The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 276 - Harriet Tubman

Episode Date: June 22, 2017

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine American badass Harriet Tubman. SOURCESTOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCH

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week. I, Dave Anthony, shirt wear, shirt wear, lover of porpie, a magic man. Read a story from American history to my friend. Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. Is that a quarter behind your ear? What? Magic man. Okay. Good Lord. One night bear. God, do you want to look who to do? I'll do one bottle. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gareth. Dave okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is not going to come to Tiggly Quad, Kelly. Okay. You are queen fakie of made-up town. All hail queen shit of Liesville. A bunch of religious virgins go to mingle and do what? Pray. Hi, Gavi. No. Is he done my friend? No.

1820. Okay. Ish. Sure. Maybe our first ish. Araminta Minty Ross. What? Her name's Minty. What? That's what they call her. Minty. Araminta. Araminta. Araminta Minty Ross. Well, they call her Minty. So that's the nickname in there. So Araminta Ross. Are we going to be calling her Minty? We're going to call her Minty. Okay. She was born on a plantation outside of Tobacco Stick. A spearmint plantation. Which is now those were the best because it was so fresh. The spearmint plantations. This is where we make a big red also, sir. That's cinnamon. That's a cinnamon gum. Uh-huh. It's not a... We got many gum trees. Welcome to the Wrigley Fields. Are you? I mean...

Double your pleasure. Double your fun. Now I'm just dreaming of gum growing out of the ground. Look at the bubalicious bush. Could you imagine the poaching? I'm now turning into a Wonka field. You're just driving past and you're like, Daddy, is that a great bubalicious field? Oh, yes, darling. Come on, kids. Alright, Violet. Then they come out and shoot you because you're poaching their gum. Yeah, and Augustus Gloop is caught in something. I'm still sticking with Wonka. I think we're on different paths. Go ahead. Tobacco stick is now Madison, Maryland. Tobacco stick? That's what it was called back then. Okay. Tobacco stick. Okay. Because probably there was

tobacco around. Yeah, and it was sticky. Her parents, Harriet, but also known as Ritt. Does everyone have that nickname? Ritt. Green. And Ben Ross. No nickname there. Benny. No, he didn't have a nickname. Benji. There's no nickname. Bennyman. Ben Ross. Benny. Rossy. They were both slaves. Okay. How's your fun time? Not fun. So that made minty a slave because if you, if you were born to slaves, they weren't like, but you're free. Right. Like you're also a slave. No, that's cool. That's cool. You get a shot. Although that would be cool if it was like, like a Russian roulette situation where just also in one kid, they're like,

you're free. And then that kid's like, I don't know, mom and dad. The sense that you've said expectations so low that a freedom lottery is the carrot on the stick. So she was a middle child out of like nine or 10, 11 kids. We're not sure. Sure. A couple of them got sold down river. Sure. Ritt and Ben were owned by different people. Okay. But they were married. The people had been married and then they were not married. So they split up their slaves, which is super, which is weird. Sorry, the people divorce court situation. Wait, they would, they would, the people were married and now they're not married. So they each, they split up the slaves. So,

so, so Ben and the white, the white owners were married. Right. Okay. And they split and then Ben and Ritt also got split up. Oh, that's cool. Well, they are, I mean, they are possessions. So that's cool. That's a cool way to handle it. That's something I never in a million years would have thought of. Oh, yeah. I mean, honestly, I like, guess what? You don't live here anymore, but I'm married to her. Well, I know. Well, let me tell you a little something about marriage doesn't work out great for all of us. You're coming with me, Minty. So Minty did not get an education. Two of her older sisters, like I said, sold down river and

that's the last she saw them. Minty helped care for her younger siblings while her mom worked in the main house, which was most of the time. So mom is mostly in the house and she's taken care of little kids, even though she's a little kid. Right. Okay. Cool setup. That's cool. Yeah. Cool. No, it's nice to have a shot at life. So when she was six, she was rented out to the Cook family. Okay. So they're like, I guess you could rent out slaves like you'd be like, Oh, you want this one? Well, you know, Dave, the more I hear of this slavery, the more it seems really fucked up. It's not great. Yeah. No, there seems to be a lot of problems.

She was supposed to help Mrs. Cook with weaving, but Minty was not good at weaving. Now I'm guessing a big part of that is because she's six. Yeah. Well, she's, well, I'll tell you what, there's no excuses when it comes to weaving. She doesn't understand direction either. Little kids, their little fingers don't work that well yet. And that's a thing that takes a lot of dexterity. She's six. Yeah, she's a child. She's six. She's a little child. Imagine it's six trying to get you to do something. Come on, look at this factory. Imagine it's six. Imagine being like, Hey, can I own that six year old to do my weaving? Yeah. But it's

wrong. I know. I mean, it's so you have to be like, Is this wrong? At some point should I not be doing this to a human child? Am I horrible? I feel horrible. But no, she terrible at weaving digits. Oh, we're little six year old hands. So instead, Ms. Mr. Cook used her minty to walk the muscat muskrat trap lines in streams and the swamps. Wait, what? Well, she can't weave. Let's make her an IED. How about she finds them? How about she goes out and finds the muskrats in the trap? So she, what does that mean exactly? Well, I mean, it means the craziest emotion I've ever heard of. So she's sick. So she went from from being

in the house, trying to weave to all of a sudden, she's walking through swamps to find, I assume the muskrats were for some sort of purpose like fur or whatever else. So now she's just going through trying to find dead muskrats to bring in traps. Yeah, right. It's hard to, I mean, that that's when your catch phrase becomes, I'll learn to weave. I'll learn to weave. She got measles and bronchitis. So things are good. Yeah. And then and then when she got measles and bronchitis, they returned her. They were like, well, this one's not working. She's broke. This one doesn't work at all. She's broken. Her cough keeps alerting the muskrats.

Her mom nursed her back to health for six weeks. Okay. And then she was returned to the cooks. Good news. We fixed her. We got a new model. How are your muskrats? Yeah. But that didn't change the fact that she sucked at weaving. And Mrs. Cook said Minty was hopelessly stupid and returned her to her original plantation. I think it's because she's six. Yeah, six-year-olds are not smart. She's six. They're not smart. But she can't operate anything. When Minty was seven, she was hired out to Miss Susan as a nursemaid. Okay. Who wouldn't want a seven-year-old nursemaid? Yeah. That's got to make you feel weird if you're the patient, too.

