Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth (c. 1797–1883) was the name, received from revelation, in 1843 Most famous for being American abolitionist, she was a self proclaimed Evangelist which compelled her to work for reformation, & liberty. She had the misfortune to be born into slavery as both her parents were slaves, they had 13 children. Isabella was born,in Hurley, upstate NY a Dutch settlement. (Her original name was Isabella Baumfree, but some sources list her legal name as Isabella Van Wagener.)which would have been her name given by the slave owner, in fact, the first language she spoke was Dutch. Being only eleven years old when she was sold into slavery, she had to learn English. Her childhood was one of suffering,as a slave, there was much abuse & mistreatment.With no rights, a slave was considered property at that time, not a person,
she was not able to stay with her family, had to endure & persevere at the hands of many "masters".
From a very young age,Isabella,had the fortune of inheriting from her family, her mother in particular, a faith deeply embedded in Christian values,which grew over the course of her life.
Isabella took comfort,in the messages she received
from the spirit, as voices, that gave her solace in early life, as well as the visions she experienced. In fact, the very reason she changed her name was due to instruction she received, that she attributed to the voice of God, & changed her name to Sojourner Truth.
Life
The year of her birth is uncertain, but is usually taken to be in 1797.
From 1810 through 1827,17 arduous years,Isabella,had no choice was forced by the third "Master", John Dumont, to have 5 children,
with another slave named Thomas Jeffery Harvey.
She had been promised by Dumont her freedom, but the promise was not kept.
She ran away with her youngest child, ending up in Canada in 1827.
Due to New York state abolishing slavery, she returned there in 1829. Fortunately, for her, Isaac Van Wagener, much to his credit, & Sojourner's relief, she was rescued by Van Wagner, & liberated, for the first time in her life, she was free. Knowing that her freedom was one in which her destiny or calling motivated her to work together with Quaker friends, she fought hard doing battle with the court & was thereby able to win the freedom of her young son, illegally sold into slavery down South. Soujorner went to New York city in 1829, with two of her youngest children. In order to support her dream & what she considered her destiny, she worked as a domestic servant for over a decade and together with Elijah Pierson who for his part was considered in his day to be a missionary, and a zealot. He had founded the Retrenchment Society, and consequently invited Sojourner to become a part of this group and live within that household. They did evangelical preaching on street-corners. This took a great deal of courage on her part.
Following the command of the spiritual call, she left New York City in 1843, and it was at this time she received her new name, Sojourner Truth, which she kept for good. She was told to go near and far, where she, inspired by the spirit, would preach, hold debates at camp gospel meetings, with great enthusiasm, and fire in her heart, she sang loudly with all she had. This adventure, took her to churches, to villages,
to the streets far and wide. She had no concept
no limitations. In fact, she walked all over the Northeast, from Connecticut to Long Island. Sojourner was determined to share with one and all who would listen, and those who would not, the fact that we are all of one sisterhood and brotherhood, as we share the goodness of God, which she found in the Bible. Her intent was to share the hope and inspiration she had received, as the divine plan that God's truth had brought to her life.
Later in life she found a utopian community, where she became inspired by the abolition movement in Northhampton, Massachusetts called, "The North- hampton Assoc. for Education & Industry". It was during this time in Sojourner's life when she was able to work with Frederick Douglass, Oliver Gilbert, and William Lloyd Garrison, famous for their tireless work as abolitionist's to end the injustice of slavery.
She became the speaker for both the Abolitionist movement and the women's rights movement.
It was during this time she gave riveting testimonies
of what it was like to endure slavery.
Truth's most famous speech, "Ain't I a Woman?," is a short but well pointed commentary.
In 1841, she went to Northampton, Massachusetts to join an utopian community, the Northampton Association of Education and Industry. When the association disbanded in 1846, she remained in Florence, Massachusetts, where she worked with a neighbor, Olive Gilbert, to produce a biography in 1850 known as the Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave.
In 1857,Sojourner Truth moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, where she continued her never tired of spreading the simple but profound message, that God love all people, regardless of their color.
. During the American Civil War, she organized collection of supplies for the Union, and moved to Washington, D.C. after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, to work with former slaves. She also met President Abraham Lincoln.
She never stopped her qwest to educate and aid the slaves freed from the south after the Civil War ended. Up until the very time of her death,she continued to preach from her heart, and lecturing, even when her health began to fail.
Sojourner Truth went to Congress on behalf of the ex-slaves to try to convince them that slaves were worthy and should be allowed to participate in the "New West" land that was being given to all others at that time.
She returned to Michigan in 1867 and died at her home in Battle Creek, Michigan, on November 26, 1883. She is purported to have said towards the end, "I'm goin' home like a shootin' star." She is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek. In 1983, she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.
Quotes
"Keeping the Thing Going While Things are Stirring" May 9, 1867
My friends, I am rejoiced that you are glad, but I don't know how you will feel when I get through. I come from another field- the country of the slave. They have got their liberty; so much good luck to have slavery partly destroyed; not entirely. I want it root & branch, destroyed. Then we will all be free. indeed. I feel that if I have to answer for the ddeds done in my body just as much as a man, I have a right to have just as much as a man. There is a great stir about colored men getting their rights, but not a word about colored wome; & if colored men get their rights, & not colored women theirs, you see the colored men will be masters over the women, & it will be just as bad as it was before. I am keeping the thing going while things are stirring, because if we wait till it is still, it will be a great while to get it going again.
" I want you to consider on this clil'n. I call you
chil'n; you are somebody's chil'n, and I am old enough
to be mother of all that is here. I want women to
have their rights. In the courts women have no right,
no voice; nobody speaks for them. I wish woman to have
her voice there among the pettifoggers. If it is not a fit place for women, it is unfit for men to be there.
I am above eighty years old; it is about time for me to be going. I have been forty years a slave & forty years free, & would be here forty years more to have equal rights for all. I suppose I am kept here because something remains for me to do; I suppose I am yet to help break the chain.'
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
"Truth, Sojourner." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition. 22 Aug. 2006
http://www.library.eb.com/eb/article-9073571?query=Sojourner%20Truth&ct=eb#cite
Women in History. Sojourner Truth biography. Lakewood Public Library. <http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/trut-soj.htm>.
1867 speech delivered May 1867 http://www.pacifict.com/ron/Sojourner.html
In 1997 the NASA Mars Pathfinder mission's robotic rover was named "Sojourner" after Sojourner Truth. [1]
In 2004, renowned author Bennett Golder wrote "The Truth About Sojourner Truth" a biographical account about the lies surrounding the life of Sojourner Truth.
External links
- Works by Sojourner Truth. Project Gutenberg
- On the trail of Sojourner Truth
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