Sojourner Truth's Speech

In class on Wednesday we talked a little bit about the impact Sojourner Truth had on both the abolitionist movement, as well as the women’s right movement. We read in the Norton Anthology that women at the conference in 1851 were initially opposed to Truth speaking. I’m wondering what caused France Gage to allow Truth to speak, despite the protests of the other women present. I also wonder what might have happened if Sojourner Truth hadn’t have delivered her “Aren’t I a Woman?” speech.
It is very notable that a woman who never learned to read or write could affect so many people in such a positive, influential way. Her oratory skills and presence must have been truly astounding to overcome the obstacle of illiteracy. I think this may be why when Gage recorded Truth’s speech, she wrote it in the vernacular with which Truth delivered it. It allows the reader to hear Sojourner’s voice and picture her tall frame standing before those white women. It is also incredible that a woman who couldn’t read or write could make literary allusions to the Bible so accurately and effectively.
I am truly impressed by the way Sojourner Truth addressed the issues of women’s rights and abolitionism in the same speech, placing equal emphasis on each. Some of the women were concerned that if Truth spoke, she would turn the conference into an antislavery act (Norton, 247). But Truth clearly cared about both issues deeply, and expressed her concern, as well as solutions to the related problems.