Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Harriet Tubman
In the United States, slavery was outlawed more than a century ago. It's hard to imagine today what it was like to be a slave in America so many years ago. It might even be hard to imagine that slavery was a common part of American life. It was, of course, and those held as slaves had miserable lives.
African-American slaves led a life of impossibly hard work and abuse most people can't imagine. Children were put to work as soon as they were able to do simple tasks. Families were often split when a slave owner sold children and their parents to different owners. Slaves were often denied basic things like medical care, schools, and even necessities like regular food and sleep.
Harriet was born as Araminta "Minty" Ross in the 1820s to parents who were slaves. While still a child, she was put to work doing all kinds of jobs like babysitting and checking hunting traps. Her family, too, was split when some of them were sold to other slave owners. It was sad when someone was sold, but there didn't seem to be anything that could be done about it.
