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Sojourner Truth was born into slavery, but she found solace in her community, her family, and her faith, as well as in herself. After escaping to freedom, she became an impassioned speaker in support of both abolition and women's rights. She was guided by her faith to help those who most needed it. Today, she's recognized as an inspiring orator, activist, and suffragist. This biography explores Truth's life and legacy, presenting details in a way young readers can understand, appreciate, and remember.

Sojourner Truth is best known for her famous speech at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in 1851 in which she asked, "Ain't I a woman?" Born into slavery in 1797, she escaped to freedom with her baby daughter by 1826. But freedom held hardships for Truth, too. Despite all odds, this extraordinary woman fought for rights for both blacks and women as well as other disenfranchised populations. This in-depth account of the fascinating life of the abolitionist is a must-read in any social studies collection

Intro -- Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Speak Truth to Power -- Isabella Baumfree -- The Dumont Estate -- Walking to Freedom -- Fighting for Family -- A New Life -- Becoming Sojourner -- Using Her Voice -- Suffrage -- Civil War Work -- Fighting for Equality -- A Hero to Remember -- Truth's Legacy -- Glossary -- For More Information -- Index -- Back Cover.

This fascinating biography tells the story of nineteenth-century America through the life of one of its most magnetic and influential characters: Sojourner Truth. In an in-depth account of this amazing activist, Margaret Washington unravels Sojourner Truth's world within the broader panorama of African American slavery and the nation's most significant reform era. Organized chronologically into three distinct eras of Truth's life, Sojourner Truth's America examines the complex dynamics of the times in which she acted, beginning with the transnational contours of her spirituality and early life as a slave. Washington then highlights Truth's awakening during nineteenth-century America's progressive surge, which propelled her ascendancy as a rousing preacher and political orator despite her inability to read and write. Throughout the book, Washington explores Truth's passionate commitment to family and community, including her vision for a beloved community that extended beyond race, gender, and socioeconomic condition and embraced a common humanity. For Sojourner Truth, the significant model for such communalism was a primitive, prophetic Christianity. Illustrated with dozens of images of Truth and her contemporaries, Sojourner Truth's America provides important insights into the turbulent cultural and political climate of the age while also separating the many myths from the facts concerning this legendary American figure