sojourner truth
Our nation has come about through a series of changes, sort of like an evolution to the powerful nation we have become, and even greater nation we perhaps will be one day. It takes the acknowledgement and courage of people to bring about a change in society from what was known to what will be. Such a humanitarian hero was Sojourner Truth.
Truth, Sojourner (1797-1883) was born a slave in Hurley, New York City; Sojourner Truth was originally called Isabella Van Wagner. She gained her freedom in 1827, after most of her thirteen children had been sold. She took the name "Sojourner Truth" in 1843 after having a vision. In 1836, Truth became the first Black to win a slander action against whites. Born Isabella Baumfree circa 1797, Sojourner Truth was one of as many as 12 children born to James and Elizabeth Baumfree in the town of Swartekill, in Ulster County, New York. Truth's date of birth was not recorded, as was typical of children born into slavery. Historians estimate that she was likely born around 1787. Her father, James Baumfree, was a slave captured in modern-day Ghana; Elizabeth Baumfree, also known as Mau-Mau Bet, was the daughter of slaves from Guinea. The Baumfree family was owned by Colonel Hardenbergh, and lived at the colonel's estate in Esopus, New York, 95 miles north of New York City. The area had once been under Dutch control, and both the Baumfrees and the Hardenbaughs spoke Dutch in their daily lives.1
Truth was bought and sold three times within the next twenty-four months, the final purchaser being a man named John Dumont for the incredibly low bargaining price of three hundred dollars. Dumont needed more slaves for his New York plantation. He always bragged that Isabella was the hardest working slave on the plantation. Seeing this, he forced her to wed a fellow slave known as Tom. Isabella gave birth to five children within the next five years. Two years before the emancipation act of 1828, in which all slaves within New York were freed,
Truth, Sojourner (1797-1883) was born a slave in Hurley, New York City; Sojourner Truth was originally called Isabella Van Wagner. She gained her freedom in 1827, after most of her thirteen children had been sold. She took the name "Sojourner Truth" in 1843 after having a vision. In 1836, Truth became the first Black to win a slander action against whites. Born Isabella Baumfree circa 1797, Sojourner Truth was one of as many as 12 children born to James and Elizabeth Baumfree in the town of Swartekill, in Ulster County, New York. Truth's date of birth was not recorded, as was typical of children born into slavery. Historians estimate that she was likely born around 1787. Her father, James Baumfree, was a slave captured in modern-day Ghana; Elizabeth Baumfree, also known as Mau-Mau Bet, was the daughter of slaves from Guinea. The Baumfree family was owned by Colonel Hardenbergh, and lived at the colonel's estate in Esopus, New York, 95 miles north of New York City. The area had once been under Dutch control, and both the Baumfrees and the Hardenbaughs spoke Dutch in their daily lives.1
Truth was bought and sold three times within the next twenty-four months, the final purchaser being a man named John Dumont for the incredibly low bargaining price of three hundred dollars. Dumont needed more slaves for his New York plantation. He always bragged that Isabella was the hardest working slave on the plantation. Seeing this, he forced her to wed a fellow slave known as Tom. Isabella gave birth to five children within the next five years. Two years before the emancipation act of 1828, in which all slaves within New York were freed,