Intriguingly, Painter makes a strong case that Truth never asked “Ar’n’t I a woman?” four times, but instead gave a rhetorically less dramatic talk, which was chronicled at the time by a local journalist. Truth delivered the speech for which she is known today in Akron, Ohio, in 1851. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s testimonial that the outspoken woman had a “mind of no common energy and power” helped spark sales of her book. She dictated “The Narrative of Sojourner Truth” to a friend who found her a publisher, the equivalent of a vanity press. Reflecting this social ferment, she took another unorthodox step and changed her name from Isabella to Sojourner Truth.Įmboldened by her new name, she embarked on a 30-year career of preaching antislavery feminism. She likened the “liberating presence of Jesus” to “a soul-protecting fortress” which raised her “above the battlements of fear.” In the late 1840s she was swept up in the widespread belief that the apocalypse was near, based on a vision by William Miller, a Second Adventist spiritual leader. Truth was a woman of intense religious faith who credited God with giving her the power to challenge the establishment. Within a year, he was returned to her custody. With the help of local Quakers, she filed a legal complaint for the return of her 6-year-old son, who had been illegally sold in Alabama.
At this time, Truth took another action that was unprecedented for an illiterate, penniless, newly-freed black woman.
Instead of staying nearby, she left to pursue her calling on a larger stage. What this meant was that Truth was freed, while her five children had to remain in slavery. The law decreed that slaves born before 1799 gained their freedom on July 4, 1827-but those born later were required to serve their masters until age 28 if male, 25 if female. After being sold for the third time, she remained with the same family until she was emancipated by New York law in 1827.
At age 9, the Dutch-speaking slave was sold for $100 to a man who spoke only English and she was beaten for failing to understand his instructions. In about 1797-not surprisingly, Painter could not determine the exact date of this slave’s birth-Truth, then called Isabella, was born in largely Dutch-speaking Ulster County, N.Y.
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