Olive Gilbert

PREFACE. THE following is the unpretending narrative of the life of a remarkable and meritorious woman--a life which has been checkered by strange vicissitudes, severe hardships, and singular adventures. Born a slave, and held in that brutal condition until the entire abolition of slavery in the State of New York in 1827, she has known what it is to drink to the dregs the bitterest cup of human degradation. That one thus placed on a level with cattle and swine, and for so many years subjected to the most demoralizing influences, should have retained her moral integrity to such an extent, and cherished so successfully the religious sentiment in her soul, shows a mind of no common order, while it heightens the detestation that is felt in every humane bosom, of that system of oppression which seeks to cripple the intellect, impair the understanding, and deprave the hearts of its victims--a system which has subjected to its own foul purposes, in the United States, all that is wealthy, talented, influential, and reputedly pious, in an overwhelming measure O the 'fantastic tricks' which the American people are 'playing before high Heaven ' O their profane use of the sacred name of Liberty O their impious appeals to the God of the oppressed, for his divine benediction, while they are making merchandise of his image Do they not blush? Nay, they glory in their shame Once a year they take special pains to exhibit themselves to the world, in all their republican deformity and Christian barbarity, insanely supposing that they thus excite the envy, admiration and applause of mankind. The nations are looking at the dreadful spectacle with disgust and amazement. However sunken and degraded they may be, they are too elevated, too virtuous, too humane to be guilty of such conduct. Their voice is heard, saying--'Americans we hear your boasts of liberty, your shouts of independence, your declarations of hostility to every form of tyranny, your assertions that all men are created free and equal, and endowed by their Creator with an inalienable right to liberty, the merry peal of your bells, and the deafening roar of your artillery; but, mingling with all these, and rising above them all, we also hear the clanking of chains the shrieks and wailings of millions of your own countrymen, whom you wickedly hold in a state of slavery as much more frightful than the oppression which your fathers resisted unto blood, as the tortures of the Inquisition surpass the stings of an insect We see your banner floating proudly in the breeze from every flag-staff and mast-head in the land; but its blood-red stripes are emblematical of your own slave-driving cruelty, as you apply the lash to the flesh of your guiltless victim, even the flesh of a wife and mother, shrieking for the restoration of the babe of her bosom, sold to the remorseless slave speculator We catch the gleam of your illuminated hills, everywhere blazing with bonfires; we mark your gay processions; we note the number of your orators; we listen to the recital of your revolutionary achievements: we see you kneeling at the shrine of Freedom, as her best, her truest, her sincerest worshippers Hypocrites liars adulterers tyrants men-stealers atheists Professing to believe in the natural equality of the human race--yet dooming a sixth portion of your immense population to beastly servitude, and ranking them among your goods and chattels Professing to believe in the existence of a God--yet trading in his image, and selling those in the shambles for whose redemption the Son of God laid down his life Professing to be Christians--yet withholding the Bible, the means of religious instruction, even the knowledge of the alphabet, from a benighted multitude, under terrible penalties Boasting of your democracy--yet determining the rights of men by the texture of their hair and the color of their skin Assuming to be 'the land of the free and the home of the brave....

Sojourner Truth (born Isabella "Belle" Baumfree; c. 1797 - 1883) was an American abolitionist and women's rights activist. She became the first black woman to win such a case against a white man. In 2014, Truth was included in Smithsonian magazine's list of the "100 Most Significant Americans of All Time".

Sojourner Truth (born Isabella "Belle" Baumfree; c. 1797 - 1883) was an American abolitionist and women's rights activist. She became the first black woman to win such a case against a white man. In 2014, Truth was included in Smithsonian magazine's list of the "100 Most Significant Americans of All Time".

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Dictated to her friend Olive Gilbert and first published privately in 1850, "The Narrative of Sojourner Truth" is the memoir of Sojourner Truth, an African American woman who struggled against the bondages of slavery in the early 1800s. Sojourner Truth was born into slavery around 1797 but escaped with her infant daughter in 1826, finding refuge in the home of Isaac and Maria Van Wagenen of New Paltz, New York. Subsequently in 1828 she would become the first black woman to win a case against a white man when she sued to recover her son, who was still enslaved. Born Isabella Bomefree, Sojourner changed her name to signify her belief that God had tasked her with the mission to go forth and preach the message of abolition. With the strength of her spirituality, Sojourner Truth would overcome many struggles in her life and go on to become a leading abolitionist and champion of women's rights. One of the most famous slave narratives of all time, "The Narrative of Sojourner Truth" is an important historical document of slavery in the United States during first half of the 19th century. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Narrative of Sojourner Truth written by Olive Gilbert and based on information provided by Sojourner Truth 1850. Sojourner Truth, born Isabella, Belle, 1797, was an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, Ulster County, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son, in 1828 she became the first black woman to win such a case against a white man. THE subject of this biography, SOJOURNER TRUTH, as she now calls herself-but whose name, originally, was Isabella-was born, as near as she can now calculate, between the years 1797 and 1800. She was the daughter of James and Betsey, slaves of one Colonel Ardinburgh, Hurley, Ulster County, New York. Colonel Ardinburgh belonged to that class of people called Low Dutch. Of her first master, she can give no account, as she must have been a mere infant when he died; and she, with her parents and some ten or twelve other fellow human chattels, became the legal property of his son, Charles Ardinburgh. She distinctly remembers hearing her father and mother say, that their lot was a fortunate one, as Master Charles was the best of the family, -being, comparatively speaking, a kind master to his slaves. James and Betsey having, by their faithfulness, docility, and respectful behavior, won his particular regard, received from him particular favors-among which was a lot of land, lying back on the slope of a mountain, where, by improving the pleasant evenings and Sundays, they managed to raise a little tobacco, corn, or flax; which they exchanged for extras, in the articles of food or clothing for themselves and children. She has no remembrance that Saturday afternoon was ever added to their own time, as it is by some masters in the Southern States.

LARGE PRINT EDITION: Superwomen is an original compilation describing the lives of two great figures in African American history and culture. Harriet Tubman the great abolitionist of the Under Ground Rail Road and Sojourner Truth a civil rights activist, abolitionist, and a champion for equal rights for black women.

Narrative of Sojourner Truth - A Bondswoman of Olden tTime, Emancipated by the New York... is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1884. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Narrative of Sojourner Truth - A Bonds-Woman of Olden Time, Book of Life is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1878. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Narrative of Sojourner Truth is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1875. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Narrative of Sojourner Truth written by Olive Gilbert based on information provided by Sojourner Truth.. Sojourner Truth, born Isabella "Bell" Baumfree: c. 1797