Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman": a Rhethorical Examination

Slavery is a way where rules of property law are applied to individuals, enabling people to possess, buy and sell different people, as a type of property. Sojourner Truth was an African-American abolitionist. Her speech in 1851 turned out to be generally known during the Civil War by the titled 'Ain't I a Woman,' a variety of the first speech re-written by another person utilizing a Southern dialect even though Sojourner Truth was from New York. Truth is explaining that women deserve equal rights because they endure the same hardships as men. In a Patriarchy, Truth needed to increase awareness with the imbalances of women. She makes a few cases on how women are not second-rate compared to the white male people. By focusing on men, Truth portrays them as enemies and it gives the women something to concentrate their obstacles.

A woman is not as solid as men, women ought to be dealt with similarly paying little respect to their keenness, and dark women ought to have equal rights. It delivers her speech all the more principal and made her audience members stop and consider what she was stating. She continued, claiming if a man believes women and blacks have less intellect then so be it, but that does not give them justification for disallowing them their rights and freedoms: “I have as much muscle as any man… I have plowed… can eat as much too, if I can get it”. The document was written was the only way to get attention to women’s rights and it was difficult for women to stand for themselves. Women are not allowed to do certain things.

Truth uses words in her speech to show that there is a lot of talk about women's rights and what they are going to do, but nothing is being done to put these words into action. Using this word also shows that this is a controversial matter. Women are not powerless. Sojourner Truth endeavors to convince her group of spectators to help the women's rights development and on subtler terms, to help the requirement for African American rights, through her definitive and hortatory tone joined with the utilization of anaphora, juxtaposition, unquestionable actualities, and casual and sincerely engaging way. Truth builds up a legitimate and reassuring tone.

The document implies the Bible and associated with strict individuals from the group of spectators. The speaker alludes to characters from the Bible. These men would claim women should not be given freedoms because Christ was not a woman, to which Truth responded: “I have heard the Bible and have learned that Eve caused a man to sin… Through God who created him and the woman who bore him. Man, where was your part?. Truth is referring to Eve, the first woman God created. She clarifies how Christ originated from a lady and did not require a man's assistance to imagine him.

Truth's case about how ladies were deserving of regard and have the right to have indistinguishable rights from men. The speech targeted men for their pride in claiming women (and blacks) should not be given rights because they were not as capable as white men. Sojourner Truth learned from her life experiences and comprehends what she addresses. She never backed down from a fight over injustice toward women. She fought well into her sixties and sparked younger generations to continue her fight long after she had passed on. It is for both the work she did during her time on Earth and the work her followers continue to do, both in her name and otherwise, that Sojourner Truth will be remembered. A woman of great strength, courage, and conviction who fought for the truth at all times and who helped shape the movement toward equality for all people regardless of race or gender that is still so prevalent today.