Isabella Baumfree And Araminta Ross Essay

Over the course of history, there have been many great influences in shaping our current society and culture. Influences including: trends, fads, events, eras, but of these influences, the aforementioned factors have all been incited by great people. In considering the vast multitude of influential people, the sacrifices of Isabella Baumfree and Araminta Ross are overwhelmingly significant to not only African American culture, but also to American culture. These women were born in a time were African Americans were considered property and not people. At a time when the inhumane treatment of people based on the color of their skin was considered a societal norm, these two women chose to be crusaders and advocates for what they believed were innate rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of

At the age of 9, Baumfree was sold at an auction to John Neely. She was sold twice more with the next two years, her final destination was residing under the owner John Dumont. It was during these years that Baumfree learned to speak English for the first time, her original language was Dutch. As she grew and worked, she birthed 5 children with two different slaves, the latter she married. It was recorded that John Dumont promised to emancipate Baumfree in late 1826, however he did not follow through on his promise. In turn, Baumfree escaped to freedom previous to the state actually emancipated all slaves in 1827. Shortly after her escape, Truth learned that her son had been illegally sold into slavery in Alabama. She took the issue to court and eventually secured his return from the South. The case was one of the first in which a black woman successfully challenged a white man in a United States court.

In 1843, Isabella Baumfree changed her name to Sojourner Truth, devoting her life to Methodism and the abolition of slavery. The name Sojourner Truth