Ain T I A Woman Speech Analysis

Improved Essays
Take a moment to think about everyday society right now. Black and white children play together on the playground, an African-American and a woman have both run for president, and if you flip on the radio, there are women publicly speaking of their political opinions! While America is still walking the road to total peace and equality, the past 242 years have called for a lot of change. Some of the most significant changes in our country were happening in the central 1800’s--- the Civil War era. The Civil War was caused by the division of the United States into two sides that disputed the necessity of slavery. Toward the end of this time period, African-Americans had just received the right to vote, which consequently opened women’s eyes to …show more content…
Because her speech was given at the Women’s Rights Convention, it is commonly and mistakenly assumed that Truth had a supportive female audience. In reality, she was speaking to a predominantly white crowd, made up mostly of men! Truth’s speech has proven most memorable among others due to her clever methods of backing up women’s intellectualism using Biblical references. For example, she makes the point that many men believe they are superior since Jesus was a man, but these very men are forgetting that their Christ came from a woman (Truth, Sojourner.). Considering most of her audiences were primarily made up of Christians, her use of tying in points with the Bible was very well received. One witness of Sojourner’s speech even claimed that every sentence was followed by a “deafening applause” (Truth, Sojourner.). Overall, “Ain’t I a Woman” was a success to begin with, and the effect of the civil war on this lecture surpasses that of any other speech by …show more content…
Sojourner persevered through a challenging childhood, but despite her hardships, proved herself an ambitious thinker with indomitable goals. She was advantageously born in a time when advocating impartiality was a big deal, and although these were problems happening decades ago, America is still mopping up a mess that finally was addressed during Sojourner’s time. It may be impossible for any one nation to achieve complete peace, but this very well could be the generation that ends bigotry and prejudice. Now that women can vote and hold office, it is up to the outspoken and audacious to take action and use the advantages women during the Civil War would have wished for. An inspirational quote from Sojourner reads, “If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman,” (Truth). This allows the speech appeal to all the men in the audience and compares what the average white man does over what the average black woman does. The similarities between the two enforce the idea that women are just as worthy and deserve to have the same rights as men.…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Danielle Nichols English 2202 Professor Allen September 28,2016 “Ar’n’t I A Woman?” by Sojourner Truth What is gender discrimination? Gender discrimination is wrongful acts towards a person based on their gender and sex. This is mostly common toward the female race. Since the early 1800’s the unfair distribution of rights towards women have been in effect. Men had the rights to do everything and women could not.…

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dorothea Dix (DT 1 & 2) Dorothea Lynde Dix was a reformer and advocate in the early 1800s. She was born in Hampden, Maine, in the year 1802. Her advocacy mainly centered around mental health reforms and civil, humane treatment for the inmates of mental hospitals and prisons. Dix was raised in a neglectful home, and then moved to live with her wealthy grandmother. It is also thought that she may have suffered from depression or another mental ailment, which is why she may have chosen to take up reforming mental health institutions (Parry, 2006).…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sojourner Truth Obstacles

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Sojourner Truth didn’t want to read what women in her time were traditionally supposed to and expected to read. Instead of letters, she wanted to read what had impact to the world, a genre of writing forbidden to women. Women weren’t granted the right to vote, and were limited career-wise before World War I. As a black woman, she was subject to Jim Crow laws, discriminatory laws that caused segregation in all public facilities, including schools, buses, and even in the war. With all these obstacles in mind, it is remarkable for someone in her time to have a voice, and even more extraordinary for her to be a leader of the women’s rights movement.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Truth argues that Christ was born of a woman and God, and that “man had nothing to do with Him” (Truth). Sojourner Truth notes that men expect women to need “to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere” but no one gives these things to her. She is either arguing that she is not treated the way white women are, or that she is capable of doing these things by herself regardless of gender or…

