Sojourner Truth Essay Research Paper Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth Essay, Research Paper

Sojourner Truth became famous for her abilities as a powerful and moving speaker for the antislavery and women’s rights movements in the nineteenth century. Although she was born a slave and never learned to read or write, her ability to communicate and her personal magnetism captivated audiences wherever she went. She was almost six feet tall, with a deep voice and a remarkable presence. When she spoke, she would preach the word of God, sing gospel songs, and tell stories about her life as a slave. Her speeches were often very funny, and she was known for her witty one-line remarks and her common sense.Sojourner Truth was born a slave named Isabella in Ulster County, New York in the late 1790’s. Her parents names were James and Elizabeth and they both belonged to Colonel Johannes Hardenburg, one of the wealthiest Dutch farmers in the area. She was the youngest of 12 children, but she knew only her brother Peter. The rest of the children were sold into slavery. Dutch was her first language, and she never learned to read or write, but her mother taught her to believe in God and to pray. Isabella was sold to three different masters. One of them used to beat her. When she was about 13 years old she was sold to John Dumont. She lived with the Dumonts for 16 years and thought of them almost as her family. She did farm and household labor and the Dumonts thought she was an excellent worker. While living there, she married Thomas in about 1815, and they had 5 children together. Her children had to stay with Dumont, and her husband died shortly after she left.When she was set free in 1826 she went to live with the Van Wagenen family for about one year, and took their last name as her own. They didn’t believe in slavery, and they introduced her to the Methodist Church. She had a vision of Jesus and was reborn. While doing her housework she would preach and sing. In September 1828, she went to New York City, where she lived and worked with the Methodist Latourette family. They were very wealthy, and they held religious meetings in their home where anyone could attend and feel free to speak. Isabella preached with them in camp meetings around the city, and gained a reputation as a powerful and moving speaker.On June 1, 1843 the Holy Spirit spoke to her and told her to leave New York City and go east. She was told to change her name to Sojourner Truth. She called herself Sojourner to describe her life of wandering from place to place, and Truth because she saw herself as a messenger of God. Truth started speaking at many large camp meetings held by the religious Millerite group all over New York, New England, and the upper Midwest. One of her friends suggested she should stay at a commune in Northampton, Massachusetts called the “Northampton Association for Education and Industry”, started by William Lloyd Garrison, a famous abolitionist.Truth joined the Northampton community in 1843, and lived and worked there until 1846, when it closed down. She met many important people who believed in and spoke out about women’s rights and the abolition of slavery. Truth soon began to speak about these issues herself. She gave her first anti-slavery speech there in 1844. She built up a large network of supporters and friends at Northampton who became her associates for the rest of her life. Because of their influence she was able to reach many more people than she would have if she were on her own. Truth attended and lectured at many anti-slavery and women’s rights meetings between 1845 and 1850. She spoke at these meetings as a preacher and spoke of her life as a slave. She avoided politics as much as possible. In 1850, she published a book called The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, an autobiography of her life and her thirty years in slavery. Her friend Olive Gilbert, from Northampton, helped her write the book, and William Lloyd Garrison wrote an introduction for it. From then on, Truth sold her book and her pictures everywhere she went and she used the profits to support herself throughout her life.During the 1850’s, Truth went on lecture tours with antislavery and women’s rights groups throughout the northern states. She presented herself as a strong, intelligent black woman with middle-class values. She told about what it was like to be black and a slave, and a poor woman working for unequal pay. As time went on she talked more and more about the evils of slavery in general. She didn’t want blacks to react violently against whites to gain their freedom, like many black abolitionists at the time. She thought God would judge the white people for their cruelty, and said that they should pray and ask forgiveness. Her audiences were mostly middle-class and white, but because she spoke from the Bible and used her sense of humor in her speeches, it made it easier for them to listen to her strong messages. Truth gave some of her most famous speeches during this time.

In 1851 Truth spoke at the Akron, Ohio women’s rights convention. Frances Dana Gage, the president of the meeting, published her account of the speech that Truth gave that day twelve years later, in 1863. This speech is now known as the “Ain’t I A Woman” speech. Gage presented Truth as a figure of strength, who proved that women could take their rights and make a difference. She said that Truth made such a powerful impression on the audience that she turned the whole meeting around in their favor. Truth