Sojourner Truth: A Woman's Equality

Her most famous speech “Ain’t I a woman?” was given in 1851. “Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him” “Sojourner Truth”. This sentence was based on ethos because it shows her character and what type of woman she was. She made strong points throughout her writing about woman’s rights and abolition. She was a strong independent woman who wanted nothing less than equality like all the people around her. She explains how she does not understand where they came up with this logic of men should not have the same rights as women. She really connects with the audience by showing how strongly she feels about women’s rights and how important it is for everyone to be treated equal. She changed many people’s lives and multiple women looked up to her for this specific reason. She knew the women would agree with her so she made that the audience it was intended for.

In May of 1851, the black abolitionist and former slave, Sojourner Truth delivered her extemporaneous speech on racial inequalities, “Ain’t I a Woman?” at the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio (“Sojourner Truth Biography”). This spontaneous speech of only a few minutes long was a landmark moment in American history. In her speech, Truth addressed her views on women’s rights and to advocate equal rights of men and women everywhere.

Sojourner Truth was a strong African American women whose influence inspired women in the 1800’s and continues to empower women even today. Ms. Truth, originally named Isabella Baumfree, was born a slave in 1797 and died in 1883 on November 26. During her 80 plus years of life, she worked as an abolitionist and women’s rights activist. Ms Truth was best known for her speech on racial inequalities entitled “Ain’t I a Women”. Ms Truth was treated horrendously, faced many obstacles, yet still became a prominent leader and sought after speaker.

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.

Sojourner Truth once remarked, in reply to an allusion to the late Horace Greeley, "You call him a self-made man; well, I am a self-made woman” (Gilbert, v). This quote digs deeper into the leadership of what Sojourner Truth’s journey was all about. Truth’s greatest commitments for women’s suffrage stood alongside of her remark to Greely. No woman was just to be a housewife or slave to her own family, but to be able to enjoy the world as man did. Sojourner Truth was an important figure in American History because she helped create a pathway for the ideas of feminism and the justices of racial equality.

Though her abolition works are often her most well-known and one could argue she had only a minor effect because she had but a single role in an expansive movement, she was far more than a one-track activist. She worked to break the idea that treating women as equals meant only white women. In “Ain’t I A Woman?” she questions why she is not treated as men say women should be. She is maddened by the supposedly deserved pampering of women, though she had not once been given such. She labored without receiving any due respect and grieved over her children without any assuaging, and was then working for both blacks and women as a whole (Gage n.p.). As both a feminist and abolitionist, she dared challenge that only equal rights for colored men would not be enough. She pointed out that if only black men got their rights, then the colored women would become submissive, the lowest class once again, and the problem would be the same as before (Truth n.p.). Depth and detail meant as much to her as a bigger picture, grand scale did. At one convention Sojourner attended, a friend read her an excerpt from an misogynist newspaper article which complained about women wanting more than the offices they had now, and she realized she had not been allowed to fulfill the small amount given, and this sparked within her a need to stand up

Sojourner Truth is an American legend. She began life as a slave and ended her life as an outgoing speaker and free woman. Sojourner led a very disadvantage life but was able to rise above her hardships. Truth was a motivational speaker even though she was not able to read or write. Sojourner Truth continues to impact lives today through her works.

Sojourner Truth was thought to be born in New York 1797 but no one is for sure. She was born a slave and her name wasn’t Sojourner Truth until 1843. Sojourner’s life had been pockmarked with her first son being sold and being under harsh masters for a total of 28 years, but no longer. She made a huge decision. Sojourner Truth decided that she would give a better life to her kids and to herself instead of losing hope, and in late 1826 while her other 2 children stayed behind she escaped with her infant daughter. And when Peter, one of her children was illegally sold, she went to court and won the right to bring him to the north, becoming one of the first African American women to successfully challenged a white man in court. Sojourner Truth

Sojourner truth was born around 1797 as Isabella baumfree, a slave in Ulster County, New York.As a kid sojourner was a slave she was separated from her family in 1806 when she was only nine years old, she was sold with a flick of sheep for one hundred dollars. Her new owner was harsh and violent and she had no family to protect her. Two years later she learned how to read and write in english

Sojourner Truth was born in 1797 on the Colonel Johannes Hardenbergh estate in Swartekill, in Ulster County, a Dutch settlement in upstate New York. Her given name was Isabella Baumfree, also spelled Bomefree. She was one of 13 children born to Elizabeth and James Baumfree, also slaves on the Hardenbergh plantation. She spoke only Dutch until she was sold from her family around the age of nine.

Sojourner Truth once remarked, in reply to an allusion to the late Horace Greeley, "You call him a self-made man; well, I am a self-made woman” (Gilbert, v). This quote digs deeper into the leadership of what Sojourner Truth’s journey was all about. Truth’s greatest commitments for women’s suffrage stood alongside of her remark to Greely. No woman was just to be a housewife or a slave to her own family, but to be able to enjoy the world as men did. Sojourner Truth was an important figure in American History because she helped create a pathway for the ideas of feminism and the justices of racial equality.

Sojourner Truth, the writer of An Account of an Experience with Discrimination and speaker of Ain’t I a Women and Speech at New York City Convention, faced many difficulties and oppressive times in her life. She went through several different owners and homes. When Truth got older, she had at least five kids, most of which were sold into slavery, with a slave named Thomas. Truth was granted freedom after the 1828 mandatory emancipation of slaves in New York and finally was emancipated. She began preaching on the streets about her religious life. Truth changed her name from Isabella Van Wagener to Sojourner Truth because she wanted to “sojourn” the land and tell God’s “truth.” She moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to become apart of the abolitionist movement. During this time, the Civil War was occurring. The North was opposed to slavery and the South was for slavery. Truth addressed women’s rights repeatedly. She pointed out that the meetings about women’s suffrage were racially segregated. Truth gave many public speeches throughout Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and Kansas. Truth used an approach when giving speeches called rhetorical strategy. She was extremely opinionated and pointed out a good argument about slaves creating the country and receiving no credit for it. She also made a good point when talking about women’s rights: “If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world

However, she had already received moral and spiritual education from her mother. These lessons formed the basis of her lifetime devotion to religion and reform. Bell was sold two more times, ending up with a wealthy landowner in New York in 1810. There she married an older slave and started a family.

Being a black woman in America during the nineteenth century is not easy. For this reason, being a black woman and choosing to be the voice for others when women are being oppressed and fighting to protect their freedoms and rights to equal treatment is something to be admired. One woman that would fall into this category of admiration is none other than Sojourner Truth. Overcoming many of her own personal challenges as an illiterate ex-slave, Truth is a powerful figure in many social movements. She has spoken 'forcefully for the abolition of slavery, women 's rights and suffrage, and the rights of freedmen, temperance, prison reform, and the termination of capital punishment ' (Butler). I have the honor to speak with

Sojourner Truth breeches the topic of gender equality and race equality in her poem “Ain’t I a Woman?”. Originally, the poem was a speech titled “Ar’n’t I a Woman?” which Truth spoke at the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron in 1851 and was later adapted into a poem with this current title (Painter 464). In regards to the speaker, Frances Gage explains that the experiences of the speaker are the personal stories of Sojourner Truth and that the speaker of the poem is Truth (Zackodnik 54). The poem discusses Truth’s experiences as a slave and as an African-American woman in a male Caucasian society; she uses these anecdotes and experiences to fight for the rights of both Caucasian and