Sojourner TruthFormer Slave and Abolitionist

Childhood Sojourner Truth, whose name was originally Isabella, was the daughter of slaves in the state of New York. Their master, Charles Ardinburgh, gave them a small plot of land where they raised meager crops.

There were many slaves throughout North America. Many were on farms and plantations in the southern Untied States.

Home

Master Slave

The main house was comfortable and clean, with all the comforts needed.

Slave quarters were cold in winter and hot in the summer, with no comforts at all.

The slaves all slept in one room, a damp cellar under the master's house. Men, women, and children slept on boards covered with straw. They were treated no differently than the animals on the farm.

Would you want to live here

with your whole family?

FamilyHer parents had ten or twelve children, but many of them had been sold before Isabella was born. She was the youngest child in the family, and she never knew many of her siblings.

Bought and Sold…. Isabella was sold for $100 to John Nealy. She was nine

years old. not long afterward a fisherman named Scriver bought

her from Nealy for $105. Isabella was married to a fellow-slave named Thomas.

His two previous wives had been sold. Isabella and Thomas had five children.

Mr. Van Wagener, who believed slavery was wrong, agreed to pay Dumont $20 for the year's work and $5 for the child.

Isabella's 5 year old son was sold. She got a lawyer and paid him to get her son back.

The judge awarded her the boy, and only then did she learn the cruel treatment he had endured.

New YorkShe moved to New York City where her grown son began to get into trouble. He finally left the city and went to sea.

On more than one occasion conductors refused to let her ride the streetcars and abused her. The first time it happened she was dragged by the streetcar. She filed a complaint and the conductor was dismissed.

Many African-Americans were discriminated against on buses and forced to sit in the back.

ReadingSojourner could not read, so she would ask others to read the Bible, books, and newspapers to her. She especially liked for children to read to her because they would just read the words on the page and not editorialize. If she asked an adult to reread a passage, that person would want to tell her his/her interpretation of the words. She wanted to decide for herself the meaning of the words.

Slaves were not allowed to go to school and could even be beaten if they were found to

be trying to learn how.

Speaking Out For ChangeIn December 1851 Sojourner delivered an address at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio which has become famous. It is known as the "Ain't I a Woman?" speech.One of the main results of the antislavery movement in the North was a renewed focus on the rights of women. A drive for equal voting rights began in earnest with a national convention in 1848 at Seneca Falls, New York.

Battle Creek & Washington DCShe moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1857 and continued to travel and speak out for the rights of slaves and women. After the Emancipation Proclamation was announced, she moved to Washington, D.C., and helped with the new Freedmen's Village. She met President Abraham Lincoln, who assured her that he had heard of her and her famous speeches.

Why we Remember Her…Amazingly, Sojourner Truth never learned to read or write. She spent much of her early years in slavery and then, as she put it, didn't have time to learn. She was a powerful speaker, though, and had much to say about the treatment of women and African-Americans. A quick wit, she often turned hecklers into admirers with sharp barbs of her own. She found a friend in fellow abolitionist Olive Gilbert, who wrote down her dictations and published them as The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave.She died in 1883, at her home in Battle Creek.

GlossaryAbolitionist: People who were part of the movement to eradicate slavery.

Convention: a large, formal gathering of people with the same interests

Editorialize: Offer one's opinion

Emancipation Proclamation: The Emancipation Proclamation was an order given on January 1, 1863 by Abraham Lincoln to free the slaves.

Master: A man who has people working for him, esp. servants or slaves.

Siblings: Each of two or more children or offspring having one or both parents in common; a brother or sister.

Slave: A person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.