6th Great Minds Harriet Tubman

Name: ___________________________________________
Great Minds:
Harriet Tubman
By Lydia Lukidis
Some people are courageous trailblazers. They never

give up, even in the face of adversity. Somehow, they change the
course of history and will never be forgotten. This is the case with Harriet Tubman.
Imagine this: she was born into slavery, yet managed to help free hundreds of other
enslaved people.
It all started when she was born in 1820. Her name was Araminta Minty Ross, but she
later took the name of her mother, Harriet. She grew up enslaved in Dorchester County,
Maryland. She was mistreated, given scraps for food, and was sometimes beaten by
her enslavers. She lived in a tiny one bedroom cabin with her parents and eleven other
children, so life was cramped.
Harriet was forced to work even when she was young. Enslaved people had no
rights back then. She was forced to do many different types of work. She plowed the
fields, carried heavy things, and loaded food
“Every great dream begins with onto wagons. She was also a maid and a
a dreamer. Always remember, cook. The days were long and hard.
you have within you the
When she was thirteen, she had a terrible
strength, the patience, and the
passion to reach for the stars accident. An enslaver threw a heavy metal
to change the world.” weight at one of the people he enslaved. But
- Harriet Tubman it missed and hit Harriet in the head instead. It
had such a big impact that she almost died.
That injury caused her to have seizures and blackouts for the rest of her life.
Her years of slavery went on and on. Harriet grew tired of being mistreated, along
with other enslaved people. Many of them were escaping at that time. And in 1849,
Harriet also escaped thanks to the Underground Railroad.
This was not an actual railroad. It was a group of people, homes, and secret hiding
spots that kept freedom seekers safe. The people involved used railroad terms as code
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words to keep it secretive. “Conductors” helped people move from place to place.
“Passengers” were the people who were escaping. They were also sometimes called
“cargo.” Some people helping were abolitionists. They wanted to end slavery and
they believed in freedom for all.
When Harriet escaped, slavery was against
the law in some northern states. That is why so
many enslaved people left the south. They fled
to the north, seeking freedom. After a very long
and terrifying journey, Harriet finally made it to
Philadelphia and was free.
A year later, the Fugitive Slave Act was
passed. That was bad news for the people who
escaped. It meant they could be taken from
the free states in the north and given back to
their enslavers. To be truly free, enslaved people
now had to escape to Canada.
The Harriet Tubman Memorial in
Harriet felt a calling in her heart. She
New York City
wanted to help other freedom seekers. So she
became a conductor in the Underground Railroad. In fact, she became famous for
that. She helped over 300 enslaved people escape, including her family. Each time
she helped someone, she put her own life at risk. If the conductors and other helpers
were discovered, they were put to death by hanging. But that didn’t stop Harriet. She
believed in standing up for what’s right.
Her service continued during the Civil War. She helped nurse injured soldiers. She
was also a spy for the north, and even helped the army free more enslaved people.
After the war, she went to live with her family in New York. She continued being
a Civil Rights Activist. She supported equal rights for Black people and women. She
eventually died of pneumonia when she was in her nineties, but her legacy continues
to live on today.

Name: ___________________________________________
Great Minds:
Harriet Tubman
By Lydia Lukidis
1. Based on the information in the article, how old was

Harriet Tubman when she ran away from slavery?
a. 13
b. 29
c. 30
d. 55
2. Describe the kind of work Harriet Tubman did while enslaved before she ran
away.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
3. What was the Underground Railroad? What was Harriet Tubman’s role in the
Underground Railroad?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
4. According to the information you read in the article, write the number 1, 2, 3, or 4
next to the historical event that happened first, second, third, and fourth.
______ Harriet escaped from slavery through the Underground Railroad.
______ Harriet served the abolitionist cause in the Civil War.
______ Harriet suffered a terrible head injury at the hands of an enslaver.
______ The Fugitive Slave Act was passed, and Harriet continued to help
hundreds of people escape their lives of slavery at the risk of her own life.

Name: ___________________________________________
Great Minds:
Harriet Tubman
By Lydia Lukidis
The following terms are vocabulary words from the article.