She was supposed to- I'm your doctor. I'm your doctor. I'm seven. Hi. Hi. Hey. I'm gonna need to get that kidney out. No. Yeah. No. Look at my little hands. If they can't even weave. No, they can't weave. That kidney's coming out. No. Yep. I'm gonna return you. Why? So she's supposed to clean all day and then stay awake at night sitting next to the bed. So sleep is not on the schedule for Minty? Right. She cleans all day and then at night she sits next to the bed of Miss Susan rocking the baby cradle. And so she's not supposed to sleep at all. So there's a problem with this idea. It's that she doesn't get sleep. Right. Sleep is what

humans need. Right. So she's not getting sleep. At all. If the baby cried and woke Miss Susan. Oh, God. She would grab her whip and whip Minty on the back of the neck. Oh, my God. Because she's super reasonable. Like she's a cool lady that way. So Minty ends up being scarred for the rest of her life due to the whippings because sure enough she would fall asleep because she was working all day. And she's seven. And she's seven. It's nighttime. She's tired. She's probably sitting in the dark rocking this thing and she's like, oh, I'm snoozing. And then the baby starts crying and she gets hit. It's a good setup. That's people were

great. So Minty stole a sugar cube and ran away. She went low. Yeah. I would have gone higher. I would have gone higher on that one. A few sugar cubes at least. Yeah like nine. One. Oh boy. I'm terrible. But she quickly realized she had nowhere to go. She hid in a pig pen for days. I've done that. Fought with pigs for food scraps. Oh my God. Seven's a weird age. It's a transitional period. You're coming out of six and muskrat traps and then you're like, oh. Oh, I remember when I was six and I couldn't weave. Now I live with the pigs and fight for Apple Cores. Things are working out good for all Minty. So starving, she finally

went back to Miss Susan's house where she was whipped again. That was inevitable. Once again, Minty was returned to the original plantation and now she was wounded, thin and hungry and her mom nursed her back to health again. So she just keeps coming back every six months dying. Yeah. Cool. Oh, it's good to see Minty again. Minty was then punished by being assigned to outdoor work. It was supposed to be worse than working in the house but Minty actually preferred to be outside. She worked barefoot and had cow's feet. Okay. So it's a good story so far. No, it's good. We're starting. It's fun. It's fun. It's

fun. When Minty was 13, a slave was found off the property by an overseer. They're overseers are traditionally understanding people. It doesn't even matter. Like overseer is just a bad. Yeah. I don't think there's ever been a good overseer. No. It's not a term. You're like, oh good, the overseer's here. No. So the overseer ordered Minty to help tie up the slave for a whipping. Instead, she got between the slave and the overseer and gave the slave a chance to run out the door. Oh boy. So he, he goes for it. Okay. And he starts running and then the overseer picked up a two pound lead weight. Oh god. And threw it at him and

hit Minty in the head instead. Oh my god. Well, there's, I mean, aim's a complaint I have now. Right. It's also, it's a two pound weight so it's heavy. It's as hard to throw. Yeah, but she's 13. She got in the way. Did the guy get away? No, I don't believe he did. Okay. She was, she was in a coma for days. Jesus. And would have mental problems for the rest of her life. She suffered from permanent damage. She had what, she called sleeping fits. So she'd look like she was in some kind of stupor and she was completely aware was what was going on around her, but she's just like out. Okay. But she's totally aware of what's

happening. She just can't function at all. Wow. So she's just like there. It's like a seizure of some kind, but. So she's just kind of comatose a little bit? Right. Constantly. No, no, no. It just fits. Every once in a while. She just would get like a blank look on her face and people would know. And then she'd wake up and go back to normal. Okay. Well, yeah. The entire time she was recovering, her owner was trying to sell her, right? Because he's like, well, this one got hit by a right thing. Somehow. Somehow she would hate to try to hypothetically figure out what had happened, but something tells me this one's on Minty. This has

nothing to do with anyone but Minty. She ran into a two pound weight that was flying through the head. We had a weight hanging from the ceiling by rope. Swing. And the stupid Minty ran into it with a dumb little head. Dumb, I can't. Anyway, now she's sleeping awake and we got it. I mean, what I'm trying to say is you want to get this. She stands in the corner with weird staring eyes. She's got the weird staring eyes. That's our Minty. So Minty prayed that things would change. But that didn't happen. So this is, this is, then I heard, see, I should have, some of this I read it, but they, the original,

I just took this from the book and so it's, it's got in her speak, which I can't read because that's just tough to not sound awful. Races. Then I heard that as soon as I was able to move, I was to be sent with my brothers in the Cheng Gang to the far south, which is bad. Yes. Then I changed my prayer and I said, Lord, if you ain't never going to change that man's heart, kill him. She went from praying that he would change his ways to just go on straight to that. But you don't understand. I mean, you completely understand. No, she's doing the right, she's doing the right thing. Yeah. I'm a toly on her side. Yeah. Kill him, Lord, and take

him out of the way so he won't do more mischief. Next thing I heard, old master was dead. Wow. And he died just as he had lived a wicked bad man. Oh, then it appeared like I would give the world full of silver and gold if I had it to bring that poor soul back. I would give myself, I would give everything, but he was gone. I couldn't pray for him no more. So she feels guilt. Well, she feels like she will do guilt, but she also feels like she caused his death by praying and it caused her to become more spiritual. She's like, well, I got some like that because she thinks she has power. She's like, I'm connected. Right. Like

I got some fucking shit going on. I'm minty. I'm minty minty's bringing it. Yeah. Don't fuck with me. I would never. More about her praying. I prayed all the time about my work everywhere. I was always talking to the Lord. When I went to the horse trough to wash my face and took up in the water in my hands, I said, oh, Lord, wash me, make me clean. When I took up the broom and began to sweep, I groaned, oh Lord, what so ever sin there be in my heart? Sweep it out, Lord. Clear and clean. But I can't pray no more for poor old master. What did she think? She said she, now she, wherever she goes, she prays, but she can't pray for

master because she killed him. Okay. So she's just carrying around guilt for killing the master. She's just praying everywhere she goes now. She's super religious. Right. For everything. Yeah. She's doubled down. Okay. But you do get that. I think there, you know, like if you are, if you do live in such awful conditions, you could go one or two ways, you know, and it seems like religion gives people hope in a way and prayer is something that gets people through shit like that. Your slavery, yeah. Yeah. And I think when you, you know, when you don't have struggle as much, it's easier to just be like, there's nothing. If you've

been working since you're six years old and got a two pound iron weight thrown at your head, you're like, please God, hear my calls. What? I mean, she got in the way. She did not get in the way. The plantation owner's son was too young to run their plantation. So a doctor. So a six year old can perform surgery almost with a nurse and yet they're like, oh, he's too little to run it. He's only he's only what is this a Disney movie? So a doctor Thompson became the manager of the plantation and he hired out Minty and her dad, Ben to a lumber merchant. Okay, good. It's time to get Mindy lifting the wood. I'd say you got to get deep in it.

