An Analysis Of Sojourner Truth's Speech Ain T I A Woman

In my completely honest opinion, one individual can in fact have the ability to effectuate change. By spreading awareness about the issue they want to be addressed, they can basically aid in creating a change in the future. For example, many reform movements saw individual people starting to begin and effectuate change, and Sojourner Truth is a great example of this. Sojourner Truth traveled all across the United States to inform the citizens about how awful slavery was to African Americans and also about the rights of women in the US. She held speeches and rallies to gather many people and citizens to hear her speak and influence those to enact change. In her speech "Ain't I A Woman?", she mentioned, " Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and

I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?" (Sojourner Truth, 1851). In this quote her, it is evident that the troubles that Sojourner Truth dealt with were issues she faced on her own, without anyone else's help, and she survived to tell the story of her hardships. Women weren't seen as powerful or as strong as men, and this speech alone provides enough evidence that 1 woman can be as strong as many men. She said these things and was able to influence many young females at that time, all by herself. Another example is when Frederick Douglass wrote many books and newspapers by himself and helped aid those enslaved in the south with those papers. The first newspaper Frederick Douglass ever wrote and edited was "The North Star" (which is a star that enslaved people used to find so they can escape northward) and it grew in popularity rapidly, allowing many people to see his ideas on slavery and how it should be stopped. One man wrote one powerful newspaper, that was able to be published for the public to see how bad slavery was and the need for the removal of slavery.