Her teenage escape made the news
In 1849, Tubman and her fellow slaves heard a rumor they were to be sold. Fearing that they might end up working under an even crueler owner, they made the decision to escape. By this point, Tubman was married. Her husband, John Tubman, refused to join her, however. He was already a free man and knew the risks that came with escaping to the north.
Initially, Tubman was joined by two of her brothers on her escape. They had no maps (not that they would have been able to read them) but knew they needed to head north. They followed the north Star, therefore, and made slow but steady progress. Before long, however, Tubman’s brothers changed their minds. One of them had just become a father and convinced his two siblings to turn back. They all did, their escape having gone unnoticed. But, a few days later, Tubman decided to go for it again, even if she had to escape alone. Famously, she recalled: “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.”
She relied on the Underground Railroad for her escape. Their secret supporters passed her along the well-trod route over the Mason-Dixon line. However, while Tubman’s might be one of the most famous escapes, and one of the most notable victories of the heroic Underground Railroad, very little is actually known about her life-changing journey. It’s highly likely that followed the Choptank River through the state of Delaware and then crossed the line close to Pennsylvania. In all, historians of the era believe she covered 90 miles on foot. How long it took Tubman to reach Pennsylvania – and freedom – is not known.