She's 14 almost. The lumber merchant let her hire herself out in her extra time and keep part of the earnings. So that's not slave for some of the time. Most of the time she's working on the side, but then in her down hours, she's allowed to hire herself out for a cut of the profit that she makes. Yeah, but I didn't know you could do that as a slave. I didn't know you could in a world of total unfairness. It seems like a wrinkle of hope in a way, but still tough to because if you're a slave, yeah, and you can make money, you then maybe at some point you can buy your freedom. Right. No, there is something to that. With this money, she

was able to buy a team of oxen. A team of oxen. So it went the other way, went not when a football franchise. It did not go the way you were thinking. No. No, she got she got she just bought a ton of ox. A team. A team of ox. A team of ox. How many around they don't sell? What's the starting? I don't know, but they don't sell them by the time 11. It's probably four or two. Four. I bet it's two. All right. That's quite a team. So her jobs were then cutting wood and dragging loaded canal boats. Like a draft animal. So I think she would also when working in the woods with her dad breaking Guinness Book of World Records records. Well,

she's not she's a fucking serious business. She's dragging boats. Yeah, she's she's she's a badass. Quite aquatic. When working in the woods with her father, he taught her how to navigate and find food. So now he's taught her how to like right sort of get by a living get by. Yeah. Her father was manumitted in his owner's will. Go ahead. That means he should have been released from slavery. So if you're manumitted in the will, it means that you're given your freedom like when the owner dies and you are granted freedom. You're free to go. Okay. But he wasn't because no one told him. What? Well, the person who so the lawyer, it's a white

guy reading it to the white guy owner and they're like so that slaves free and they're like we don't have to tell him. He doesn't need to know that. Let him suss it out on his own. I'll be honest. Slavery is a big part of what we do here. It's kind of key to the labor. If if if we give him his freedom, then we'd have to pay him correct. That's right. So let's not let's not do that part. We're doing good stuff here. Are you gonna read the will to him? Absolutely not. Then we're fine. And white. God are we white. If he asks. If he comes up and says let's run through that scenario. Am I free? You know what I say? What's that? Yes. Wait,

rehearse again. Sorry. Am I free? Absolutely. It was in the will. There you go. No. Wait. Damn it. Am I free? Yes. Damn it. You can't lie. You're one. I'm just too good. You're a wonderful film. I'm too good. So he's not released and he didn't find out until 10 years later when he was 55 years old. What is one's attitude where they hear they've been free for 10 years? Well, I would imagine. Chill or not. I would imagine it's much like when you see a guy who's been wrongly convicted in prison and he's been in prison for 20 years and he gets out and he's like I thought I was gonna be in prison forever. Yeah. So I think that on one hand you'd

be mad but on the other hand you're probably like fuck that's over. Right? Yeah. Well yeah. I mean again we're talking about these glasses can't be half full. It's really not it's really not something as a white guy from Marin who went to UC Santa Barbara that I can really put myself in the shoes of. Oh I don't think that's fair. I don't think that's fair at all Dave. I mean surely you went through some trials. What about when you couldn't get good coffee that's similar. I got a D. Well sir you've been through enough. Thank you. Good Lord. After he's freed he continued to work as a timber inspector so he just. Oh this is wood.

He big. This one he has wood too. As a matter of fact all these are wood. So he did the same job he did but now he's just getting paid for it. Okay. He was also the superintendent of cutting and hauling of timber for Baltimore shipyards. Superintendent of cutting. For the Baltimore shipyard so he's like I'm in charge of the cutting and moving of the wood. That's still pretty good though right. Yeah. Not bad. This whole thing may have been what led Minty to suspect that her mother might also be a free woman. Okay. So she finds out her dad should have been freed. Right. Oh. Maybe. Because of. Okay. So she pays an investigator five dollars.

Okay. Switch back that was a million. To investigate and sure enough it turned out that her mother. Also free. Ritt was manumit manumitted and the will of a previous owner and she should have been freed years before when she was forty five. Forty five. But no one had told Ritt and nothing came of it. Like even after they knew they were they were like no. Right. Well. What do you get. What do you do. Nothing. Yeah. You go. Okay. What a good system we have set up. But eventually her husband bought her freedom. Okay. Which you should have had to do. No. He should get a refund or whatever you call it. I welcome that conversation. Something tells me you

quit while you're ahead. I love that they keep fucking slaves and then when the slaves are made free they're like no. No but it's just because like again I mean what was nothing was really enforced like that. Thank God everything's changed. Yeah. Well. In 1884 when she was twenty four Minty married a free colored man named John Tubman. Okay. This was pretty late for marriage particularly for a slave which may have been due to the head wound condition she had which cost her sleeping fits. That's about not much is known about John but he didn't sound very great. Apparently marriage between so he he's free right. So I'm really marriage between slaves and free blacks was pretty common and about

half of blacks were free in Maryland at this time. That's so weird. So he's married to a slave and he's like I'm gonna go to work. What are you gonna do. Whatever they tell me. Have a good day. Hey what do you say we get away. I can't go. No I can't I'm a slave. A long I would love to. I know I would love to. I would like a week. Stop talking about things that aren't near me. Why don't why don't why just go with me. I can't. Why. Oh God. You're so stubborn. I have to go. Okay. But that is so strange. It had to ban a super weird relationship. Yeah. Like you you genuinely if you're I mean it's almost like if you if you date someone and you know they don't have a lot going on and you're

doing cool stuff when you come back you downplay it a little. How is Miami. It was you know it's fun. I'm not into Miami. I really am not you know it's like the clubs you stay out all night you have fun. You know what working and making money is like not at all what is cracked up. Once you've taken Molly at the Cleveland or once you've done it a hundred times. It's just not even anything. It's not a big deal. Anyway how is jail. How's jail been. How's the slop. That's totally what. Yeah. So around this time Minty changed her first name to Harriet and took her husband's last name out of here. You bastard Harriet Tubman you bastard. The origin story. When Harry was twenty nine she heard a rumor that

she and two of her brothers would be sold off crazy to pay debts. Okay. So the three siblings ran for it on September 17th 1849 but before they got very far her brothers got scared and forced her to go back with them. Okay. So they all run away and then her brothers like we can't do this. Let's go back and then they make her come back. So she waits a few days and then she runs away again. Okay. And the brothers stay back. Yeah. Okay. Harriet quote for I had reasoned this out of my mind. There was one of two things I had to write to Liberty or death. If I could not have one I would have the other for no man should take me alive. I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength

lasted and when the time came for me to go the Lord would let them take me. Okay. It's a solid headspace for bravery. Totally reasonable. So it was dangerous to tell her family she was leaving but as she left she sang spirituals as she passed her caverns which was a coded message apparently. Okay. Although some people dispute that. Okay. When she went she went 90 miles. Jesus. To Philadelphia which probably took a couple of weeks on foot. That is just so I mean honestly if I have to walk to get laundry. No you like she's a slave walking 90 miles which I assume she didn't walk on roads. Yeah. Right. So she's just walking through fucking nightmarish shrubbery that back then exists. That sounds fun. And and

then and so it takes her a couple of weeks but if you like had to walk on a road for 90 miles you would stop after like 15 and start crying and just lay there. No absolutely because you're weak. Are you talking about one or me because it's you're looking at me weak. One is. Let's get back in. Let's just jump back in. It feels like. So she traveled at night and the first night she stayed with a white Quaker woman who gave her supplies and instructions for safe houses. Okay. The Quakers are super great at this time. Yeah and they're against slavery. And the oats. Oats. They made great oats. God the best. I'll only eat their oats. Yeah. Period. No I hear you. Thank you. The first abolitionist

society in the U.S. was formed in 1775 in Philadelphia. The name was. The General Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bonnage and for Improving the Condition of the African Race. The Abolonicon about. So. So that's it. They went. They went. Why did they change it though. I don't know. It's such a catchy name. It's easy to remember. Hey I would like a sign made. Uh huh. Did you make a sign for me. Absolutely. We charge by the letter. Oh. By the letter. Yeah that's right. We charge by the letter. Love to make signs and we charge by the letter. Okay. We have three dollars. Okay. Well that'll get you five letters. Okay.

