Sojourner Truth Brief Biography
Isabella Baumfree was born into slavery (circa 1797) in Ulster County, New York. The future famous abolitionist and proponent of women’s rights would one day rechristen herself Sojourner Truth. She was sold three times prior to becoming a teenager, once with a flock of sheep for $100.
The state of New York emancipated all slaves on July 4, 1827. Baumfree’s slave master promised to free her in late 1826, but failed to honor his word. Baumfree took matters into her own hands and simply walked away. She soon discovered that her five-year old son, who was still a slave, had been illegally sold across state lines. She took the issue to court and won the case, thus becoming the first black woman to take a white man to court and win.
It was at this stage Baumfree had a powerful mystic experience and became a devout Christian. Later she became a Methodist at which point she changed her name to her now famous moniker. Sojourner Truth, thus, became a traveling preacher, speaking of her experiences as a slave and supporting abolitionist and women’s rights movements.
Illiterate her whole life, Truth was nevertheless a powerful stage presence and arresting speaker. Her rousing “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech, delivered extemporaneously at a women’s convention in Ohio in 1851, is her most famous.
During the Civil War, Truth recruited black soldiers for the Union Army and spent the postwar years continuing to fight for equal rights.
The state of New York emancipated all slaves on July 4, 1827. Baumfree’s slave master promised to free her in late 1826, but failed to honor his word. Baumfree took matters into her own hands and simply walked away. She soon discovered that her five-year old son, who was still a slave, had been illegally sold across state lines. She took the issue to court and won the case, thus becoming the first black woman to take a white man to court and win.
It was at this stage Baumfree had a powerful mystic experience and became a devout Christian. Later she became a Methodist at which point she changed her name to her now famous moniker. Sojourner Truth, thus, became a traveling preacher, speaking of her experiences as a slave and supporting abolitionist and women’s rights movements.
Illiterate her whole life, Truth was nevertheless a powerful stage presence and arresting speaker. Her rousing “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech, delivered extemporaneously at a women’s convention in Ohio in 1851, is her most famous.
During the Civil War, Truth recruited black soldiers for the Union Army and spent the postwar years continuing to fight for equal rights.