n 201) It was not until the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 that the anti-slavery societies began to realize the danger of helping escaped slaves. This law required citizens to assist in the recovery of fugitive slaves and denied a fugitive’s right to a jury trial. (Compromise 2)

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.

As early as 1810, the federal government excluded Negroes from the postal service. They thought, “If Negroes mix with other people and acquire information, they might learn that a man’s rights do not depend on his color.” (Crowe 229) Thomas Jefferson owned and sold slaves, yet proclaimed that all men were equal with the “unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” (Crowe 250) These were turbulent times and the Missouri Compromise of 1820 increased tensions between free and slave states. (South Western Company 344) After the Missouri Compromise, the Underground Railroad became more active and peaked from 1850-1860. (Compromise 1) Through the Underground Railroad, many slaves found their way to freedom. (Bernard 8) Harriet Tubman was a conductor for the Underground Railroad and was referred to as the “Moses of her people.” (Bernard 48) The Mississippi and Ohio Rivers offered easy access for a slave’s escape as well as the railroad system. (Blockso!

Sojourner Truth, in 1867, decided to take a trip back to her former owner, John Dumont. She had a conversation with him, and he came to the realization that slavery was evil and “the greatest curse the earth had ever felt.” (Bernard 28) Truth continued her fight for women’s rights and participated in the American Woman Suffrage Association in the 1870’s. (Russell 97)

The same year that Truth moved to Michigan, the US Supreme Court ruled on the infamous Dred Scott case. (Bernard 72) If any confusion existed in the federal government prior to 1857 on the constitutional rights of Negroes, it was finally dismissed by the decision of the Supreme Court in this case. The result of this was that the Missouri Compromise and Negro citizenship were both found to be unconstitutional. (Crowe 231) This meant that black Americans, even those who were free like Truth, were ineligible for US citizenship and its privileges. (Bernard 73) During the Civil War, which started in 1861, Truth journeyed to Washington D.C. and met President Abraham Lincoln. She talked with him about slavery and how people were treated. (History-Sojourner 2) Two years later, the Emancipation Proclamation w

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,