[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 56 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 56

 A resolution recognizing the significance of the 100th anniversary of 
                   the death of Harriet Ross Tubman.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 26, 2013

 Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Portman, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. 
 Gillibrand, and Mr. Brown) submitted the following resolution; which 
                      was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 A resolution recognizing the significance of the 100th anniversary of 
                   the death of Harriet Ross Tubman.

Whereas Harriet Ross Tubman was born into slavery near Buckstown, Maryland, in 
        or around the year 1820, to her parents Benjamin Ross and Harriet Green, 
        and was named Araminta Ross;
Whereas, as a child slave, Tubman checked muskrat traps along the marshes of the 
        Blackwater River in Dorchester County, Maryland, and later worked in the 
        fields and forests surrounding the Brodess Plantation;
Whereas, as a teenage slave, Tubman worked as a seamstress on the Cook 
        Plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland, and changed her name to 
        Harriet;
Whereas, at the age of 24, Tubman married a free black man named John Tubman, 
        though she remained a slave;
Whereas, in 1849, upon hearing news that she was to be sold to settle the debts 
        of her late master, Tubman escaped from slavery to Philadelphia, 
        Pennsylvania, marking the first of many expeditions to and from the 
        Eastern Shore of Maryland to lead nearly 70 slaves out of slavery;
Whereas, over the course of the next 11 years, from 1849 to 1860, Tubman became 
        a famous conductor of the Underground Railroad, proclaiming in her later 
        years, ``I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a 
        passenger.'';
Whereas, since the journeys to freedom by Tubman took place over the winter 
        months when the nights were long and dark, her groups made stops along 
        the extensive Underground Railroad, first traveling to the Quaker 
        community of Poplar Neck in Caroline County, Maryland, eventually making 
        stops at the homes of Quaker abolitionist Thomas Garrett in Wilmington, 
        Delaware, and African-American abolitionist and future civil rights 
        activist William Still in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before final 
        resettlement in Canada;
Whereas, in the late 1850s, Tubman began to speak before abolitionist audiences 
        to share her dedication and unwavering commitment to the abolitionist 
        cause and the emancipation of slaves;
Whereas Tubman drew admiration from African-American abolitionist Frederick 
        Douglass, a fellow Eastern Shore native of Talbot County, Maryland, who 
        stated, ``I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and 
        hardships to serve our enslaved people than you have.'';
Whereas the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, located in Cincinnati, 
        Ohio, recognizes Tubman as one the most famous conductors along the 
        Underground Railroad and has dedicated a theater in honor of Tubman;
Whereas, in 1859, Tubman purchased a home and several acres of land in Auburn, 
        New York, from William Henry Seward, then United States Senator from New 
        York and future Secretary of State for President Abraham Lincoln;
Whereas Tubman attended her first Women's Rights Convention in Boston, 
        Massachusetts in 1860, beginning a lifelong commitment to the suffrage 
        movement;
Whereas, at the start of the Civil War in 1861, Tubman believed that a Union 
        victory would be a key stepping stone to the abolition of slavery and 
        vowed to assist the cause, joining abolitionist Bostonians and 
        Philadelphians who traveled to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina to 
        provide aid to the Union war effort;
Whereas Tubman used the skills that she learned evading detection and capture on 
        the Underground Railroad to serve as a spy and scout for the Union camp 
        at Port Royal, South Carolina in addition to providing care to Union 
        forces as a nurse and cook;
Whereas, in 1863, the same year that the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, 
        Tubman became the first woman to lead an armed assault during the Civil 
        War on the Raid on Combahee Ferry;
Whereas Tubman led bands of scouts along the marshes and rivers of Port Royal, 
        similar to those of her native Dorchester County, to map the unfamiliar 
        territory for Colonel James Montgomery, commander of the 2nd Regiment 
        South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (African Descent);
Whereas, between June 1 and June 2, 1863, Tubman guided Colonel Montgomery and a 
        detachment of 300 men from the 2nd Regiment South Carolina Volunteer 
        Infantry (African Descent) through the mine-laden waters of the Combahee 
        River in Colleton County, South Carolina, where the Union forces 
        liberated nearly 750 slaves;
Whereas Tubman assisted the newly liberated slaves in the years following the 
        raid and tended to wounded soldiers in the Commonwealth of Virginia 
        before returning to Auburn, New York after the conclusion of the Civil 
        War;
Whereas Tubman dedicated the later years of her life to promoting the women's 
        suffrage movement, traveling to New York City, New York, Boston, 
        Massachusetts, and Washington, District of Columbia, to speak before 
        countless women's groups with fellow suffrage movement leaders Susan B. 
        Anthony and Emily Howland;
Whereas, when asked if she believed women deserved the right to vote, Tubman 
        replied, ``I suffered enough to believe it.'';
Whereas, in 1903, Tubman deeded her property to the African Methodist Episcopal 
        Zion Church of Auburn, New York, to serve as a home for the ``aged and 
        indigent colored people'', which opened on June 23, 1908, as the Harriet 
        Tubman Home for the Aged; and
Whereas, having lived in the home named after her, Tubman passed away on March 
        10, 1913, at the age of 93: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the significance of the 100th anniversary of 
        the death of Harriet Tubman, whose dedication and unwavering 
        commitment to serving in any capacity necessary to pursue the 
        promise of American ideals and the principles of humanity 
        continue to inspire all individuals who cherish freedom;
            (2) encourages the people of the United States to honor and 
        preserve the legacy of Tubman;
            (3) recognizes the significance of the tireless work of 
        Tubman and the other individuals who bravely served to create 
        the Underground Railroad network to achieve freedom for those 
        individuals enslaved during the Antebellum Era of the United 
        States; and
            (4) recognizes the dedication and commitment of the Harriet 
        Tubman Organization of Cambridge, Maryland, and the Harriet 
        Tubman Home, Inc. and the Harriet Tubman Boosters Club, both of 
        Auburn, New York, for preserving the heritage of the United 
        States and promoting the rich history of the United States.
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