Editing Harriet Tubman (section)

== Childhood ==
{{slavery}}
Tubman's mother was assigned to "the big house"{{sfn|Humez|2003|p=205}}{{sfn|Clinton|2004|p=4}} and had scarce time for her own family; consequently, as a child Tubman took care of a younger brother and baby, as was typical in large families.{{sfn|Humez|2003|p=13}} When she was five or six years old, Brodess hired her out as a nursemaid to a woman named "Miss Susan". Tubman was ordered to care for the baby and rock the cradle as it slept; when the baby woke up and cried, Tubman was whipped. She later recounted a particular day when she was lashed five times before breakfast. She carried the scars for the rest of her life.{{sfn|Clinton|2004|pp=17–18}} She found ways to resist, such as running away for five days,{{sfn|Larson|2004|p=40}} wearing layers of clothing as protection against beatings, and fighting back.{{sfn|Clinton|2004|p=19}}

Also in her childhood, Tubman was sent to work for a [[Planter (American South)|planter]] named James Cook.{{sfn|Walters|2020|p=31}} She had to check his [[muskrat]] traps in nearby marshes, even after contracting [[measles]]. She became so ill that Cook sent her back to Brodess, where her mother nursed her back to health. Brodess then hired her out again. She spoke later of her acute childhood [[homesickness]], comparing herself to "the boy on the Swanee River", an allusion to [[Stephen Foster]]'s song "[[Old Folks at Home]]".{{sfn|Larson|2004|p=38}} As she grew older and stronger, she was assigned to field and forest work, driving oxen, plowing, and hauling logs.{{sfn|Larson|2004|p=56}}

As an adolescent, Tubman suffered a severe [[head injury]] when involved in an altercation between an overseer and a male slave who had absconded from work without permission and had gone to the store.{{sfn|Sernett|2007|p=16}} While Tubman and others tried to defend the man from the overseer, the overseer threw a {{convert|2|lb|0|adj=on|spell=in}} metal weight at the slave.  The weight struck Tubman instead, which she said "broke my skull". Bleeding and unconscious, she was returned to her enslaver's house and laid on the seat of a loom,{{sfn|Sernett|2007|p=16}} where she remained without medical care for two days.{{sfn|Larson|2004|p=42}} Afterwards Tubman's mother was allowed to tend to her. Tubman remained in a comatose state for weeks after the incident.

After the incident Tubman frequently experienced extremely painful headaches.{{sfn|Oertel|2015|p=27}} She also began having seizures and would seemingly fall unconscious, although she claimed to be aware of her surroundings while appearing to be asleep. Larson suggests she may have had [[temporal lobe epilepsy]], possibly as a result of [[brain injury]];{{sfn|Larson|2004|pp=42–43, 317 (note 46)}} Clinton suggests her condition may have been [[narcolepsy]] or [[cataplexy]].{{sfn|Clinton|2004|pp=184–185}} A definitive diagnosis is not possible due to lack of contemporary medical evidence, but this condition remained with her for the rest of her life.{{sfn|Oertel|2015|pp=28–29, 34}}

After her injury, Tubman began experiencing [[Vision (spirituality)|visions]] and vivid dreams, which she interpreted as [[revelation]]s from God. These spiritual experiences had a profound effect on Tubman's personality and she acquired a passionate faith in God.{{sfn|Larson|2004|pp=43–45}} Although Tubman was illiterate, she was told [[Bible]] stories by her mother and likely attended a [[Methodism|Methodist]] church with her family.{{sfn|Clinton|2004|p=20}}{{sfn|Larson|2004|p=46}} [[Mysticism|Mystical]] inspiration guided her actions.{{sfn|Sernett|2007|p=142}} She rejected the [[The Bible and slavery|teachings]] of white preachers who urged enslaved people to be passive and obedient victims to those who trafficked and enslaved them; instead she found guidance in the [[Old Testament]] tales of deliverance. This religious perspective informed her actions throughout her life.{{sfn|Larson|2004|p=47}}