The phrase "Am I not a man and a brother?" had been used by British abolitionists since the late 18th century to decry the inhumanity of slavery.[3] This male motto was first turned female in the 1820s by British abolitionists,[4] then in 1830 the American abolitionist newspaper Genius of Universal Emancipation carried an image of a slave woman asking "Am I not a woman and a sister?"[3] This image was widely republished in the 1830s, and struck into a copper coin or token, but without the question mark, to give the question a positive answer.[4] In 1833, African American activist Maria W. Stewart used the words of this motto to argue for the rights of women of every race.
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