Why is Sojourner Truth important?

Sojourner
Truth was an African American woman who was born into slavery in the United States in 1797. She
escaped slavery with her newborn daughter in 1826 and went on to become an inspirational leader
who spoke out against slavery, racism, war, prison conditions, and
sexism.

Truth was an abolitionist; that is, she fought hard to change public
opinion about slavery in the United States and worked to end it. She was also an outspoken
women's rights activist. Truth wanted the abolitionist community to recognize that fighting for
the rights of black men would not be enough to achieve true equality. Black and white women
deserved full rights under the law too, she argued. She believed that all women should be able
to vote in United States elections, but this was not instituted by Congress until 1919, long
after her death.

Sojourner Truth is perhaps most famous for a speech she
gave in 1851 at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention titled "Ain't I a Woman?" In her
speech, Truth challenged her audience to recognize the ways that people treated black women and
white women differently. She wanted listeners to understand how hypocritical it was to treat
white women with respect and care but to ignore the value of black women. She said that many
black women experienced the same things that many white women didhard work on farms, motherhood,
loss, and griefbut were not treated with the same value and
respect.

Sojourner Truth went on to help the Union army to recruit black
soldiers to fight in the Civil War against the Confederacy. She was also outspoken about the
poor conditions in prisons all over the United States, and she tried hard to change laws to
allow former slaves to receive land from the United States government.


Sojourner Truth was an inspirational and hard-working leader who fought for
human rights.