Victoria Woodhull: “‘And the Truth Shall Make You Free’”

Victoria Woodhull gained fame and, some would say, notoriety in the late nineteenth century as a fiery orator in the cause of female suffrage, as a successful “magnetic healer,” and as the first woman to address a congressional committee, to found a newspaper, to operate a brokerage firm on Wall Street, and to run for president. She was also a vocal exponent of free love. Her support of free love probably originated in the failure of her first marriage. In the nineteenth century, women had few options when caught in an unhappy marriage. Divorce was considered scandalous, and those women who divorced were stigmatized and even ostracized by society. It was Woodhull’s contention, which she voiced in such speeches as “‘And the Truth Shall Make You Free,’” that women should have the right to leave intolerable marriages. She did not advocate promiscuity, but instead a sexual morality and relationship commitment based on personal choice and love, rather than economic and legal restraints.