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"I grew up like a neglected weed - ignorant of liberty, having no experience of it."

— Harriet Tubman

I Grew Up Like A Neglected

I grew up like a neglected weed - ignorant of liberty, having no experience of it.

— Harriet Tubman
childhood freedom struggle

About this quote

This reflection appears in Sarah Bradford's Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman (1869). Tubman described growing up in slavery on a Maryland plantation owned by Edward Brodess, where she had no formal education and was subjected to brutal physical labour from early childhood. The image of growing like "a neglected weed" conveys both the deprivation of her early life and the resilience it produced.

Source

Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman by Sarah Bradford

Twas not me, twas the Lord. I always told Him, I trust to you. I don't know where to go or what to do, but I expect You to lead me, and He always did.
— Harriet Tubman
Don't ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.
— Harriet Tubman
I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land.
— Harriet Tubman
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