Narrative of Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth

Apr 2015 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

Hailed as an inspiring memoir during a time of slavery, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth is not just about the emancipation of an African American woman, but also the strength of her faith. Truth provides the narrative of her life, from her early years as a slave to her liberation and life as a freed woman. A staunch activist, Truth also gives her readers insight on gender equality issues faced by women of her time and discusses the abolitionist movement.

Raised as a slave, Sojourner Truth was illiterate and was able to complete her memoir by dictating it to her friend and neighbour, Olive Gilbert. Originally published in 1850, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth became an important work to the abolitionist movement, and was republished five times during the author’s life alone.

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About the author

Sojourner Truth, born into slavery in the late 1790s as Isabella Baumfree, was the first African-American woman to win a court case when she reclaimed her son from the man who sold him back into slavery after his emancipation. After changing her name, Truth travelled as a Methodist preacher and spoke out regularly on behalf of the abolitionist cause. In 1851, at the Ohio’s Women Rights Convention, Truth delivered her most well-known speech “Ain’t I a Woman?” During her lifetime, Truth spoke out about many causes, including women’s suffrage, prison reform, property rights for former slaves, and she encouraged African-Americans to enlist in the Union Army. Her activism led her to make connections with many of her contemporary abolitionists such as Harriet Beecher Stowe and Frances Gage. In 1850, Truth’s dictated her memoir, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, to her friend Olive Gilbert and the title was soon met with acclaim by abolitionist readers and supporters. Truth died in 1883 and was buried alongside her family in Battle Creek, Michigan.