There is no single, undisputed official version of Truth's speech. Robinson and Truth were friends who had worked together concerning both abolition of slavery and women's rights, and his report is strictly his recollection with no added commentary. Since Robinson's version was published in the Anti-Slavery Bugle, the audience is largely concerned with the rights of African Americans rather than women; it is possible Robinson's version is framed for his audience, which would be largely men. Although Truth collaborated with Robinson on the transcription of her speech, Truth did not dictate his writing word for word.[23]
The most widely circulated version of the speech was written by Gage years after the fact, but there are no reports of Gage working with Truth on the transcription.[23] Gage portrays Truth as using a Southern dialect, which the earliest reports of the speech do not mention. Truth is said to have prided herself on her spoken English, and she was born and raised in New York state, speaking only Jersey Dutch until the age of 9.[24] The dialect in Gage's 1863 version is less severe than in her later version of the speech that she published in 1881.[25] In addition, the crowd Truth addressed that day consisted of mainly white, financially secure women. Despite many claims that Truth was welcomed with respect, Gage recalls that the crowd did not want Truth to speak because they did not want people to mix the cause of suffrage with abolition. Because they were not fighting for the same cause, white women who supported the suffrage movement did not want it to be linked to the abolitionist struggle. White people at the time did not support African Americans, who were the focus of the abolition movement. Although Gage's version provides further context, it is written as a narrative: she adds her own commentary, creating an entire scene of the event, including the audience reactions. Because Gage's version is built primarily on her interpretation and the way she chose to portray it, it cannot be considered a pure representation of the event.[23]
