Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) was an African-American women’s rights activist and . Truth was born into slavery, but escaped to gain her freedom in 1826. “Ain’t I A ?” is her most famous speech. She delivered it without preparation at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in 1851. Like other famous escaped enslaved people [Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass], Truth helped recruit Black during the Civil War. She worked in Washington, D.C., for the National Freedman’s Relief Association and rallied people to food, clothes and other supplies to Black refugees.

During this same time period, (white) American women were leading many social reforms, including [banning alcohol] to abolition [banning ]. While society still expected women to remain the household, the revival of the church allowed women to become more involved in their communities and take action against gender . Northern women particularly came to the conclusion that they, like enslaved people, were held in shackles in a society by men.

Sojourner Truth's speech, in particular, shed light on the Truth experienced particularly as a Black woman.