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After Sojourner escaped the Dumont plantation with her daughter, John Dumont sold her son Peter to a plantation in Alabama, where he would be enslaved indefinitely.
This made a huge impact on Truth and reminded her of the traumas faced in her family. She made speeches in New York and sued the Duplants and the state to regain custody of her son. She also accepted religion into her life and experienced a religious awakening which led her to gain more interest in abolitionist work and reform. -
Born as Isabella Bumfree, Truth decided to change her name when she became free, and change her name again when she left the VanWageners. After becoming a devout christian and experiencing a spiritual awakening, Isabella changed her name to Sojourner Truth by the guidance of her God. To Sojourner, this name change was an affirmation of her freedom and commitment to God. The name change was also a symbolic act of leaving behind the life of enslavement she had lived and entering an era of change.
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Sojourner Truth met Frederick Douglass in Northhampton in 1845 while working as an itinerant preacher. She joined Douglass and other abolitionists to preach about abolitionism and Black rights.Douglass believed that Black mens suffrage should come before any other suffrage movements, which caused the pair to part ways. This event played an impact on Truth because it inspired her to become more active and vocal about women's suffrage alongside Black suffrage, rather than placing either ahead.
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Truth delivered a speech to the attendees of the Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. Truth testifies that she can do anything a man can do, and is just as strong as any man. The speech is urging those in attendance to give women the right to vote. While Sojourner was already an advocate for women's rights and an abolitionist, this event raised her onto a platform and led to many more opportunities to spread the gospel of women's suffrage and speak on abolition.