Analysis Of Sojourner Truth

The facts in her life was what made her speech so inspirable. Sojourner Truth was the name she was famous for because she spoke about only what she believed in. She wanted to get her points across very clearly and the only way to do that was to be completely honest.

    Thoreau seems to be a very educated political thinker. He can be very stubborn but humble when it comes to his beliefs, “I have contemplated the imprisonment of the offender, rather than the seizure of his goods -- though both will serve the same purpose -- because they who assert the purest right, and consequently are most dangerous to a corrupt state… ”(Thoreau 24. 218). Thoreau has lived in the woods for over six years, without paying state taxes. When the police officer asked him to pay, the non-violently compiled and spent a day in jail. Thoreau did not want to fund the American Mexican war through taxes and believed that people shouldn't be forced to do what they don't think is right. He is also a very optimistic person and believes that the people themselves should be good people, live good lives and therefore we wouldn't need as many laws, “when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.” (1. 210). Thoreau believes that the government is doing the best when doing the least, “I heartily accept the motto, -- “That government is best which governs least” …” (1. 210). Although Thoreau might have an unpopular opinion, he sticks with his beliefs throughout this essay. As he presents his opinion, he does it in the most classy yet confident arguments. He had the thought of the people in mind while writing, showing his good intentions of improving our government.

In Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, he argues that when civil laws conflict with an individual's morality, the individual should follows his conscience. Thoreau like many Transcendentalists felt a less involved government was best. Thoreau wrote, "That government is best which governs not at all." Obviously, Thoreau realized that he could afford to take this open opinion on government because of the American government. But he felt that government's authority should be limited to physical matters of the country, such as infrastructure and orderliness. He felt a government that become involved in moral matters such as sobriety and slavery was a government over-stepping its boundaries. Ultimately, Thoreau and other transcendentalists felt a utopian society would be the best.

During the late 1840s, Sojourner acquired a reputation as a powerful speaker. Oliver Gilbert was a friend of the Benson’s and they reached out to him to help write Truth’s Narrative. He started making Truth’s narrative at Northampton and had it published by William Lloyd Garrison. A man by the name of Yerrinton printed Truth’s narrative. Truth was supported through donations and the sale of The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, originally published in Boston in 1850. Strangely, Truth sold her 128-page book for 25¢ per copy. Truth travelled for years at a time and surprisingly she was able to take care of herself, while only producing 25¢ for every book she sold.

Sojourner Truth is now known as a Catalyst for change. When Sojourner was born her name was Isabella Baumfree. However, “On June 1,1843, Isabella Baumfree changed her name to Sojourner Truth, devoting her life to Methodism and the abolition of slavery.”(4) Sojourner to many means to travel. So, you could say that Sojourner Truth was a traveler of Truth. The next major event that makes Sojourner Catalyst for change was “In May of 1851, Truth delivered a speech at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron. The extemporaneous speech, recorded by several observers, would come to be know as “Ain’t I a Woman?” The first version of the speech, published a month later by Marius Robinson, editor of Ohio newspaper The Anti- Slavery Bugle, did

Thoreau’s comment at the beginning of the essay, “that government is best which governs least,” is a fairly radical statement. Thoreau is showing that he thinks government is simply a nuisance, so less government would be less of a nuisance. I think that government is a necessary precaution to restrict chaos, however having only as much government as is needed is likely the best approach. In this sense, I agree with Thoreau’s comment, however today’s stereotypes would classify him as an

Sojourner Truth played a vital role in inspiring people to stand up against slavery and injustice. She stood up for herself and every African-American. She had the courage to stand up and leave her slave owner. She stood up for herself and her son in court when he was sold illegally to a slave owner in a different state. She had the moxy to become a public figure and talk about injustice against women and African-American slaves. In the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, no one had ever heard of a woman slave taking a stand to control her and her family’s life. Sojourner Truth was before her time.

Thoreau is basically rallying for the absence of government in the lives of the citizens. He believed that everyone should govern himself. He also believed that no one should have to ride on the shoulders of the government, but instead rely on himself. He thought people should treat other people the way they wanted to be treated, and follow the natural laws of society. Martin Luther King Jr. believed there should be laws or it would be total anarchy. Thoreau believed that without the

Writing has been an outlet and a platform for people who have endured hardships and discrimination, leading Sojourner Truth to write a speech that later becomes an anthem in the anti-slavery movement. Her original speech was delivered on May 29, 1851, to the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio, where she reached out to fellow women and people of color rhetorically asking why she was discriminated against with hopes to rally the audience and bring change to the pressing issues in America. Specifically, through her arrangement readers, 150 years later are still moved because of how successful it was, much of which can be attributed to the strategies Truth used in arranging her speech.

Thoreau calls for a better government, immediately, and points out that the fastest way to improve government is to "let every man make know what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining

Thoreau’s essay represents his beliefs about the government in 1849. He uses several logos with credible examples, and uses the emotions of the audience to support his argument. The first example of logos he uses is when he says, “The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government.” His claim is that it is unconstitutional to have an army standing or ready when everything is peaceful. The government should act under this same rule; if there is peace then the government should not be standing so to speak. Throughout the essay he continues to provide credible examples of why the government abuses its power and is useless; such as when he says “Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its

At the time, slavery was still an issue and this may have caused Thoreau to further criticize the government as it was oppressing people and no one was doing anything to restrain it from occurring. Within his chapter he mentions that there is a need of someone to “revolutionize” (303) and take a stand against the government to free the oppressed and get rid of any measures taken by the government to “force [him] to become like [them].” Due to this Thoreau was a radical because he wanted change to come about instead of simply going back to a previous political system. He mainly wanted to get rid of any form of government and would rather live based on his own ideas instead of having the government impose ideas upon its people.

“Sweet is the virgin honey, though the wild bee store it in a reed; And bright the jeweled band that circlet an Ethiop’s arm; Pure are the grains of gold in the turbid stream of the Ganges; And fair the living flowers that spring from the dull cold sod. Wherefore, thou gentle student, bend thine ear to my speech, For I also am as thou art; or hearts can commune together: To meanest matters will I stoop, for mean is the lot of mortal; I will rise to noblest themes, for the soul hath a heritage of glory.” Written by Sojourner Truth (The Narrative of Sojourner Truth)

Thoreau uses well-reasoned, complex arguments to both show that government holds power in the hands of too few people, and to enforce his belief that power should instead be held in the hands of all the people. Firstly, Thoreau starts his argument with a base claim that the "government is best which governs least," and then extends the base argument to the best government being one "which governs not at all." By establishing his claim early on, Thoreau creates a basis which he can extend upon to create a complex, powerful argument. One such example of Thoreau adding to his claim is when he calls for "not at once no government, but at once a better government." Thoreau not only uses a clever literary tool here to enforce his argument, but also expands upon his claim to say that government should be changed rather than disbanded at the