Editing Harriet Tubman (section)

== Family and first husband ==
Anthony Thompson promised to [[manumit]] Tubman's father at age&nbsp;45. After Thompson died, his son followed through with that promise in 1840. Tubman's father continued working as a timber estimator and foreman for the Thompson family.{{sfn|Clinton|2004|pp=23–24}} Later in the 1840s, Tubman paid a white attorney five dollars ({{inflation|US|5|1845|r=-1|fmt=eq}}) to investigate the legal status of her mother, Rit. The lawyer discovered that Atthow Pattison, the grandfather of Mary Brodess, indicated in his will that Rit and any of her children would be manumitted at age&nbsp;45, and that any children born after she reached age&nbsp;45 would be freeborn. The Pattison and Brodess families ignored this stipulation when they inherited the enslaved family, but taking legal action to enforce it was an impossible task for Tubman.{{sfn|Clinton|2004|pp=28–29}}{{sfn|Walters|2020|pp=42–43}}

Around 1844, she married [[John Tubman]], a free black man.{{sfn|Larson|2004|p=62}} Although little is known about him or their time together, the union was complicated because of her enslaved status. [[Partus sequitur ventrem|The mother's status]] dictated that of children, and any children born to Harriet and John would be enslaved. Such blended marriages{{snd}}[[free people of color]] marrying enslaved people{{snd}}were not uncommon on the [[Eastern Shore of Maryland]], where by this time, half the black population was free. Most African-American families had both free and enslaved members. Larson suggests that they might have planned to buy Tubman's freedom.{{sfn|Larson|2004|p=63}}

Tubman changed her name from Araminta to Harriet soon after her marriage, though the exact timing is unclear. Larson suggests this happened right after the wedding,{{sfn|Larson|2004|p=62}} and Clinton suggests that it coincided with Tubman's plans to escape from slavery.{{sfn|Clinton|2004|p=33}} She adopted her mother's name, possibly as part of a religious conversion, or to honor another relative.{{sfn|Larson|2004|p=62}}{{sfn|Clinton|2004|p=33}}