Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth argued forcefully for women’s rights, declaring that she had as much strength and capacity for labor as any man, that women should receive their full measure of rights, and that men need not fear women taking too much. Though unable to read, she said she had heard the Bible and used it to argue that if woman had a role in upsetting the world, she should be given the chance to set it right again. Citing Mary and Martha’s appeal to Jesus after Lazarus died and asking how Jesus came into the world except through God and the woman who bore him, she insisted on woman’s importance and concluded that women were rising up, with some men joining them, while man stood in confusion and difficulty.

Akron, Ohio · United States