Tubeman befriended several abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass and John Brown, who led the 1859 Harpers Ferry attack. Her friends were Susan B. Anthony, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Congress approved the Fugitive Slave Act on Sept. 18, 1850, forcing slaves to be returned to their masters even in free states. This move inspired Tubman and others to help people escape to Canada, which had passed the Slavery Abolition Act in 1834. Through 19 trips over ten years, Tubman freed over 300 slaves.
When the Civil War began, Tubman helped. She helped Union military planning by sharing Underground Railroad town and transportation information. As a spy, she dressed as an old woman and walked the Confederate-controlled neighborhoods to chat to enslaved people and learn military positions and supply lines. They found food, shelter, and work in the North with her guidance.
Tubman attacked many plantations with Colonel James Montgomery using her information. Over 700 slaves were rescued, hurting the Confederate economy. Many joined the Union army.
While nursing, Tubman supported the Union troops. Tubman worked for little or no pay during the war because women couldn't enlist. Her service pension came in 1899. Tubman fought for her beliefs after the war. She was a suffragist who helped the recently released. On March 10, 1913, Tubman died of pneumonia and was buried at Auburn, N.Y., with military honors.
The U.S. Mint released the expected Harriet Tubman commemorative coins in 2024. After the Civil War, Tubman looks ahead on the $5 gold coin's obverse. Tubman helped others throughout her life, as shown on the reverse by two arms clutching one other. Tubman's basic principles are “FAITH,” “FREEDOM,” “FAMILY,” “COMMUNITY,” “SELF-DETERMINATION,” “SOCIAL JUSTICE,” and “EQUALITY.”
Tubman extends her hand on the obverse of the silver $1 coin. Her expression urges you to seize freedom. The reverse shows silhouettes crossing a clasped hand bridge under the night sky. In the sky, the Big Dipper points to the North Star, which forms the letter “O” in UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
The set ends with the half dollar. The Civil War saw her command the first U.S. woman-led armed expedition at the Combahee River Raid. In the background are two Civil War boats. Tubman holds a spyglass in front of a set of army tents on the reverse, indicating her service as a Union Army scout. The design has “CIVIL WAR,” “NURSE,” “SCOUT,” “SPY,” and “COMBAHEE RIVER RAID LEADER” around it.
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