ight for emancipation. Sojourner's spirituality was the guiding factor in her life and caused her to be one of the most outspoken women in the history of the United States of America. Encountering the women's rights movement in 1850, Truth added its causes to hers. She is particularly remembered for the famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech she supposedly gave at the woman's rights convention in 1851. Although Truth never learned to read or write, she dictated her memoirs to Nell Painter and created her “autobiography”. Sojourner’s presence as a speaker, made her a sought-after figure on the anti-slavery woman's rights lecture circuit. Sojourner Truth was a captivating, outspoken, and intriguing woman. Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom's Cabin) attested to Truth's personal magnetism saying that she had never been “conversant with anyone who had more of that silent and subtle power which we call personal presence than this woman." The way she spoke appealed to a wide audience without sounding accusational. “Her humor let her listeners exempt themselves.” (Pg. 138)At this point in time it was considered a man’s world so men did not want their power taken away by “arrogant” women who wanted the same rights. Especially black women. White men did not approve of Truth’s bold act of revealing her breasts in such a manner that belittled the men who tried to put her in her place. At that time whites believed that the color black was considered evil.Truth’s views of women’s rights attracted white women and this supported the cause of women’s liberation. Powerful white women liked Truth’s aggressive way of raising concern for women’s rights. In 1863, twelve years after the original speech, Frances Dana Gage published her enhanced version in the Anti-Slavery Standard (May 2, 1863). Gage opens her account with a description of the Women's Rights ...