Can you put. Negroes unlawfully held in bondage. I think you're going to want to reconsider which one you're picking. Get that. I took that right out of the middle. Yeah. Improving the condition of the African race. Yeah but how. How are you doing. That's six. Improving the condition of the African. How about abolitionists. Oh shit. That's a word that's on here. Yes. Promoting the abolition of slavery. You're not listening well. But so the time by the time Harry derived there were actually a few abolitionist groups working in Philadelphia. That's where a lot of Quakers are. Okay. She got involved with other abolitionists and became a leader of the Philadelphia anti-slavery movement. Okay. So a lot of a lot of slaves

who were freed would go to Philadelphia and so they're also starting these movements. Right. Harry got a job as a cook domestic worker and earned enough money to start heading back to Maryland to free her relatives. Okay. So she's working as a cook saving money going back to Maryland and freeing people freeing her relatives buying their freedom. Yeah. Okay. On her first trip in 1851 she let out her sister Mary and Mary's two children. A couple of months later she went and got her brother and two other men on a third trip. She went to get her husband and bring him north but she discovered he remarried and didn't want to go anywhere. Men. Since a marriage between

a slave and a free man wasn't legally binding it didn't matter that he got remarried. These laws are so well bizarre. You know what would you want me to not fuck. I mean what I can't even that's that's that was actually the he wrote a he wrote his own autobiography later and it was called did you want me to not fuck. And he's just on his side like on his hand legs crossed. Yeah. So yeah. So he was like I don't care. And then so she just brought back slaves instead of him. She's like well then how about I take No I love you. I love you. Who care. But he's free. So he's like I don't give a shit. Okay. Right. On her runs she would go on Saturday nights because posters and newspaper ads weren't

published until Sunday. Right. On Monday. On Monday they take off. So she got a Saturday night. Take them and then Monday they'd come out far away. Yeah. Right. She traveled at night and in winter because the nights were longer than. Okay. Good. Freezing. Yeah. Fun. But you know you've got to move at night. Well I mean she's technically a terminator so there's no real laws. Safe houses had secret knocks. Okay. Like that. Okay. And then someone would be like open. They didn't knock back and then you'd knock back. What if you just were a guy who had a like I'll go to a door if I knock a door I'll give a funky little knock. I don't think they took funky knocks. Okay.

Woo. No. Okay. On the railroad they would sing songs and change the tempo to indicate safety or danger. Okay. Wow. Yeah. That's if traveling with she would she would leave them to go get food and then she would sing and then if they if they sang back in the right way she'd know it was clear. Okay. Come back. On the railroad I did that. If traveling with young children the kids would be drugged with an opioid to keep them from crying. Can we do that now. Yes. Why is that not part of it. Can that be the thing that happens every time you're ready to go to play. I give my kid heroin every time we play. No and I've seen you do it and I think people will hear that and they'll go what that's crazy. Dave

gives him the right amount of heroin. Straight into the neck. Yeah. Just a nice shot. Yeah just a shot in the neck. And he's out. He's out like a baby. Yeah. I mean. She wore men's clothing or dressed like an old woman. Okay. And she bribed people she needed to. She carried a revolver and would use it if the slaves wanted to turn back. Jesus. Yeah. So she is. She's she's like Clint Eastwood but an ex slave. Right. Right. Total badass. Well she learned from her brothers too. The run back. I'm worried if they find us they'll kill us. I'll kill you here. Keep jogging. Okay. Great. She couldn't let them return because if they did they would give clues about her or the routes or you know whatever.

She picked up the nickname Moses because she let her people to the promised land and it was a code name so no one would know her real name. Okay. Moses. It's a pretty lofty name. Yeah. Yeah. No that's tough. Yeah. I mean she's got to start carrying a staff. Yeah. And then she sees bushes on fire. Right. Yeah. She's got to come down from the mountain with the things. Harriet there's no way we'll get through this water. Let's take the bridge because she can't part it. Someone the other day was like I was listening to the podcast and I thought you I thought something had gone wrong with my podcast player. Well whenever those moments happen it's just Dave's staring at me angrily and I'm hoping he'll end it

but he enjoys milking it. So right she's dressing like a she's dressing like a name Moses Sherpa with a revolver. They may have also given her that nickname so Southerners thought that she was a he like to just completely throw him off the path of what she's doing. And it also shows you the intellect of the white man as well. Yeah. Well the names Moses were looking for a man. We're looking for a fellow with a beard. Big old white fellow. Yeah. For walking around in robes. For sure. Got a couple of tablets. Keep an eye out for the commandments. Compart water and all that. That's the fellow we're talking about. Yep. Okay. Yeah. Like flip flops. What do you think it's got to be. Well when you come down from

the hill with ten commandments is there anyone who's like bullshit. Oh yeah. There's a few people there's gotta be there's gotta be Moses. How's there not a me in the crowd. Yeah Dave yeah. Got a guy going really. That's right I've come down from the hill I talked to God and he has ten things he wants me to tell you the rules. Really. Yes really Mr. Anthony really. He wanted you to. I just talked to him up on the hill. Why don't you just why don't you just come down and say it. Because when you have God on the phone you don't go oh hey hold on let me go get everyone. Oh but you do say hold on let me chip chip. He asked me he asked me to put them in the tablet. So look Dave if you got a problem with a get

out of here some of us are trying to get in touch with God. Why are they in the tablets. Because that's how we remember him. What does that even mean. There's ten of them. If they're from God why wouldn't we just be like okay that's yeah let's all memorize. He's a busy dude Dave. Why don't you memorize it what are you not busy. I started trying to memorize it but I could only get to six and then I realized I forgot it so I thought I'd jot it down on some stone tablets. How long did that take. Oh god damn wild get out of here. Really. Yeah that's right you're negative. Nobody likes your negativity. Such a hot head. Where's your burning bush. I'm telling you. What are you telling me. That bush was

