One theme that we came across was enslavement. Something that without a doubt shaped some authors in this anthology. One of the first authors we saw in this Sojourner Truth who spoke at women’s right conventions and gatherings. She lended a very unique perspective on the rights women did not have. She expressed how women in enslavement were expected to be able to do the job of men yet when she was free, she faced discrimination not only based on her race but because she was a women. She challenged the idea of women not being able to work and provide for themselves because she was living proof of being able to be self sufficient. She explained how when she was enslaved she was able to do everything that men could do. When women who were one enslaved became free, they began to write about their experiences. These were some of the first accounts of their own history written and spoken by themselves. Prior to that they had little say about how the rest of society perceived their existence which is why these authors are so critical to the recovery of women’s rhetoric.