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Oct 30, 2023

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Katrina Barclay HIS 200: Applied History Southern New Hampshire University October 25 th , 2023 Final Draft Despite the clear separation between men and women, there was still motivation to continuously fight for freedoms and rights. The Seneca Falls Convention was the turning point for women to rally and protest for change which sparked the continuation of those efforts in future generations. History has shown to often become a lesson learned for our societal growth and change, unfortunately it occurs after constant demoralization of a group of people. In the 19 th century, women started speaking out against their unequal treatment and unfair representation claiming it was unconstitutional causing women to feel they need their rights to be declared and defined by the government. This movement lasted for decades through generations of women and continue to be a topic of debate in present day. The pivotal moment for this movement was inevitably the Seneca Falls Convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. An event where exclusively women were invited to attend to discuss current social, civil and religious conditions and the rights women currently held. It was here they created a list of demands called the Declaration of Sentiments, modeling the Declaration of Independence. This document demanded more educational and professional opportunities for women and the rights of a married women to have control of their own wages and property. After this convention, the women’s rights movement

was officially launched as more attention and support was being given to the issues raised in the debate. In the Exeter Hall of London in June 1840, there was an event organized by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. On behalf of English Quaker Joseph Sturge, the World Anti- Slavery Convention was held for the first time to universally end slavery and support protection of the rights of African Americans (History.com Editors (2022, March 9)). This convention was largely attended by both men and women, although women delegates were excluded from the convention and denied access to the overall discussion. Included in those women were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, who were active participants throughout the abolitionist movement. After the World Anti-Slavery Convention, the two women joined together to hold a women’s rights convention of their own. Since the 1830’s, women in America had been speaking out on moral and political issues surrounding their rights and freedoms. In New York, there was serious debate on reforming laws that challenged equality for women dealing with owning property considered as a married woman (History.com Editors (2022, March 9)). The topic of women’s rights was a controversial one by 1848, with women frustrated and exhausted with their routine roles of stay-at-home mothers raising children and taking care of the family home. This animosity towards the clear inequality between the genders was felt nationwide among majority of women at the time (Parker, A. M. (2008)). In preparation for the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, Stanton recruited and convinced four other women to help organize the convention and write the main manifesto, the Declaration of Sentiments. Stanton alongside Lucretia Mott convinced three other women to help them execute this plan: Mary M’Clintock, Martha Coffin Wright and Jane Hunt. Elizabeth Cady Stanton became invested in women’s rights after studying the topic with her law professor father

and his students, foreshadowing her leading role as a women’s rights advocate and the driving organizer of the Seneca Falls Convention. Lucretia Mott was a Quaker preacher who was known for her support in anti-slavery movements alongside her sister, Martha Coffin Wright, who was a lifelong proponent for women’s rights and an active abolitionist who ran a station for the Underground Railroad from her Auburn, New York home. Mary M’Clintock was a Quaker who was raised on beliefs on anti-slavery, temperance and women’s rights and became an activist in all settings, she was also appointed as secretary during the Seneca Falls Convention. Jane Hunt was a member of M’Clintocks extended family making her a Quaker as well as an abolitionist and was raised on the same vales as Mary (Parker, A. M. (2008)). Together, these five women drafted a notice to announce their intentions to hold a convention to discuss “the social, civic and religious conditions and rights of Women” and created the Declaration of Sentiments, a manifesto that described women’s grievances and demands (History.com Editors (2022, March 9)). Up until this point in history, women were perceived as property to their husbands or fathers, used for sexual gratification, made to perform all house duties daily and were denied access to education and simple social rights like owning property. Women were denied the right to vote, forcing them to submit to laws and regulations they did not consent to, also given an inferior position in the church. Furthermore, women were required to be obedient to their husbands whether the situation was abusive or not and were restricted from gaining their own earned wages. Those who did earn wages received unequal pay that eventually went to their husbands (Abbot, F., & Brady, H. (n.d.)). The efforts made to revise this social and political norm of America were ultimately ignored until the drafting of the Declaration of Sentiments. From July 19 th till July 20 th of 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention was help at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York with about 300 people who attended. At first, only women were allowed

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