be like to be a slave? You would have to do whatever you were told and would have no time to play. You would have to work even if you were tired or sick. It would not be a happy life.
 
2     Harriet Ross was born in the state of Maryland in 1820. Both of her parents were slaves. A man who had a lumber plantation owned them, but he also rented out or sold his slaves to other people. When Harriet was just five years old, he began renting her out to work in other people's homes. Harriet did not like inside work and, even when they beat her, she refused to do it. She wanted to be outside and worked very hard there, but her master thought she was very rebellious.
 
3     One day when she was fifteen years old, she tried to help another slave who was to run away, but the overseer saw her. (An overseer is a man who made sure the slaves did their work.) He punished her by hitting her in the head with a lead weight, and it almost killed her. She was in a coma for a while; it took months for her to recover. For the rest of her life she suffered from blackouts.

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