Sojourner Truth was unapologetic about growing up a slave…and suffering because of it. She didn't argue the moral standpoint—there was no need. Instead, she let her experience speak for itself and if the audience couldn't see it was wrong, well, they were probably deaf.
The references to slavery in "Ain't I a Woman?" hammer home the point that a) women are fully as capable as men of working and being beaten and b) they should therefore have the same rights as men. It's both evil and illogical (double threat) to force Black women to do the same back-breaking labor as men and then suggest that women are feeble.
Questions About Slavery
- How does Truth use references to slavery to make her suffragist points?
- Why is it significant that Truth suggests that abolition and women's rights are equally important?
- How does "Ain't I a Woman?" argue against slavery, without directly arguing against slavery?
Chew on This
Sojourner Truth never actually says to abolish slavery, but the audience would be pretty dense to miss her pointing out that it was a truly brutal and nasty institution that went against all notions of equal rights.
"Ain't I a Woman?" was given to a conference on women's suffrage, but Sojourner double-billed abolition and equal rights for Black woman.