amily of slaves, one would never even think about the better lives that they may have had otherwise. In 1787, there were already 700,000 slaves in the US and the number continued to increase. (Franklin 33) Sojourner Truth was born a slave somewhere around 1797 in New York and after trying to escape several times, was set free July 4th 1827. (Russell 79) Like many others, she realized there was a better life ahead of her without being in bondage.

Unfortunately, Truth was never able to see how successful she and others were in regards to women’s right to vote in 1920. (Bernard 86) Elizabeth Cady Stanton describes Truth as, “The most wonderful woman the colored race has ever produced.” (Bernard 99) Sojourner Truth, by law was to be kept illiterate, and she claims that even though she could not read books, she could read people. Near penniless, she still managed to get the funds to continue her unremitting work. From May 1867 to the last years of her life, she again spoke publicly for suffrage for both blacks and women. On November 26, 1883, she died in Battle Creek Michigan, “early in the morning,” as in the resurrection hymns she always sung in public speeches. Sojourner Truth was a legendary figure in 19th century America, a woman who not only influenced her own time but presaged of social movements to come.

In the 1840’s, there was a large religious revival that became known as the second Great Awakening. During this time, Sojourner spoke at gatherings about God and religion. (Bernard 43) At the places and times when Truth spoke, it was unsafe and unpopular. When pro-slave mobs broke up the meetings, Truth would fearlessly maintain her ground. (History-Sojourner 1). In 1852, in Salem, Ohio, Fredrick Douglass started raging and said that everyone should take up arms against their oppressors. Truth yelled out, “Fredrick, is God gone?” (Russell 413) This was the same quote that was engraved on her tombstone. Not only did she speak at anti-slavery meetings but at the women’s rights convention in 1851. (Bernard 5) In Akron, Ohio, Truth was the only black woman there, and when she got up to speak, she encountered hissing and hostility. (Who-Truth 1) She started off with religious hymns memorized out of the Bible, such as “Early in the Morning”. Everyone became silent, and she continued by saying, “I have plowed, reaped, husked, chopped and mowed, and can any man do more that that? Man, where is your part?” (History-Sojourner 2) After this speech, she earned a reputation for oratorical power and a ready wit. (Russell 57) Since the framing of the Constitution, the essential political difference between the North and the South, was the legality of slavery. (Biel 12) In the 1850’s, Congress tacked amendments onto land and homestead bills excluding Negroes from their provisions, because granting them land would encourage and prolong “their common residence in the co

Some topics in this essay:
Sojourner Truth, Klux Klan, North South, Emancipation Proclamation, Ohio Truth, City Truth, Slave Law, English Dictionary, Fredrick Douglass, Awakening Sojourner, sojourner truth, women’s rights, missouri compromise, federal government, history-sojourner 1, history-sojourner 2, underground railroad, fugitive slave law, slave law, main reason, truth born, sojourner truth born,