Born into slavery on a farm in Maryland, Tubman was determined to be free. She knew others had managed to escape, and, by following the North Star, she made her way to freedom. As a conductor on the "Underground Railroad": she returned to the South nineteen times, leading over three hundred people to freedom without losing one life in the process. Between trips she earned her living as a cook in a boardinghouse in Canada. During the Civil War she served for three years as a nurse, spy, and scout for the Union Army. After the war she founded two schools, worked for woman suffrage, and opened a home for the aged.