Sojourners Reinterpreted Speech

     The fact that Sojourner Truth's famous historical speech was never actually recorded has caused some serious deliberation and controversy in the past. It's incredibly sad that such a monumental speech was not even written down on paper in its entirety. Truth's exact words are unknown and only live through what other people have come up with based off loose evidence (Marcus Robinson article in the Anti-Slavery Bugle). We didn't get to spend much time on the differences between Frances Dana Gage and Karlyn Cambell versions of the speech which seems to be quite important when it comes to the topic of agent/cy.
     These two woman have created examples of the speech in which they have come up with their own take on the situation. First, we must take into account that Sojourner was a emancipated slave who for sure had a totally different lifestyle than these two women. Frances Gage was a white abolitionist who organized the convention in which Truth spoke, and presented a completed text of the speech 12 years after the fact.


     Any reader can immediately notice the southern dialect designated to the speech. Why did Gage make it seem like Truth was from the South? She was owned by a Dutch man. The language that was chosen by Gage to represent her was inaccurate. So why was it written like so? To be sure, Truth was speaking for all slaves, but it was Gage who used her agency to circulate publicity and popularity of the speech. Since she was a abolitionist, it is hard to believe that she would actually write such a speech that would hurt the cause. Gage's central reasoning behind her reinterpreted speech was not to separate the races and downplay their literacy, but to bring a vast population together who were all fighting were the same thing: equality and freedom. Gage perhaps saw this speech as a way to start an uprising. Honestly, it doesn't matter what the white women thought of the speech, it had nothing to do with her. Gage seemed to work with what she had, and tried her best to bring it together for the good.
     On the other hand, we have Campbell's version which seems to suggest that Gage's dialect was completely off. She basically took out the Southern characteristics and modernized it. It is way easier to read, however, Campbell still tweaked it using her own agent/cy. She took the time to criticize Gage's interpretation to create another inauthentic text for her speech is based off of Gage's.
     Unfortunately, you can see a difference in the two versions, but both are unreliable really. Each one has its own tone, and was created from different standpoints. It is hard to like either one. It would have been nice to hear it in person without the added commentary from these two authors.