I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1743 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Harriet Tubman, 

in recognition of her contributions and lifelong commitment in the fight 

for freedom of enslaved men, women, and children in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2015 

Ms. CLARKE of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Harriet Tubman, in recognition of her contributions and 

lifelong commitment in the fight for freedom of enslaved 

men, women, and children in the United States. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Harriet ‘Moses’ Tub5 man Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) An integral part of the fight for abolition of 

2 slavery, Harriet Tubman, was born into slavery as 

3 Araminta ‘‘Minty’’ Harriet Ross in Dorchester 

4 County, Maryland, to Harriet ‘‘Rit’’ Green and Ben 

5 Ross. 

6 (2) Neither an exact year nor exact location of 

7 her birth is known as is the case with many slaves 

8 in the United States, but historians estimate her 

9 birth year to be around 1820. 

10 (3) Araminta’s hardships began early with the 

11 fracturing of her family as three of her eight siblings 

12 were sold to distant plantations in addition to endur13 ing physical violence that caused permanent injuries 

14 from: scars, seizures, headaches, and narcoleptic epi15 sodes with intense dream states. 

16 (4) Many historians believe that the story of 

17 Araminta’s mother, Rit, hiding her younger brother 

18 ‘‘Moses’’ with the aid of other slaves and free blacks 

19 in the community from a Georgia slave trader to be 

20 the pivotal example of resistance that would drive 

21 her actions in the future. 

22 (5) Furthermore, the meaning of freedom was 

23 ambiguous and unsecure as Araminta’s father, Ben, 

24 through an act of manumission in a former owner’s 

25 will was technically freed at the age of 45. 


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1 (6) Despite Ben’s freedom and the manumis2 sion stipulations that applied to his wife and their 

3 children, Ben held little clout to challenge the own4 ers that chose not to free his family and had no 

5 choice but to continue working for his former own6 ers. 

7 (7) Around 1844, Araminta married a freed8 man named John Tubman, took her mother’s first 

9 name Harriet, and began planning her escape from 

10 slavery. 

11 (8) In the cover of night guided by the North 

12 Star, Harriet escaped by traveling nearly 90 miles to 

13 Pennsylvania in 1849 by means of the Underground 

14 Railroad, a well-organized network guided by White 

15 abolitionists, freed, and enslaved Blacks. 

16 (9) The following year, the U.S. Congress 

17 passed the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 that called 

18 for both ‘‘slave’’ and ‘‘free’’ States’ law enforcement 

19 to report runaway slaves for capture. 

20 (10) Nevertheless, Harriet did not yield to the 

21 growing danger and risked her own newly acquired 

22 freedom to return to free her family and other slaves 

23 while redirecting the Underground Railroad to Can24 ada, which prohibited slavery. 


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1 (11) Harriet’s leadership and courage earned 

2 her the nickname of ‘‘Moses’’ as she facilitated the 

3 freedom of many slaves and would also encounter 

4 other historical figures such as abolitionist John 

5 Brown and likely Frederick Douglass. 

6 (12) During the Civil War, Harriet would have 

7 many roles working for the Union Army which in8 cluded using her experience to act as an armed scout 

9 and spy. 

10 (13) Harriet was the first woman in the Civil 

11 War to lead an armed expedition, which liberated 

12 more than 700 slaves during the Combahee River 

13 Raid in South Carolina earning her the moniker 

14 ‘‘General Tubman’’. 

15 (14) In 1859, Republican abolitionist U.S. Sen16 ator William H. Seward sold Harriet a piece of land 

17 on the outskirts of Auburn, New York. 

18 (15) Harriet’s home in Auburn would remain 

19 her haven for family and friends following the war 

20 with a portion of the property donated to the Afri21 can Methodist Episcopal Church where the Harriet 

22 Tubman Home for the Aged opened in 1908. 

23 (16) Harriet’s efforts for equality did not cease 

24 as she became an advocate to the cause of women’s 

25 suffrage. 


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1 (17) In 1913, Harriet’s death was commemo2 rated with military honors at Fort Hill Cemetery in 

3 Auburn, New York. 

4 (18) In 2014, President Barack Obama signed 

5 into law the National Defense Authorization Act for 

6 2015, which included a provision establishing a Har7 riet Tubman National Historical Park. 

8 (19) It is befitting that Congress bestow the 

9 highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold 

10 Medal, to Harriet ‘‘Moses’’ Tubman, posthumously 

11 in honor of her work on behalf of civil rights, her 

12 selflessness, resilience to adversity, and actions dur13 ing the Civil War that would save the lives of hun14 dreds. 

15 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

16 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

17 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem18 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

19 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con20 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo21 ration of Harriet Tubman, in recognition of her contribu22 tions and lifelong commitment in the fight for freedom of 

23 enslaved men, women, and children in the United States. 

24 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 

25 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 


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1 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec2 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

3 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec4 retary. 

5 (c) AWARD OF MEDAL.—Following the award of the 

6 gold medal in commemoration of Harriet Tubman under 

7 subsection (a), the medal shall be given to the Harriet 

8 Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn, New York, 

9 her final resting place, where it shall be available for dis10 play or temporary loan to be displayed elsewhere, as ap11 propriate. 

12 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

13 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

14 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

15 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

16 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 

17 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 

18 and the cost of the gold medal. 

19 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

20 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu21 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

22 51 of title 31, United States Code. 


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1 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

2 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

3 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

Æ 


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