on fire because of the Lord. Every time you say it I can't I can't like. Get out of here Dave. Get out of here. Get out of here. Go shout at someone else. My job. I just talked to God. Yeah I know. Bullshit asshole is what you are. You're a bullshitting asshole. He had ten though. He went straight. He had ten. Full even number. He's like oh let's do ten let's not do fourteen. He did ten. It's catchy. It's cool. Ten. Oh is God catchy. I would say that he's aware of what marketing is. Sure. Really. Yeah I'm in a rush. Okay. Why you just took a long day. I talked to God and I wrote on stone tablets. Yeah but that took like 19 days to chip away with that shit. I'm exhausted. Yeah. Yeah later. That's

accurate right. I think that's exactly how it went. They didn't put that part in the Bible but you can read between the lines. It was wordy. Also maybe God started like 17 and Moses was like my arm is just. Oh my God. You know I think ten will be nice. Nice round number. There's a movie that does that don't they were the movies. There's a movie called the ten. The history of the world. History of the world. Okay. So in 1850 Congress passed the fugitive slave law. So that meant escaped slaves were required to be returned to their masters even if they were in a free state. Yeah whenever people are like yeah no the north just fought against the south I'm like well there's some things they did

they were totally fucked up. They didn't like they're like no you can now go get slaves in New York or whatever we don't care it's cool. So we do just have a history of constantly making some progress only to have it retracted because. Because of commerce. Yeah. So it's now dangerous to just stay in a free state because bounty hunters and slave catchers would come north. Okay. And snatch people. Harriet quote after that I wouldn't trust Uncle Sam with my people any longer but I brought them all clear off to Canada because Canada was still controlled by England and slavery was illegal and they would not send escapees back to the U.S. So she brought them there. So they're always ahead of us. Yeah

and she kept bringing slaves out on her fourth trip she let out eleven including a brother and his wife and she was now she's now bringing them all up to Canada. From 1851 to 1857 she lived in St. Catherine's Canada West which is now Ontario. She takes slaves from Maryland into Philadelphia and then take them to New York and then upstate through like Troy Albany Syracuse and then up to the border near Niagara and she take a suspension bridge across and then. And this is still just all on foot. Yeah all on foot all on foot all at night. Crazy. She'd work earn money and then head out to lead more people north. In 1857 she rescued her parents. What took some goddamn long. What the fuck. I've saved 5000 people

mom dad you're next. Hello. So the reason she waited with them is because they were so old that there was very little chance of them being sold down the river. So she was taking brothers and sisters. Calculated risk nieces and nephews. They're they're they're much better chance. Right. But no one's like can you can you send like an 80 year old man down. Can how can I have a really old one. Well sir the reason why we brought you here is we're looking for someone to tell us winding stories with no end. You'll stay in the house and you'll just recount memories that may or may not have happened. Yeah it'd be great. Okay. Tell the one about that can of corn. Well I found a can of corn one time and I

can tell this. I think it's my best friend. I can tell this honey. I like corn. Another winner. I'm glad we got this guy here. So her however the reason she went gutter parents is her father was found hiding slaves that were escaping. So he's in trouble. So he's in trouble. So she came and got him. But apparently taking out old people was like a crazy feat like people are like I can't believe I can't believe you took old people right from Maryland up to Canada. Right. Yeah. Quote Harriet's abduction of her parents was an event in underground annuals. It was significant not only because rarely did aged folks take to the road but because Harriet carried them off in a patch together wagon in an audacious and an aplomb

aplomb. Sure. That represented complete mastery of the railroad and perfect scorn for the white patrol. Her performance was that at once of an accomplished artist and the daring revolutionary. So everyone's like holy fuck. Right. She's like a superhero. You took out fucking old people. Right. Like that's just crazy. Not all saw it that way. Pro slavery. Philippian John Bell Robinson said quote a diabolical act of wickedness and cruelty taking her parents away from ease and comfortable homes as cruel and act as ever was performed by a child towards her parents. God. How dead they would being owned very nicely in a house. What she did is awful. How could she take them to be free to do what they want in a different place.

Oh God. People are really horrible. People will make up that. That's one of those people can talk anything. Well it really does. It reminds you of talking points of politicians which is that they'll be like these people are getting they are sick of paying for this health care. They're getting ruined totally by the health care bill. Yeah. So the best thing to do is get no health care. Let's get rid of the health care. They're dying from the health care. That's exactly what. Yeah. So Harriet took her parents Canada but they were like we don't like hockey was too cold. They're like I don't like this. Wow. I mean I know right. It's got to be a little straight. So fucking old people. Yeah. It's so first

of all old people get cold these years because I think it's less fat or something in there like they're well that's why you get what the goal of life is to get fat for the end but that's why they all move to Florida Arizona because they get cold super easy. So you take people from Maryland up to Canada like what I don't I'd rather be a slave. That's not really what they said. So so they were basically like can we go back to somewhere else. So she took him to Albany New York. So she's still like yeah but they're escaped slaves so they're in Albany so they can. Sorry Auburn so they can be snatched but right but no one really is really going to give a shit right because they care about her. Right. So they live there

in Auburn. She made her final rescue trip to Maryland in 1860. It was somewhere around her 13th trip they think. So by now she's becoming known in abolitionist circles and was making speeches all together she led around 80 slaves to freedom and taught another 50 or so how to escape on their own. So she's like she's fucking serious trouble maker. Revolutionary. Yeah. But they're also down there like this. Right. Bullshit. Right. Right. They're not happy. Of course not. Contrary to what a lot of people believe the underground railroads was mostly made up not made up of white people. That is so. I mean not. I don't even think that I would have fully thought. I never actually thought about it. But whenever

I think of underground railroad I always think of Harriet Tubman. I don't think of anybody else involved in it. But but you're researching this. You find out that everyone thinks that it's like oh then you went to their white Quakers house and he put you in the basement for a couple of days and then off you went to another white Quaker. God thank God for the good whites. Where would be without all these great great white people. Good Lord thank God for the whites. Good work Harriet but I don't think you could do that without a band which is what the whites provided. But that is true and that is probably just such a classic way of us being able to deal with the awful racism of our past and find this

overlining it at the end of the day is actually a false bill of sale. We helped. In actuality it was mostly escaped slaves or people who had gotten their freedom. OK. We were like I don't want other people to live through that. Right. I'll do anything I can't even even putting my own life on the line. Those are the people who helped mostly. They did not the underground road did not go into the deep south mostly mostly just border states like Maryland and but they wouldn't go down like Mississippi right. Spires. It was a loosely connected group of people. They didn't have a formal organization or a leadership structure. Things were not set up ahead of time so you could be at home and all of a sudden 10 slaves

