Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth are both famous abolitionist rhetoricians who greatly influenced the change of heart Americans had regarding their views of slavery. Their inspiration has contributed to the mobilization of white Americans taking action to abolish slavery for good, an argument that was not necessarily “welcomed” during that time period. Nonetheless, their use of rhetorical techniques proved to be successful.

Both rhetoricians have passionate, strong voices, but the two differ in their slightly in their motives for writing. Douglass used his hard-to-swallow past as a slave to give his audiences a first-hand perspective of hardships he, and many others faced. These extreme childhood experiences serve as a platform to accentuate his arguments and make his voice even louder. We see this as he describes his standpoint regarding voting rights, “I insisted that there was no safety for him or for anybody else in America outside the American government; that to guard, protect, and maintain his liberty the freedman should have the ballot…that without these no class of people could live and flourish in this country” (Douglass 1084). Douglass’ use of powerful vocabulary, strong sentence structure, and very apparent level of high education makes him to be a credible, persuasive source that had the potential to influence the entire American state as they knew it.

Sojourner Truth, had a very similar approach to her rhetoric in that she spoke very passionately about her life and how she had been treated as a black American. However, she focused her arguments towards the fight for women’s rights as well as the overall abolition of slavery in a much less “eloquent” way. Sojourner used rhetorical questions and blunt points to make impact. Douglass used his speeches to inform and persuade the audience, whereas Truth used her speeches to make the audience feel uncomfortable, as if each person in the crowd needed to get up at that moment and take actions against her struggles, “Aren’t I a woman?…If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down, all alone, these together ought to be able to turn it back and get it right side up again; and now they are asking to do it, the men better let them” (Truth 145). Evidently far less formal of a speech, Truth’s blunt force was nonetheless just as impactful as Douglass’ well-thought out, eloquently spoken messages.