She slices through this logic with a great deal of humor and insight, and it is because of this humor and insight that the crowd leapt to its feet when she was done, and why we still talk about her today. Her ability to survive the trauma in her life and view it with total honesty, deep perspective, and sharp wit earned her the respect of her own generation and those to come.
"John Brown's Final Speech" is entirely different in topic and tone, but it too addresses the injustices of society. Like Sojourner Truth, John Brown points out the great hypocrisy of white society -- if he had gone the lengths he did for the sake of rich white people, he would have been deemed a hero. But since he was fighting for the rights of the slaves, those standards...
One can be morally in the right and legally in the wrong, and it is still one's duty to act according to conscience, even if it costs one's life. This lesson inspired not only the Union cause after his death, but future generations of people, black and white, fighting for equality in the face of laws that refused to acknowledge that equality.
Though they spoke in very different circumstances and with very different tones, Sojourner Truth and John Brown both uncovered the absurdity underlying their society, and set forth ideals that would inspire future leaders to carry on their work.
