Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in Ulster County, New York, around 1797. Her mother was a slave named Betsey and her father was an enslaved man named James. Sojourner Truth was the youngest of 10 children. She was sold multiple times as a child and worked as a field hand and a housekeeper.
In 1826, Sojourner Truth escaped from slavery with the help of a sympathetic white farmer. She went to live in New York City, where she worked as a domestic servant. In 1832, she joined the Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and began preaching. She soon became known for her powerful sermons on abolition and women's rights.
In 1850, Sojourner Truth attended the first National Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. She was invited to speak by the convention organizers, but she was not allowed to speak from the podium because she was a black woman. Sojourner Truth refused to be silenced and delivered her famous speech, "Ain't I a Woman?", from the floor of the convention. The speech was a powerful call for equality and justice for all women, regardless of race.
Sojourner Truth continued to lecture and speak for the abolitionist cause and for women's rights throughout her life. She met with President Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and urged him to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. She also campaigned for the passage of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted black men the right to vote.
Sojourner Truth died at her home in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1883. She is remembered as one of the most important leaders of the abolitionist movement and the women's rights movement.