LEARNING TOGETHER: The Story of America
When she was a child, Sojourner Truth spoke only Dutch. Sometime around the age of nine, she was sold along with a flock of sheep for $100. She would repeat this horrendous experience at least three more times being. This was a child being sold to three different enslavers.
Her last slaveholder had promised to free her on July 4, 1826. Of course, he didn’t. As a woman of principle, Truth felt that she had lived up to her agreement with her master therefore she had a right to her freedom. So, she got the hell out of there with her daughter. Truth called this journey her “Walk to Freedom”. Later with the help of an abolitionist family, she was able to legally purchase her freedom for $20. That’s about $600 dollars today.
Sojourner Truth was an abolitionist, outspoken speaker, and civil rights activists. Truth was also a strong supporter of women’s rights. In 1851, she made a speech at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention. Below is an excerpt from that now famous speech.
“Look at me, look at my arms, I have plowed, and planted, and gathered in the barns, and no man can head me. And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much, and eat as much as a man when I could get it, and bear the lash as well. And ain’t I a woman? I have borne 13 children and seen most all sold off to slavery. And when I cried out with my mother’s grief none but Jesus heard me. And ain’t I a woman?”
Born Isabella Baumfree, in 1797 she changed her name to Sojourner Truth after what she said was a calling from God to speak the truth. Despite being a powerful speaker, Sojourner Truth, like many slaves, could neither read nor write. However, her lack of a formal education didn’t prevent her from publishing a bestselling book, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth.
Truth was a very religious woman who practiced what she preached (Something that’s rare, these days.). She traveled the country praying and preaching, sometimes in exchange for food and boarding. As an anti-slavery activist, she spoke tirelessly, honestly, and boldly about the horrors of slavery. Like the fact that she was forced to breastfeed her master’s children, which left her own children without nourishment. And one of her kids (her first child) was fathered by her master when she was a teenager. So, like most slaves, she was beaten, whipped, and repeatedly raped for over 25 years until she self-liberated.
On July 4, 1827, the New York legislature passed an antislavery law. However, it would take another ten years or so before the slaves of New York state were truly emancipated. After the law was passed, Truth’s son, Peter, age 4 or 5 at the time, was sold by the same enslaver who had lied to Truth about freeing her the previous year. It was illegal for Peter to be sold, yet it happened, and he was sent to Alabama. Sojourner Truth took her former master to court where she became the first Black person in New York state to sue a white person and win. She got her son back. Unfortunately, Peter’s experience as a slave in the Deep South damaged him for life.
During the Civil War, Truth helped enlist Black soldiers for the Union Army. For her war time efforts and other accomplishments, she met President Abraham Lincoln. He signed her autograph book, For Aunty Sojourner Truth. Referring to her as “Aunty” was seen by some as not respecting Truth. Whether it was a positive or negative visit for Truth depends on who’s version of how it really when down you want to believe.
At the end of the war, Truth worked with the Freedman’s Bureau to help newly freed slaves find jobs. She helped integrate the streetcars. She fought for freed Blacks to own land.
She died on November 26, 1883.
A remarkable woman, in 2009 Sojourner Truth became the first African American female to have her image displayed in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.
Her life, her bravery and her amazing achievements serve as an inspiration to all Americans.
Sojourner Truth, a real American Hero.
OUR HISTORY MATTERS
#53