    • 1124 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The destructive pace and tone that Truth uses amplifies the effect of her statement, with the inferiority of the female gender being a hot topic throughout the years. The restriction of females has yet to be resolved today, and although they may have some added bonuses, women are living in relatively the same conditions as they did nearly 200 years ago. Later in the speech, Sojourner Truth calls out another man for stating that women “can’t have rights [equal to] men” because Jesus was not a woman (Source F). This was a fragrant use of the ethos rhetoric, bringing into question the validity of religious details. By adding Jesus into the picture, the man begins the inclusion of one of the most driving forces in American living.…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Women have been campaigning and fighting for their rights dating back to the early 17th century, however black women were largely ignored. A brave woman, Sojourner Truth, attempted to fight for both, giving an extremely powerful speech at a women’s convention in 1851 arguing for the rights of all women. In her speech Truth delivers anecdotes and rhetorical questions which appeal to the audience of womens’ sense of humanity and maternal instinct, as well as using the content of the bible in support of her position on complete equality to create a connection with the Christian listeners. Primarily Soujourner Truth uses her personal experience to attempt to make the audience feel the injustice it is in this time to be a black woman. She singles…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stephen Covey once said, “Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs.” In this quotation, Covey explains that once you determine your beliefs and what you stand for, use your voice to inspire others to do the same. The same concept applies in the two works “Ain’t I A Woman” by Sojourner Truth and “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou. The main focus of these pieces is about women taking action and using the power of their voice to change the living for women and the levels of society. Analyzing these two works reveals a message that a woman’s voice is strong enough to raise the moral standards of how society views women.…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In 1797, a strong, confident woman is born that would soon change people’s views for the better about slavery and women’s rights. Sojourner Truth is one of the leaders of the abolition, and one of the first people to advocate for women’s rights. She stood up for everything she believed in for women and for African American’s also. Isabella Baumfree, or Sojourner Truth, was born sometime around 1797, the exact date was not recorded as most slaves birth dates weren’t. Baumfree lived in upstate New York with her parents James and Elizabeth Baumfree and 11 siblings.…

    • 176 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Biography Project: Sojourner Truth In the history of the US, there’s only one black woman that has won 3 court cases against white men, had a Mars Rover named after her, and organize a meeting with Abraham Lincoln. There’s only one black woman that befriended all the leaders of the abolitionist and women’s rights movement, and obtain Abraham Lincoln’s signature: Sojourner Truth, the legendary abolitionist and women’s rights activist. She dedicated her life to abolishing slavery, women’s rights, and the right to vote.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Truth Speaks the Truth As the uphold of slavery still existed, millions tried to escape the life of affliction, but only few could do so. In the early 1800’s, it became prominent that revisions were to happen sooner if not later in the United States injustice democracy system. After millions of slaves were shackled and strained, beaten and whipped, it was time to end the ceaseless hard labor from dusk to dawn and ensure rectification. Cries of help echoed through the air in forms of songs sung by the captive. One voice, by the name of Sojourner Truth, was there to answer the call.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Do People Look At Gender?

    • 2123 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Do People Look at Gender? Politics have many different components and sub-branches. There are different levels and positions in government. Every role needs someone who will do their best to help our country strive to the best of its abilities. Finding people to fit those positions can be a difficult task and very time consuming.…

    • 2123 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Truth is powerful and it prevails. Sojourner Truth” Sojourner Truth an amazing woman born a slave but died as someone known was able to change history throughout her life. As I did the research about this wonderful women I learned many things. I learned that her life was turned around many times as a kid.…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sojourner Truth was born into slavery, but she later became a leading activist for women’s rights and racial equality after being freed in 1827. She performed her famous “Ain’t I a Woman” speech at the 1851 Akron Ohio Women’s Convention. Today, multiple versions of this speech exist because the original was never officially recorded. Each of these interpretations manipulate the wording and presentation differently to alter the overall effect of the speech. Two of these interpretations by Cicely Tyson and Maya Angelou have similar purposes but are very different in how they are presented.…

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    From the Women’s Rights Movement, to today’s college campuses, women have been expressing their feelings towards the issue of sexism through writing. Sexism has left women feeling weak, unimportant, and worthless. However, writers have managed to use their craft to call out the sexist acts around them and bring awareness to the tough topic. Today, women continue to speak out against sexism, trying to finish the work of those that came before them. 1851, Sojourner Truth delivered a passionate speech titled, “Ain’t I a Woman?”, that possessed a message of sexism.…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays