Shayna BlumellUS History 1 HonorsMrs. PortsJune 7th 2013Abolitionism: Did someone have an impact on it?Between the time of 1790-1920 lived two women. Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth.Which of these women would have the biggest impact on abolitionism?Sojourner Truth, or her birth name Isabella Baumfree, was born into slavery in 1797 in New York, Ulster county. "She believed herself chosen by God to preach His word and help with the abolitionist effort to free her people." When Truth was nine she was sold to a man named John Nealey. After about three years Truth was owned by two more masters, and after seventeen years she gave birth to five children, whose father was a slave. Truth became stressed out when one of her sons was sold to a plantation in Alabama. She got the name Sojourner Truth in 1843, and a friend, a white male, helped her publish her book, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. ( copyright 1988 Gale Research "Sojourner Truth") To me Sojourner Truth was someone that always had a straight mind set and knew what she was after and didn't want to let anyone ruin that for her, and if any trouble came along her way she made sure that she came out on top to continue her accomplishing mind set.Harriet Tubman also known as Araminta Harriet Ross was born in 1820 in Maryland, Dorchester county. Harriet Tubman was abused and talked about by her master for not being smart, one day her master hit her in the head with a rock, and she suffered from occasional blackouts, this happened to her for the rest of her life. When she was twenty five she decided to run away, she got help from many abolitionists, then she became a conductor of the Underground Railroad.She went back and forth, in and out of the slavery setting to save family members and others. "she lead hundreds to freedom in the north as the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad , which was an elaborate secret network of safe houses organized for that purpose." (biography.com/people/harriet-tubman-9511430) In all she made nineteen trips to maryland to help people. Being unwise and small in all she helped over three hundred people escape to freedom. She didn't ever lose a slave and had help from anti-slavery leaders to help her get the slaves to freedom,she did this day and night. Being that she was doing this she became "a wanted criminal in states when slavery was legal" While the civil war went on harriet was "a spy,nurse,scout,and cook for the union soldiers" When the war was over Harriet opened a place for old slaves to go. She was paid by the government, only twenty dollars every month, for what she helped out with in the north army. It was hard for Harriet to keep the negro home open.She spent her life trying to help others and died a hero on March tenth 1913. (harriet tubman thinkquest. oracle)The difference between Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth is their expert skills. Sojourner Truth worked to put an end to slavery, promote equal rights for women, and stop the use of alcohol for men and women. Even though she was supportive and caring for the Underground Railroad she didn't really participate in it. ("narrative of sojourner truth" by oliver gilbert 1850) Harriet Tubman was also known as the black moses of the Underground Railroad. Basically Harriet Tubman gave her life to help slaves escape to freedom. She is know for in history as the most popular conductor on the Underground Railroad, her job was a "civil rights activist" (Biography.com/people/harriet-tubman-9511430) .I was once told that the similarities between Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman are described as a bond of sisterhood. Truth and Tubman were both born into slavery and grew to be great leaders. They grew up believing in something and made it come true by sticking to it. I look up to them as role models in a way because it seems like back then things were very strict and one way, but they didn't want to always live that way so they made a difference in people's lives. That shows a lot of courage and dedication to accomplish something like that back then as an African American women. So finally to me they are remembered and talked about as strong, successful women.Both Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman were very effective when it comes to abolitionism. Sojourner Truth had to fight for her own personal rights to get what she wanted which was to get her son back. First off, Truth's former master sold her son illegally,and Sojourner didn't know about it for a while. Sojourner fought for years, went to jail, court, and back to jail until finally she won her case against a white man. Which was to sue the slave owner who sold her five year old son illegally. She was the first African American women to do so. Sojourner Truth risked her life many times for people, for example, one night she was almost to the center of an island when she seen some slaves who needed to be rescued, she knew what would happen if she were to get caught taking slaves in the middle of the night, but she didn't care because she had done it many times before. So being the kind person she was she took the stranded slaves, then she was surrounded by a huge crowed of people, jealous that she was taking those slaves instead of them. She felt bad because she couldn't bring them all, and she wasn't returning to that island. When the civil war started she went to get men to join the union army. After the war ended she met and thanked Abraham Lincoln for being apart of the end to slavery. Sojourner Truth even formed a movement to desegregate the streetcars in Washington D.C. ("Narrative of sojourner truth by oliver gilbert 1850) Harriet Tubman on the other hand created a system to safely get slaves to escape to freedom, spoked upon as "one of the most remarkable abolitionists" (library.thinkquest-harriet-tubman)In conclusion, despite the fact that Harriet Tubman may seem like she was more effective than Sojourner Truth, in my opinion she wasn't. I say this because Sojourner truth was the first black woman to win a case against a white man, let me remind you, it was to sue her previous owner for the illegal sell of her five year old son. It was illegal because in that time selling a slave under the age of twenty-five to another state was against the law, and her old master knew if was wrong but he did it anyway. She had to go through multiple trials and won more than once. She was also very successful at creating a movement to desegregate the streetcars in Washington D.C. And influenced Harriet Beecher Stowe to write the famous novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. And don't get me wrong I do give Harriet Tubman a lot of credit for accomplishing all that she did in her lifetime, which to me was quite amazing being that she was uneducated and a small lady. I guess you can say she didn't let her sized or her lack of educational background get in the way of her accomplishing something that she believed in, and being successful at it as well. But with that said I believe that Sojourner Truth had the biggest impact on abolitionism. (the narrative of sojourner truth by oliver gilbert 1850)So yes, someone did have an impact on abolitionism, in fact many people did but I chose to focus on two great women I knew of, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. These women have not only affected abolitionism but impacted the lives of many people today, in this time period. They have done so much that helps keep everyone treated equally, and if they were still alive I would personally thank them for all of their hard work and dedication.
