In 1851, an abolitionist and women’s rights activist made a speech that has been remembered for hundreds of years since. Sojourner Truth, who was born in 1797 and escaped slavery in 1826, spoke at the Women’s Convention of Akron, Ohio over 150 years ago, giving a short but powerful speech on equality that still moves people today. However, the power of her speech did not come from years of education or her incredible intellect - as a slave, she most likely had very little education - the power of her speech came from the exact opposite. Truth could not read or write, so the speech had something that many speeches given today do not have: honesty. Truth uses rhetorical appeals in her speech by focusing on pathos, as she explains the struggles of those who are not equal, providing just enough information about herself to show them why she has authority on this matter (or …show more content…
Her difficulties in life prove to the people in her audience that she has experience and understands what she is fighting for and why. By saying that she has, “...ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns,” and, “...could work as much and eat as much as a man,” she is showing her strength and experience. It is easier to understand inequality when it is coming from someone who has experienced it firsthand than when it is coming from someone who has only seen it from a distance. Truth ended her speech by saying, “Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.” It is very likely that everyone at the Convention knew who Truth was, as she had become a rather popular abolitionist and women’s rights activist, however by saying her name she once again established exactly who she was (she had most likely been introduced before her speech), and her use of the word “old” builds upon her character even more, showing that she is still very