who were escaping would show up and you would take them in and try to figure out right how to do next. So that could make life a little weird. Yep. These are my cousins. Yeah. Yeah. So anytime Harriet was in the US she was putting herself in jeopardy. She was an escape slave and it had a bounty on her head. Now the bounty was somewhere between twelve hundred and twelve thousand. She's they don't know because people some people think there's a zero on the end of the documents and people don't. How is that not possible to figure out. I don't know. There's not. She is one of the most embellished people in history because there's different reasons and I'll get to one of them in a little bit but but she didn't she didn't there was

no writing shit down on the right underground railroad. It was secret. So there's no there's no one writing a fucking novel about what a underground railroad journal like no it's not a day. So by the late 1850s it said 1950s it threw me off. I thought we jumped ahead and she hung in there by the late 1850 she was a bit of a legend amongst the anti slavery people but as things heated up and slave states started to leave the union. Harriet's friends became concerned that she would be arrested and sent south as part of a good will gesture from the north. Yeah good way to go. Again this is another thing like people people is like the north was so fucking awesome but if that's a fear that they had that means that

that's reasonable like everyone's like oh god they're gonna well yeah it's just that the bar is set so low. I mean it's like literally I mean how do you how do you like you can't lift up the barrel and scrape lower. No you can't. Her friends wanted to go back to Canada but she did not and she was never arrested. When the civil war started Harriet was living in Auburn in November 1862 Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson. A definite white. A guaranteed white. I thought of going with whitest name ever but I went with Thomas Wentworth Higginson. King Whitey White McWhiton. And Colonel James Montgomery were in South Carolina. These two good lord. It would be a great white guy sitcom. I'm very particular and spoiled but I'm particular

and spoiled too. Escape slaves filled both of their regiments so they both have tons of scape slaves in the regiment and Higginson and Montgomery both knew Tubman from before the war. They were both abolitionists and they want to form a spy network in the region. Okay. Now around this time Harriet met with the governor of Boston to discuss how else she could help the war effort. It's gonna be a nerve wracking meeting. Yeah. Hi. You promise that you're good. Do you swear you won't be the worst. Anyway what. What. I don't know. What. I got nothing. So because of her background and connections the governor thought she would make a good spy. Okay. So Harriet was given the authority to get a roster of

scouts together to infiltrate and map out the south. That's pretty great. Tubman's spy operation was under the direction of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton who considered her to be the commander of her men. Wow. That's crazy. She was given $100 to start up the spy network and she used ex slaves who had connections also in the south. Okay. After the union captured the sea islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia Harriet and her spies were sent there acting as a humanitarian group sent to Port Royal Island to help the population of freed slaves there. Okay. Among other things Harriet worked as a nurse. People were dying due to disease and extreme heat. Quote I'd go to the hospital every early every morning.

I'd get a big chunk of ice and put it in a basin and fill it with water. Then I'd take a sponge and begin. First man I'd come to I'd thrash away the flies and they'd rise like bees around a hive. Then I'd begin to bathe their wounds and by the time I bathed off three or four the fire and heat would have melted the ice and made the water warm and it would be as red as blood. Then I'd go and get more ice by the time I got to the next ones the flies would be around the first ones black and thick as ever. Oh God. Well that's an overwhelming task. That's I mean let's just agree hospitals were not great. Yeah flies. Just thick of covered in flies. Just so awesome. It really it really does.

You know we complain so God damn much. Let's just all be thankful that there are not flies in our hospital. Why? Aren't you going to visit a relative in the hospital? Oh God she's covered in flies. I mean she is just is she under there or is that a hive? Oh no she's a hive. Oh good okay great. She turned into a hive last night. Oh no she's under there. She treated soldiers for dysentery smallpox malignant fevers making her own medicine from roots. She took the money she was making and invested it into things like wash houses that would teach ex slave women skills so they could then get jobs. Okay. And she gave up her military salary because she thought it was causing jealousy among the people she

was working with. Lord. Instead to make money she started selling homemade root beer pie and gingerbread. Okay. So it's a side business. Sure. Well why not. I mean she's done a lot already why not become little Debbie. And that's why I want to talk to you about starting a company called Harriet Tubman's root beer. And pies. Tubman's pies. Tubman's pies. As a spy Harriet was very successful. She sent out her agents into the south to gather information. Based on the information Montgomery successfully captured Jacksonville Florida. How did I not know that she was the John Connor. I did not. Browns they did they did a little bit of it on junk history but I had no fucking idea that she was a crazy yeah I thought she just

did the underground. Yeah which would be great. Which would be plenty. But now she's in charge of a spy network. Yeah. The raid convinced commanders that extensive guerrilla operations were doable in the south. Okay. Which led to the combo he I think those they said combo he river raid in June 1863 up until then all of Tubman's attacks on the Confederacy had been purposefully clandestine. Okay. But she did not remain anonymous as she had a prominent role in the military operation at combo he South Carolinas. It had rice plantations alongside tidal rivers that Fandain Lynn from the Atlantic and this was some of the south most rich property and had huge slave population. So these big plantations where they they grow

rice and it's just full of slaves. Okay. So it's a big deal. The raid up the river was about 10 miles north from where Tubman and her group were stationed and she said she would not participate unless Montgomery was in charge because he led the black troops and the army agreed. So on June 2 1863 gunboats steamed into the river just before midnight and Tubman was with 300 black troops from the second South Carolina infantry is crazy aboard the John Adams. The black soldiers were relieved that their lives were being entrusted to the famous Moses. Through her spy rank Tubman had learned the location of rebel floating mines that were planted below the surface of the water mines mines

water mines. Good Lord. I didn't realize we were through that advance back then. I didn't either. Mines water mines. We had mines for boats back then. She served as a lookout for the Union ships allowing them to guide their boats around the mines and by 3 a.m. they reached Fields Point. Montgomery sent a squad ashore to drive off Confederates who ran for it. And Tubman sent word ahead of time to the slaves who were on the plantations that this was going to happen. So when the ships came hundreds of slaves were waiting. She guided the boats to designated shoreline spots where tons of slaves were hiding and they scrambled onto the vessels. Tubman quote I never saw such a sight. Sometimes the women would come

with twins hanging around their necks. It appears I never saw so many twins in my life. Bags on their shoulders baskets on their heads and young ones tagging along behind all loaded pig squealing chicken screaming young ones squealing. So it sounds great. It sounds good. It sounds like if you're if you're an owner you might know something's up. Human and pig squeals. Let's move. At first whites who saw the force of black troops raiding completely lost their shit. Of course. And ran because a bunch of black guys are coming with guns. I mean oh my god it's our worst nightmare. Totally. Yeah. Oh well they're past. And the raiders went to town according to one Confederate onlooker in a few minutes his buildings were

up in flames. Wow. When the plantation owners upriver heard about the coming force they also ran so all the white people are just like get out of here black people have guns now unfair. This isn't how we wrote it. The troops robbed warehouses and torch plantation homes burning and must have been very fun. The fucking best just must have been very gratifying burning and looting white owned plantations was a nice bonus for the black troops. Yeah. Considering the wealth of the area this was a huge blow to the master class of the south. The horror of the attack on the prestigious Middleton estate drove the point home. Dixie could fall at the hands of former slaves. It was reported Confederates

only stopped one slave from escaping by shooting her as she ran. More than 750 slaves were freed in the overnight operation. Wow. And about fifteen thousand dollars worth of property was taken. Good Lord. Yeah. That's great. The Union invaders had ruined the estates of the Haywards the Middletons the Lodans and other South Carolina dynasties. Harriet Thomas plan was successful. The official Confederate report included quote the enemy seems to have been well posted as to the character and capacity of our troops and their small chance of encountering opposition and to have been well guided by persons thoroughly acquainted with the river and country. The success of the river raid also proved that blacks could be effective

soldiers not one Union soldier was injured. Harriet was then given the nickname general and newspapers started calling her the Union's first woman general. Wow. She is the only woman known to lead a military operation during the Civil War. After the operation she wrote her superiors and asked if she could have a bloomer dress to wear on future raids. That is just a bloomer dress as we discussed in our Lady Pants episode was like billowy pants with a short skirt. Right. Basically she's like hey listen. You know how I went on this raid and we were freeing slaves inside. Can I wear pants. Absolutely not. Unlady like next. You were a dress. You're a girl. Because she torn up her dress. What doesn't

matter what she's trying to free the slaves. Well I'm sorry I didn't write the fashion laws lady. But then I'm walking around with no anything on because the dress is all torn but you'll look foolish in pants. You'll look crazy in pants. I don't. You look crazy. I don't know what you want me to say to you. Wear a dress. But you're a lady. OK. You're a lady. OK. Put on the dress Moses. OK. General Moses wears dresses. I'm going to start a new war after this one. All right. So. So it's believed that she led other raids after this one but no one really knows because she was wearing pants. Right. After she freed people she would help the freed slaves and the others who were ill. In 1865 Harry took

leave and went to Auburn to visit her parents. She was in the north. It's still too cold. I don't like it. It was the thermostat. Where's the man Florida. That's a nice area. She was in the north when Lincoln was reelected and the 13th Amendment was passed abolishing slavery. When she did go south again she went to Virginia and worked as a nurse and then when the war ended she went north again. As she was heading north on a train train conductor tried to remove her from the train car she was on. She was traveling on a government pass instead of a full ticket price and he apparently didn't like that idea. Wow. So he called her. You know what. A delightful human and tried to forcibly remove her but Harriet was a very

strong woman and she held them off which is fucking awesome. Yeah. So the conductor called from hell from other guys on the train. Of course. Help me. There's a black lady here. Ow. They picked her up and threw her into the baggage car. Her arm was severely injured and she ended up wearing a sling for a very long time after this. Abolitionists and civil right workers used it to show how the railroad was discriminatory. Wow. After the war ended she spent years trying to get back pay from the army. Not only was she not paid by the military she would also not get a pension for her service since women couldn't enlist officially. She hadn't enlisted which meant she was not viewed as a veteran even though newspapers

called her the general. Yeah. Cool. Cool. It's always cool. It seems cool right. We've always been cool. It seems like it seems cool. It's cool. It's cool. Yeah. No because once people have you know given the service you don't need to do things anymore. That's the idea. They did the thing. Yeah they did the thing. What you said they do you know. That we I mean the thing is at least now we treat our veterans great. No the good news is no we we invite them to games and everyone stands up and claps and then they and then they go back and they can't get health care. Well Dave I will say I don't want to devil's advocate him too hard but you know they they do take care of them. They load them up full of drugs

so that they're unable to process the atrocities which then I think maybe you have a point actually I don't think about it. I don't think about there's actually a point you have. They let them they let them go to games. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So this is what an abolitionist Sarah Bradford wrote Harriet's authorized biography hoping to raise money to pay off her house. This is also why many of the facts about Tubman may have been exaggerated and why there is so much disagreement about her actions because in the end it was a book written to sell so there might have been a little. Right. Yeah. Right. Tubman was also illiterate so she cannot write a book herself so she told her story to Bradford and then wrote it down and could

have been tweaked. Yeah. Well in Auburn Harriet still took in people who needed help like elderly people in orphans. She also collected clothes and helped establish schools for former slaves. Jesus. Many of now who are coming back from Canada and heading home so she could do which could help them. Right. She developed a reputation for helping anyone who asked and almost never asked for money for herself. Her dream was to open a home for the poor and sick from 1860 to the 1890s people tried to get Congress to recognize her service and pay her a pension from an article in the who shot to walk or whatever shot to walk or whatever quote. It seems strange that one who has done so much for her country and been in the thick

of battles with shots falling all about her should never have had recognition from the government in a substantial way. Tubman on not getting paid or getting a pension quote you wouldn't think that after I served the flag so faithfully I should come to want under its folds. That's that's exactly what post Civil War saw US saw a lot of violence towards blacks which has stopped thankfully. And in 1867 her ex husband was shot and killed by a white man who was then acquitted by an all white jury. Justice. Well that thank God we're past that time. Yeah. In 1869 Tubman married a man named Niles Davis. He had freed himself from slavery and had been boarding in her house for about three years. Okay. So that

she was going on for a while. All right. You know what I mean. Yeah. Yeah. I'm talking about. Yeah little home romance. Yeah. Her generosity and constant desire to help others also made her vulnerable to conmen. In 1873 two men told her and her brother that they had gold that had been buried by southern rich people at the beginning of the war and a slave had brought it back north and they wanted to sell it for less than it was worth. So this is when you get the email from the prince. This is a Nigerian email. Right. They would all I need is $200,000 for 50 million. That's exactly what. Okay. So they said they'd sell it to Harriet and her brother for 2000 even though it was worth 5000. Well I mean

you'd be foolish to pass up that deal. I know a deal when I can see one. They said they only wanted to sell it to Harriet because they didn't trust white people. Okay. Well that's fair. I mean I get it but it's bullshit. So then it's neither Harriet nor her brother had that kind of cash. They started asking their wealthy abolitionist friends in Auburn. Okay. Most of whom were like okay that's that's fucking. I got that email too. I got that. Don't reply to that email. Don't reply to that email. It's from Nigeria. Yeah it's not good. But one guy finally gave them $2000. Okay. The guys said only Harriet could make the exchange. Okay. Good sign. All these are all good signs. No for sure. They said a meeting in the woods.

