Sojourner Truth 1797?–1883
Activist for Women's Rights and Abolition
Sojourner Truth was always a strong-willed woman who stood up for her beliefs. She gained her freedom from slavery in New York in 1827, but in that same year her young son was sold into slavery illegally. She sued for his release and was able to have him returned to her.
Truth traveled around New England, speaking out for women's rights and the rights of African Americans. She was known as a powerful speaker who could move audiences to tears or cause them to applaud her words. In a famous speech in Ohio, she said, “I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear de lash as well! And ain't I a woman?”
Truth reminded her audiences that working class and African American women deserved the right to vote as much as wealthy white women and men. Over the course of about forty years, Truth convinced many people of the need for civil rights.
Critical Thinking
What do you think Sojourner Truth meant when she said, “I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear de lash as well! And ain't I a woman?”