Ain't I a Woman?

is a speech, generally considered to have been delivered extemporaneously, by Sojourner Truth (1797–1883), born into slavery in the state of New York.

It received wider publicity in 1863 during the American Civil War when Frances Dana Barker Gage published a different version, one which became known as "Ain't I a Woman?

[4] In 1833, African American activist Maria W. Stewart used the words of this motto to argue for the rights of women of every race.

[5] The first complete transcription was published on June 21 in the Anti-Slavery Bugle by Marius Robinson,[6] an abolitionist and newspaper editor who acted as the convention's recording secretary.

In it, she gave Truth many of the speech characteristics of Southern slaves, and she included new material that Robinson had not reported.

[10] Truth's style of speech was not like that of Southern slaves;[11] she was born and raised in New York, and spoke only Dutch until she was nine years old.

[12][13][14] Additions that Gage made to Truth's speech include the ideas that she could bear the lash as well as a man, that no one ever offered her the traditional gentlemanly deference due a woman, and that most of her 13 children were sold away from her into slavery.

[9] In contrast to Gage's later version, Truth was warmly received by the convention-goers, the majority of whom were long-standing abolitionists, friendly to progressive ideas of race and civil rights.

[9] In 1972, Miriam Schneir published a version of Truth's speech in her anthology Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings.

[18] Marius Robinson, who attended the convention and worked with Truth, printed the speech as he transcribed it in the June 21, 1851, issue of the Anti-Slavery Bugle.

But man is in a tight place, the poor slave is on him, woman is coming on him, he is surely between a hawk and a buzzard.

[20]The speech was recalled 12 years after the fact by Gage, an activist in the woman's rights and abolition movements.

Gage, who presided at the meeting, described the event:[21] The leaders of the movement trembled on seeing a tall, gaunt black woman in a gray dress and white turban, surmounted with an uncouth sunbonnet, march deliberately into the church, walk with the air of a queen up the aisle, and take her seat upon the pulpit steps.

Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Universalist ministers came in to hear and discuss the resolutions presented.

There were very few women in those days who dared to "speak in meeting"; and the august teachers of the people were seemingly getting the better of us, while the boys in the galleries, and the sneerers among the pews, were hugely enjoying the discomfiture as they supposed, of the "strong-minded."

When, slowly from her seat in the corner rose Sojourner Truth, who, till now, had scarcely lifted her head.

She moved slowly and solemnly to the front, laid her old bonnet at her feet, and turned her great speaking eyes to me.

She spoke in deep tones, which, though not loud, reached every ear in the house, and away through the throng at the doors and windows.The following is the speech as Gage recalled it in History of Woman Suffrage which was, according to her, in the original dialect as it was presented by Sojourner Truth: "Wall, chilern, whar dar is so much racket dar must be somethin' out o' kilter.

I have borne thirteen chilern, and seen 'em mos' all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me!

Rolling thunder couldn't have stilled that crowd, as did those deep, wonderful tones, as she stood there with outstretched arms and eyes of fire.

It was pointed, and witty, and solemn; eliciting at almost every sentence deafening applause; and she ended by asserting: "If de fust woman God ever made was strong enough to turn de world upside down all alone, dese women togedder (and she glanced her eye over the platform) ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!

"[22]Gage described the result: Amid roars of applause, she returned to her corner, leaving more than one of us with streaming eyes, and hearts beating with gratitude.

I have never in my life seen anything like the magical influence that subdued the mobbish spirit of the day, and turned the sneers and jeers of an excited crowd into notes of respect and admiration.

Hundreds rushed up to shake hands with her, and congratulate the glorious old mother, and bid her God-speed on her mission of 'testifyin' agin concerning the wickedness of this 'ere people.

Robinson and Truth were friends who had worked together concerning both abolition of slavery and women's rights, and his report is strictly his recollection with no added commentary.

Truth is said to have prided herself on her spoken English, and she was born and raised in New York state, speaking only Jersey Dutch until the age of 9.

[25] In addition, the crowd Truth addressed that day consisted of mainly white, financially secure women.

Because they were not fighting for the same cause, white women who supported the suffrage movement did not want it to be linked to the abolitionist struggle.

Although Gage's version provides further context, it is written as a narrative: she adds her own commentary, creating an entire scene of the event, including the audience reactions.

Because Gage's version is built primarily on her interpretation and the way she chose to portray it, it cannot be considered a pure representation of the event.