Sojourner Truth: Slavery Abolitionist and Women’s Suffrage

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

There is no use denying the fact that such issues as tolerance, humanism, and democracy are proclaimed to be the most important and valuable nowadays. People should act in a way that respects the peculiarities of culture and mentality of other men. However, it should be said that this recognition came after a great number of attempts to prove the idea that all people are equal and have the same rights.

For decades depressed groups of the population have been struggling with society in order to prove their right to be taken as common people. Moreover, there were certain personalities whose contribution to the development of equality and tolerance could hardly be overestimated as their activity made the current stage of progress possible. Sojourner Truth is one of these personalities.

To begin with, it should be said that Sojourner Truth is a famous African American abolitionist and womens rights activist (“Sojourner Truth” para. 1). She was born in a period when slavery was not abolished, and black people lived under horrible conditions. Being a slave since her childhood, Truth realized all difficulties of the life of a person deprived of any rights.

She was sold many times, moreover, her masters humiliated and tortured her (Truth 24). She had no right for love, as the master of her beloved one was against their relations, moreover, her children did not belong to her as she was just a slave. However, after the famous decision to give freedom to slaves, she became free, though, very soon, she realized that it is just a formal step as segregation remained in the society of the USA. That is why she decided to fight against discrimination.

It is obvious that her views on the problem were formed under the influence of her past. Realizing from the first hands that slaves do not have any rights and, moreover, that even free black people are taken as outcasts, Sojourner Truth wanted to improve their state and strive for the maintenance of the law, which guaranteed equal rights for slaves. Her first great achievement was the lawsuit connected with her son, who was illegally sold to another owner. Truth wanted to obtain justice and took the issue to court.

After the process, which continued for a month, Truth was given her son back. The importance of this case could not be overestimated. It was the first time when a black person claimed the white one and won. Truth showed people that it was possible to struggle for their rights and that they should do it.

Being sure that people should be persuaded to struggle for their rights, Truth joined the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, which main aim was promotion of pacifism, tolerance and womens rights, and started to travel around the country telling people about the possibility to become really free and obtain equality.

However, it was not the only way in which Truth fought for the rights of people. In several years she joined George Thompson, who was a famous abolitionist and traveled with him, giving a great number of different lectures. Besides, she is also famous for her speech called Aint I a woman? Which was delivered at Ohio Womens Rights Convention in which she described the state and conditions under which black people and women had to live and called them to struggle for their rights? (Philips-Anderson 24)

Nevertheless, it should be said that Truth became popular in that period of time, and her ideas obtained more and more popularity. Mainly due to her activity desegregation of streetcars started (“Sojourner Truth: Slavery Abolitionist and Womens Suffragist” para. 5) as she rode there, trying to show people that she had this right. Besides, her two meetings with the Presidents of the USA can be taken as evidence of her significance and influence on society of that time.

She also helped to recruit soldiers at the Period of the Civil war as she wanted to protect ideas of tolerance and humanism. Another important step of her is her attempt to vote in presidential elections. The main aim of this step was to show that black people should also be given the right to participate in elections and chose the future of their own state (Painter 98). She was not allowed to do it, however, he attempts made people think that this privilege could be obtained.

With this in mind, having analyzed information connected with the life and activity of Sojourner Truth, it is possible to make a certain conclusion. It should be said that she contributed a lot to the development of abolitionism in the USA (Butler para. 23). Being born in slavery, she knew perfectly what it meant to be a slave and tried to change the existing situation.

Moreover, a great number of her ideas were rather innovative as a society still lived under the influence of ideas of the natural dominance of white people. Resting on these facts, it is possible to say that Sojourner Truth promoted the evolution of peoples mentality and made the advent of the epoch of tolerance and humanism possible.

Works Cited

Butler, Mary. Sojourner Truth. A Life and Legacy of Faith. Web.

Painter, Nell. Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 1997. Print.

Philips-Anderson, Michael. “Sojourner Truth, “Address at the womans rights convention in Akron, Ohio.” (1851)“. Voices of Democracy. 7 (2012): 21-46. Web.

Sojourner Truth. Web.

Sojourner Truth: Slavery Abolitionist and Womens Suffragist. Web.

Truth, Sojourner. The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. Boston: The Author. 1850. Web.

Click Here To Order Now!

Sojourner Truth: Slavery Abolitionist and Women’s Suffrage

Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?

We have qualified writers to help you.

We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.

You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)