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 Har-
riet Tubman, in recognition of her contributions and 
lifelong commitment in the fight for freedom of enslaved 
men, women, and children in the United States. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Harriet ‘Moses’ Tub-
man Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) An integral part of the fight for abolition of 
slavery, Harriet Tubman, was born into slavery as 
Araminta ‘‘Minty’’ Harriet Ross in Dorchester 
County, Maryland, to Harriet ‘‘Rit’’ Green and Ben 
Ross. 
(2) Neither an exact year nor exact location of 
her birth is known as is the case with many slaves 
in the United States, but historians estimate her 
birth year to be around 1820. 
(3) Araminta’s hardships began early with the 
fracturing of her family as three of her eight siblings 
were sold to distant plantations in addition to endur-
ing physical violence that caused permanent injuries 
from: scars, seizures, headaches, and narcoleptic epi-
sodes with intense dream states. 
(4) Many historians believe that the story of 
Araminta’s mother, Rit, hiding her younger brother 
‘‘Moses’’ with the aid of other slaves and free blacks 
in the community from a Georgia slave trader to be 
the pivotal example of resistance that would drive 
her actions in the future. 
(5) Furthermore, the meaning of freedom was 
ambiguous and unsecure as Araminta’s father, Ben, 
through an act of manumission in a former owner’s 
will was technically freed at the age of 45. 
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(6) Despite Ben’s freedom and the manumis-
sion stipulations that applied to his wife and their 
children, Ben held little clout to challenge the own-
ers that chose not to free his family and had no 
choice but to continue working for his former own-
ers. 
(7) Around 1844, Araminta married a freed-
man named John Tubman, took her mother’s first 
name Harriet, and began planning her escape from 
slavery. 
(8) In the cover of night guided by the North 
Star, Harriet escaped by traveling nearly 90 miles to 
Pennsylvania in 1849 by means of the Underground 
Railroad, a well-organized network guided by White 
abolitionists, freed, and enslaved Blacks. 
(9) The following year, the U.S. Congress 
passed the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 that called 
for both ‘‘slave’’ and ‘‘free’’ States’ law enforcement 
to report runaway slaves for capture. 
(10) Nevertheless, Harriet did not yield to the 
growing danger and risked her own newly acquired 
freedom to return to free her family and other slaves 
while redirecting the Underground Railroad to Can-
ada, which prohibited slavery. 
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(11) Harriet’s leadership and courage earned 
her the nickname of ‘‘Moses’’ as she facilitated the 
freedom of many slaves and would also encounter 
other historical figures such as abolitionist John 
Brown and likely Frederick Douglass. 
(12) During the Civil War, Harriet would have 
many roles working for the Union Army which in-
cluded using her experience to act as an armed scout 
and spy. 
(13) Harriet was the first woman in the Civil 
War to lead an armed expedition, which liberated 
more than 700 slaves during the Combahee River 
Raid in South Carolina earning her the moniker 
‘‘General Tubman’’. 
(14) In 1859, Republican abolitionist U.S. Sen-
ator William H. Seward sold Harriet a piece of land 
on the outskirts of Auburn, New York. 
(15) Harriet’s home in Auburn would remain 
her haven for family and friends following the war 
with a portion of the property donated to the Afri-
can Methodist Episcopal Church where the Harriet 
Tubman Home for the Aged opened in 1908. 
(16) Harriet’s efforts for equality did not cease 
as she became an advocate to the cause of women’s 
suffrage. 
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(17) In 1913, Harriet’s death was commemo-
rated with military honors at Fort Hill Cemetery in 
Auburn, New York. 
(18) In 2014, President Barack Obama signed 
into law the National Defense Authorization Act for 
2015, which included a provision establishing a Har-
riet Tubman National Historical Park. 
(19) It is befitting that Congress bestow the 
highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold 
Medal, to Harriet ‘‘Moses’’ Tubman, posthumously 
in honor of her work on behalf of civil rights, her 
selflessness, resilience to adversity, and actions dur-
ing the Civil War that would save the lives of hun-
dreds. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 
the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-
pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 
for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con-
gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo-
ration of Harriet Tubman, in recognition of her contribu-
tions and lifelong commitment in the fight for freedom of 
enslaved men, women, and children in the United States. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 
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