Biography+and+Bibliography+of+Sojourner+Truth

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Biography:
Isabella Baumfree, most commonly known as Sojourner Truth, was born in 1797. Truth was born in Ulster County, New York, to a wealthy Dutch master. As a child, Truth was later separated from her mother and father at the age of nine. Truth was sold through many different masters, which would take advantage of her personal characteristics. This was proven when she was beaten by her third master for miscommunication, because she did not speak English properly. Truth was mutilated and beaten by her masters until she finally gained her freedom in 1827, before she was emancipated by the New York law.

With her new found freedom, Isabella became indulged with the idea of fulfilling a much higher and spiritual purpose for her life. Isabella believed that God called her to go out into the countryside “testifying of the hope that was in her, the hope that others, regardless of color or condition, could experience the spiritual conversion and empowerment that she now felt.” (Truth 245) Isabella would later adopt the name Sojourner Truth to signify the person she has become in the spirit, in which she was dedicated to speaking the Truth as presented by God.

Truth spent much of her time traveling from place to place preaching sermons. Through her travels to places such as Massachusetts, she met some of the most prominent antislavery activists such as William Lloyd Garrison, and Fredrick Douglass. Even though Truth was not as established, she quickly joined the ranks, “earning fame for her ability to deliver folksy as well as fiery speeches that denounced slavery as a moral abomination tempting the wrath of God on America.” (Norton 245) Truth became the voice of the women. As noted in the Norton Anthropology “Truth had come to represent a brand of female, communitarian, vernacular African American leadership that rivaled the masculine.” (Norton 245) One of her most noted speeches was “Ar’n’t I a Woman,” which she presented at a Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio in 1851. (Norton 246) In this dynamic speech, Truth argues the point that a woman can be just as productive as any man.

As Truth fame continued to build, in 1863 Harriet Beecher Stowe created a tribute titled “Sojourner Truth, the Libyan Sibyl.” This tribute appeared in Atlantic Monthly magazine. Despite her age, Truth remained consistent in her quest to make change. She was the leader on seven civil rights movements. Truth recruited black troops, helped relief efforts for women that escaped the south, and she even counseled President Abraham Lincoln. Sojourner Truth died in her home in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1883, remembered as a symbol of progressivism and reform.

media type="youtube" key="QtmTEiTDBeg" height="344" width="425" Work Cited "Sojourner Truth." //The Norton Anthology of African American Literature//. Eds. Henry L. Gates and Nellie Y. McKay. New York, NY: W.W. Norton Company, Inc., 2004. 245-246. Print. = Bibliography of Sojourner = = = Gilbert, Olive., Truth, Sojourner //Narrative of Sojourner Truth.// New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1850. Print Truth, Sojourner //Ar’n’t I a Woman.// Akron, Ohio. 1851