Sojourner Truth Summary

In chapter 7, Arnold looks at how a true picture of history can be obtained. It is sometimes difficult to get a true history when we have multiple opinions and perspectives. For example, in the book Arnold discusses Sojourner Truth's 1851 speech recited before the Ohio Woman's Rights Convention and how there are two different accounts of what Sojourner Truth said. The first account was written by Marius Robinson, who was a white man who made Sojourners truth sound true. He wrote his account using proper English. In the second account Frances Dana Gage, a white female feminist writer wrote the exact words Sojourner Truth might have said. Her account uses language that was not proper English and was sounded mostly like what Sojourner Truth might have spoken. Sojourner Truth was an illiterate person and Gage's account sounds accurate to how Truth may have spoken. This is the hard part for historians because they have to decide which account seems to be accurate and true. Many historians have to rely on sources available from a specific time period and try to connect the dots and try to …show more content…
In the book, Arnold refers to seeking the truth as a crime story that is being evaluated in a courtroom. The detective has to make an attempt to decide which account is right and which is wrong. In history, unlike the law the same courtroom case can be retried many times. We can analyze and analyze history as many times we like and find new information over time to prove what the truth is and what is false. The truth is a process of consensus and in seeking the truth requires the general public to say what they believe is true and what is false. Historians in the academic field may disagree with each and many not always come agree in something, however, they need to have consensus in finding out what is really