That was a good sign. Yep. And when she arrived one of the guys was there and then he told her he had forgotten the tree. Ah you know it's the damnedest thing. I forgot the key to the trunk that the gold was in. Yeah. So I had to go get it. But I'm more mad at me. The one thing. Mr. Forgetful. The one thing. Good Lord. I only have one key. I'll be back. So he leaves and she waits and then she was knocked unconscious probably with chloroform. Wow. Yeah. That was back. Water mines and chloroform. Okay. It's a good time. She was tied up gagged and then she and then they took the money obviously and then she somehow managed to get home while still bound and gagged. Oh my God. Which I think is a great

accomplishment. There's many but a trot home bound and gagged is not easy. I mean honestly like if I was in that situation. Oh I just laid there. The quits are going to kill me. Yeah. Yeah it's over. Literally they'd be like sit upright. I'd be like no I'm trying to drown myself and leaves. Naturally authorities first thought Harriet and her brother were in on the scam with the condom. Obviously. They're like well you took two thousand dollars from that other guy. Yeah. Then the guy who loaned the money said Harriet I put up her house's collateral. Oh boy. Because he's super cool. But in the end tons of local important people came forward to speak on Harriet's behalf and said she would never do such a

thing and so they were like all right. Okay. All right. In 1888 her new husband died of tuberculosis. He had served in the military so she now got an eight dollar a month pension as a widow. So that's how she's actually making money off of the war is via her husband's pension when she was the one who carried out spy missions. Yeah. And as a leader in a dress may I say some wanted pants may I say something you may America. Yep. She was now hoping when I was coming back from Big Bear today there was a boat at a gas station that said America fuck yeah on the back. And I was like how did this actually fully happen. Like I can see suggesting it. I mean but I can't see having it in your yard and being like let's

go public show it off to America. So she was now hoping she wanted to open this home for poor old people. She wanted to do this because retirement homes at the time did not allow black people. Cool. That's a cool thought. Right. Well you know the first thing that I think is that the reason why is because in their heads it's like well you're never retired. You're black. No no no you don't know you don't get the break time. You don't need to get old and sit around. No no no. No no that's for white. That's for us. We get tired. Well we're tired from all the commanding of you. I have a coke. Dave's just having an insure. So she opened a pig farm and a brickyard on her property to increase income.

Okay. And in 1896 she won an auction to buy 25 acres next to her house. However she did not have a down payment so she won an auction but didn't have any money. Okay. So she reached out to her network and church and got the money. Then she went on a tour and put out a new edition of her biography but it didn't go so great and she had to remortgage her home. Okay. In 1897 Congress petitioned to grant Tubman a military pension of twenty five dollars per month that surviving soldiers got. Some argued she should get less because she was only a nurse. Whatever. I'm done. I can't anymore. Well we can't give you the same amount of money. She's a woman who was helping people. She's also she was more than

a nurse. Yes but she was nurse very nurse-y first. I get the whole thing about blah blah blah. She went on a boat yak-a-dak. She spent a lot of time cleaning flies off of people. She should be paid as a nurse. She should be called a fly waver and then we should give her fifty cents a month. So I think how little that money is. I mean I know it's more than but it's like if you have all this money. It's fucking nothing. How do you not just go yeah yeah. Committee member Jasper Talbert blocked Tubman's pension. But in 1899-820 Jasper ever contributed anything good horrible people. They've never been anything but murders and races. Okay well let's not. But in 1899 a twenty dollar pension finally passed Congress

and was signed into law by President William McKinley. It only took 30 years. Oh good. In 1903 she didn't have the funds to maintain the twenty five acres she bought so she donated it to the AME Zion church who took over the debt raised money and built the old age home she always wanted to build. Okay. In 1908 the Harriet Tubman home for aged and indigent indigent this this is all spelled wrong. What's the word I'm looking for. Indigent indigent indigent. All right. Yeah this isn't it shouldn't say Indian. But I mean you never know. I don't know if there's she's going to discriminate. The Tubman home for aged and indigent Negroes opened. She wanted. This is all screwed up. Oh she wanted she wanted like the need to be

the only reason people were admitted like they had the quality of necessity. Yeah they had no choice but they were poor and they needed to live somewhere. Right. But instead the church imposed a hundred dollar fee for residents. Hey turns out a lot of her white abolitionist friends thought they knew what was right for her. Right. So it's weird even abolitionist friends are like oh but you're black so I'll tell you trust me. Turns out yeah so you know cool stuff. Good. On March 10th 1913 Harriet Tubman died of pneumonia at the Harriet Tubman home for aged and indigent Negroes where she lived the last two years of her life. In 1978 the U.S. Postal Service issued a Harriet Tubman commemorative stamp

in 2015 a grassroots campaign mostly with female organizers launched a W 20 women on the 20s to urge the government to put a woman on the twenty dollar bill. Six hundred thousand people vote online Harriet Tubman won. She will replace Andrew Jackson the former president slave holder murder of Native Americans owner of giant cheese wheel on the front. He will be not gone. He'll be put on the back. It's gonna be a weird dollar. Well you've got a hero on the front and Andrew Jackson on the back. President Trump called it quote pure political correctness and suggested moving Tubman to a lower denomination like the two dollar bill. Of course. I mean could could I when you were saying that I knew right away

he'd say the two the two. I mean that would a placating bill. Yeah. Here again another two the one that when you get it you're like they still make these quote. Andrew Jackson had a great history. I think it's very rough when you take somebody off the bill this. This is the quote since he was president. Jackson's forced removal of the of American Indians to the west of the Mississippi is known as the Trail of Tears during which over four thousand died of exposure disease and starvation which is kind of the opposite of what Harriet Tubman did if you think about it. But Trump also it wasn't he also when he was talking about Andrew Jackson. I mean he was making the connection of like how Andrew Jackson

stopped the Civil War when Andrew Jackson's life ended like 30 years prior. I mean there's some problems with the math. Good Lord. But he's making a good assault. I mean you really like you're the like I understand. I mean well no we've come on this I've come on this podcast and said stupid shit before but that I thought you know that I thought I knew the answer to. But you know if you're the president and you're going to talk about Andrew Jackson. Yeah. You can't vamp his history. Oh you know he's great and you just can't. All he ever did it was great was have cheese in the White House and have a big party. Yeah. Other than he was a monster. Well he also had that big party because he just wanted the people to

eat him eat the cheese out of the house. True. You know there's still like it is so crazy but then when you think about the stuff that still goes on now like with Syrian refugees and stuff there are so many that are unable you know like in France like there is almost an underground railroad in France where there's some guy whose name I forget but he is you know he is basically setting up homes and areas. Oh really. Yeah of places where Syrian refugees can live and you know he's been arrested and all this shit but he will go you know because again there are just times where certain people are just so pissed off with the lack of humanity that we have that they have to take shit in their own hands and the government

is cracking down on this guy and they're like you shouldn't be allowed to do this and that's shit but. Yeah. And even then this dude had shoes. Had shoes. Had shoes to do it. Like a fucking pussy. Did it in the daylight too. Weak. Well that is really crazy. I thought you didn't know. I knew about. I don't think a lot of people know. But I had no idea that we are talking about William Wallace. So and it turns out we are. Yeah she's a crazy badass. Yeah. We we send cars. And two dollar bills. The Tubby's. The Tubby's. As we call them. The Tubby's. When does the 20 come out. I think 2018. It's a little ways off.