Slaves Escaping by Boat
Safe Passageways
Tubman was eventually hired out to a local farmer, shipbuilder, and merchant. She began working in his fields, timber yards, and docks, showing great strength and stamina, and learning the safe passageways and dangers of the secret networks of communication that made up the lives of the black mariners whose ships carried timber to coastal cities of the northeast. This knowledge laid the groundwork for the routes Tubman would use in the Underground Railroad. Her ability to use this complicated network coupled with her skill at evading detection were important tools in her fight against slavery (Larson, 2015).
Tubman was eventually hired out to a local farmer, shipbuilder, and merchant. She began working in his fields, timber yards, and docks, showing great strength and stamina, and learning the safe passageways and dangers of the secret networks of communication that made up the lives of the black mariners whose ships carried timber to coastal cities of the northeast. This knowledge laid the groundwork for the routes Tubman would use in the Underground Railroad. Her ability to use this complicated network coupled with her skill at evading detection were important tools in her fight against slavery (Larson, 2015).