Question 1

True or false: She changed her name to Sojourner Truth because she felt a divine calling to travel and preach.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1843, she declared herself a traveling preacher, taking the name 'Sojourner' for itinerancy and 'Truth' for God’s truth.

Question 2

True or false: Sojourner Truth was a close friend and collaborator of Frederick Douglass during the abolitionist movement.

Accepted Answer

False. While they were contemporaries and shared platforms, Truth and Douglass had public disagreements, notably over Douglass’s support for political action vs. moral suasion.

Question 3

True or false: Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in New York and spoke only Dutch as a child.

Accepted Answer

True. She was born Isabella Baumfree in Ulster County, New York, and her first language was Dutch, as her enslavers were Dutch settlers.

Question 4

True or false: She met President Abraham Lincoln at the White House and criticized his policies on emancipation.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1864, Truth visited Lincoln, praising him but also urging him to treat Black soldiers and former slaves more fairly.

Question 5

True or false: Sojourner Truth never learned to read or write throughout her entire life.

Accepted Answer

True. Though illiterate, she dictated her autobiography 'The Narrative of Sojourner Truth' to a friend and used memorization to deliver speeches.

Question 6

True or false: She was an active advocate for women's suffrage until her death in 1883.

Accepted Answer

False. Though she supported suffrage, Truth’s later years focused more on Black land rights and Reconstruction, and she was less involved in the suffrage movement after 1870.

Question 7

True or false: She was the first Black woman to win a court case against a white man in the United States.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1828, she sued successfully to recover her son Peter, who had been illegally sold to Alabama, becoming a legal pioneer.

Question 8

True or false: Sojourner Truth’s famous 'Ain't I a Woman?' speech was delivered at the 1851 Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.

Accepted Answer

False. The phrase 'Ain't I a Woman?' was actually a later invention; contemporary transcripts show she used different wording, though the speech was real.

Sojourner Truth Trivia Questions