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Sojourner Truth Rhetorical Analysis

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Human equity to Sojourner Truth was not simply campaigning for emancipation, but a God-given right she had been sent by Him to fight for all across the land. Truth spent the first portion of her 18th and 19th century life enslaved- maltreated despite her extra efforts to please, and she saw her siblings, and later, her children, most all sold off to the cruel institution of slavery (Truth n.p.)(Gilbert 14)(Gage n.p.). When her master broke his promise to free her, she freed herself, and spent the rest of her time travelling to give resonate and enthralling campaigns against enslavement (Sojourner n.p.). Her endeavors as an evangelist spread positive word of her allure, and the large accumulated audience would support her following efforts …show more content…

She was well aware that she could not speak to slaves and expect a revolution. Unlike most other abolitionists, Sojourner spoke almost exclusively to white crowds. She was confident, one of personal presence, thus she aimed directly for the heart of the problem, which worked almost strategically to bring attention to the problem from those who had not experienced it (Stowe n.p.)(Sojourner n.p.). Sojourner was deeply connected to her religion, which was profoundly ingrained in the culture of the U.S. around The Second Great Awakening and the time following. Having had deep, passionate religious roots from her childhood, her audiences connected to her performances of pure truth (Truth n.p.). Her mother, lovingly Mau-Mau Bett, taught them of God, the only being who could protect her family parted by slavery and their treacherous state (Gilbert 4). This made her all the more popular among people because of how she used the widely beloved gospel in her efforts (Bernard 129). Because of her illiteracy and her powerful presence, Truth often campaigned through speech, which could reach any gender, class, or race (Bernard 129) (Stowe n.p.). Thus, opening her audience to anyone who would listen, a valuable facet to have in her campaigns in a time of inumerous large movements. She not only spoke to many types of people from across …show more content…

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

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