Match the vocabulary word with its correct definition by writing
the corresponding letter on the line.
1. ______ trailblazers a. hard times; difficulties
b. something passed down by a predecessor

2. ______ abolitionists
c. hurt
3. ______ adversity d. people who believed that the practice of

slavery should be ended
4. ______ fugitive
e. people who operated trains; a code word for
people who helped freedom seekers move
from place to place on the Underground
5. ______ injured
Railroad
f. a bacterial or viral lung infection causing

6. ______ activist
inflammation
7. ______ legacy g. people who lead the way for others; pioneers
h. the rights of citizens to equality and social and

8. ______ conductors political freedom
i. a person who has escaped from somewhere

9. ______ pneumonia and has to hide to avoid being arrested or
persecuted
______ civil rights

10. j. a person who works for social or political change

Name: ___________________________________________
Great Minds:
Harriet Tubman
By Lydia Lukidis
In the article, “Great Minds: Harriet Tubman,” you learned

that Harriet Tubman faced many dangers and risked her life many
times to help other people escape from slavery on the Underground Railroad. She was
a courageous, heroic woman who put others before herself and helped the fight for
freedom.
On the lines below, describe some of the dangers Harriet Tubman and others faced
along the Underground Railroad. With an adult’s permission, use the internet to
research facts about the Underground Railroad to help you answer the question. Write
the website you used at the bottom of this page.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________________________
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ANSWER KEY
Great Minds:
Harriet Tubman
By Lydia Lukidis
1. Based on the information in the article, how old was

Harriet Tubman when she ran away from slavery?
a. 13
b. 29
c. 30
d. 55
2. Describe the kind of work Harriet Tubman did while enslaved before she ran
away.
She plowed the fields, carried heavy things, and loaded

________________________________________________________________________________
food onto wagons. She was also a maid and cook.

________________________________________________________________________________
3. What was the Underground Railroad? What was Harriet Tubman’s role in the
Underground Railroad?
The Underground Railroad was a system of people, homes,

________________________________________________________________________________
and secret hiding spots that helped enslaved people escape

________________________________________________________________________________
to freedom. Harriet Tubman was a conductor on it.

________________________________________________________________________________
4. According to the information you read in the article, write the number 1, 2, 3, or 4
next to the historical event that happened first, second, third, and fourth.
2 Harriet escaped from slavery through the Underground Railroad.

______
4 Harriet served the abolitionist cause in the Civil War.

______
1 Harriet suffered a terrible head injury at the hands of an enslaver.

______
3 The Fugitive Slave Act was passed, and Harriet continued to help
______
hundreds of people escape their lives of slavery at the risk of her own life.

ANSWER KEY
Great Minds:
Harriet Tubman
By Lydia Lukidis
The following terms are vocabulary words from the article.

Match the vocabulary word with its correct definition by writing
the corresponding letter on the line.
g. trailblazers
1. ______ a. hard times; difficulties
b. something passed down by a predecessor

2. d.
______ abolitionists
c. hurt
a. adversity
3. ______ d. people who believed that the practice of
slavery should be ended
i. fugitive
4. ______
e. people who operated trains; a code word for
people who helped freedom seekers move
c. injured from place to place on the Underground
5. ______
Railroad
j. activist f. a bacterial or viral lung infection causing

6. ______
inflammation
b. legacy
7. ______ g. people who lead the way for others; pioneers
h. the rights of citizens to equality and social and

e. conductors
8. ______ political freedom
i. a person who has escaped from somewhere

9. f.
______ pneumonia and has to hide to avoid being arrested or
persecuted
10. h. civil rights

______ j. a person who works for social or political change
KH

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Name: ___________________________________________

Some people are courageous trailblazers. They never

Super Teacher Worksheets - www.superteacherworksheets.com

Super Teacher Worksheets - www.superteacherworksheets.com

1. Based on the information in the article, how old was

______ Harriet escaped from slavery through the Underground Railroad.

______ Harriet served the abolitionist cause in the Civil War.

______ Harriet suffered a terrible head injury at the hands of an enslaver.

Super Teacher Worksheets - www.superteacherworksheets.com

The following terms are vocabulary words from the article.

1. ______ trailblazers a. hard times; difficulties

b. something passed down by a predecessor

3. ______ adversity d. people who believed that the practice of

f. a bacterial or viral lung infection causing

h. the rights of citizens to equality and social and

i. a person who has escaped from somewhere

______ civil rights

Super Teacher Worksheets - www.superteacherworksheets.com

In the article, “Great Minds: Harriet Tubman,” you learned

Super Teacher Worksheets - www.superteacherworksheets.com

1. Based on the information in the article, how old was

She plowed the fields, carried heavy things, and loaded

food onto wagons. She was also a maid and cook.

The Underground Railroad was a system of people, homes,

and secret hiding spots that helped enslaved people escape

to freedom. Harriet Tubman was a conductor on it.

2 Harriet escaped from slavery through the Underground Railroad.

4 Harriet served the abolitionist cause in the Civil War.

1 Harriet suffered a terrible head injury at the hands of an enslaver.

Super Teacher Worksheets - www.superteacherworksheets.com

The following terms are vocabulary words from the article.

b. something passed down by a predecessor

j. activist f. a bacterial or viral lung infection causing

h. the rights of citizens to equality and social and

i. a person who has escaped from somewhere

10. h. civil rights

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