Freedom and Capitalism, Ingenuity, Hardwork and Discipline

 

Sojourner Truth

1797 – November 26, 1883

Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree around 1797 on an estate owned by Dutch settlers in Ulster County, New York. She was the second youngest in a slave family of the ten or twelve children. When her owner died in 1806, she was put up for auction. Over the next few years. John Dumont purchased her when she was thirteen, and she worked for him for the next seventeen years. Between 1810 and 1827 she had at least five children to another slave named Thomas. Just before New York state abolished slavery in 1827, she found refuge with Isaac Van Wagener, who set her free. About 1829 she went to New York City with her two youngest children, supporting herself through domestic employment.

Though she never learned to read or write, she became a moving speaker for black freedom and women's rights. While many of her fellow black abolitionists (people who campaigned for the end of slavery) spoke only to blacks, Truth spoke mainly to whites. For the duration of her adult life, Sojourner Truth spoke out about the social injustice and inequality experienced by African-Americans and women. With the help of friends, she wrote and published her memoirs, and spoke at abolitionist gatherings.