Josiah Henson, otherwise known as "Uncle Tom" was born a slave but throughout his life he progressed to become a free man. Henson's life gave him experiences and trials that helped shape him into the great abolition leader that he was. During his life, he was a slave, task master, and later in life a freed man (middle aged man 30-40's). Josiah Henson notably impacted the abolition movement of the 1850's.

Josiah Henson was born June 15, 1789 in Port Tobacco Village, Maryland as a slave. Through his childhood Henson was a slave to Francis Newman, but then sold to Isaac Riley (Hudson, Peter and Williamson). Through this time with Riley, Henson built trust which in turn allowed him to become a superintendent of Riley's farm, and also a Methodist preacher at a young age (Hudson, Peter and Williamson). Riley saw much potential in Henson, as well as strength and intelligence. Henson married a woman at age 22, her name is still unknown, they had 12 children together (Hudson, Peter and Williamson). According to Wikipedia, "He tried to buy his freedom by giving his master $350 which he had saved up, and a note promising a further $100. Originally Henson only needed to pay the extra $100 by note, Mr. Riley however, added an extra zero to the paper and changed the fee to $1000. Cheated of his money, Henson returned to Kentucky and then escaped to Kent County, U.C., in 1830, after learning he might be sold again. There he founded a settlement and laborer's school for other fugitive slaves at Dawn, Upper Canada".

In 1830 Henson moved to Canada (mentioned before) and became involved in the Underground Railroad helping free up to 200 slaves to freedom (biography.com). Also, according to Wikipedia, "Henson first worked farms near Fort Erie, then Waterloo, moving with friends to Colchester by 1834 to set up a Black settlement on rented land. Through contacts and financial assistance there, he was able to purchase 200 acres (0.81 km2) in Dawn Township, in next-door Kent County, to realize his vision of a self-sufficient community. The Dawn Settlement eventually prospered, reaching a population of 500 at its height, and exporting black walnut lumber to the United States and Britain. Henson purchased an additional 200 acres (0.81 km2) next to the Settlement, where his family lived. Henson also became an active Methodist preacher, and spoke as an abolitionist on routes between Tennessee and Ontario. He also served in the Canadian army as a military officer, having led a Black militia unit in the Rebellion of 1837. Though many residents of the Dawn Settlement returned to the United States after slavery was abolished there". Keeping this in mind, we can see that Josiah Henson was not a self-centered man, he cared for all of the slaves that were being held and he tried his very best to help free as many slaves as possible. I think that Henson did a lot to help ensure people were freed, even risking his own life because he knew how horrible that way of life was.

Josiah Henson was a remarkable man, his journey started when he was born because he was born into slavery and gradually progressed to become a freed man. But being free wasn't enough for him, he wanted to help others come to freedom. He did this by envolvment in the Underground Railroad, setting up a black settlement on his Canadian farm, military officer and Black Malitia unit leader in the rebellion of 1837. He died May 5, 1883 in Dresden, Ontario, Canada.