Elizabeth Cady Argument Analysis

In the late Nineteenth century, women were beginning to become more progressive in their actions. They began to stand up for themselves and fight for their rights. In the late 1850’s, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the more prominent women to do so. She worked with Susan B. Anthony to deliver a majority of the population the rights that they rightfully deserved. Her actions are important in the United States’ History because they helped to encourage women to form the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Many Scholars have written about her, but simply with a different lens of focus. For example, they have written about her use of the bicycle in her campaign and her unique stance on religion. It is important to continue studying her actions because the issues she was fighting for back then, such as: the abolition of capital punishment, and an end to police brutality, are still issues today. Perhaps if the people of the United States today collectively took after her intrepid and forward thinking attitude in life, there could be more positive change in this country.

The activist, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in her essay, “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Seneca Falls Convention, 1848” emphasizes the importance of equality between women and men. Stanton’s purpose is to outline the inequality that existed between men and women and make points that will lead to inequalities ending. She adopts a straightforward and factual tone to get her point across without sounding biased or being disrespectful towards anyone who may disagree with her.

Stanton wants "[her] right to be as free as man is free." A firm believer in women's rights, she argues that the laws of the time were unfair. Men could take everything away from a woman in a divorce and leave her homeless and that is not what women want. Stanton suggest that "it is vein to look for silver and gold from mines of copper and lead." To argue for the evaluation of women, Stanton uses this epigram to prove that society is looking for good votes in that wrong places. Society is placing their trust in men, who can be complete idiots, when they have women who are well educated and can be trusted. Stanton knows "[their] paths will [not] be strewn with flowers...but over the thorns of bigotry...out banners will beat the dark storm clouds." The fight for equality will not be easy, but women are willing to do whatever it takes. Through the hard fight, women will prevail and show society how much they could bring to the nation. Elizabeth Cady Stanton gives a superior speech on the movement of women's rights while also arguing the point of equality between men and

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was not just a mother, daughter, feminist, and writer; but she is the woman who changed the lives of women everywhere by fighting for equality. Stanton lived a normal childhood, but one that motivated her to never give up hope in reaching her goal. A quick background of her life will help better understand why she became such a powerful woman’s rights activist. Also, what she accomplished that changed history and how it still affects us today in 2011. I will also express my individual satisfaction with what this incredible woman has done for women everywhere. On November 12, 1815 Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born to the Cady family in Johnstown, New York (Gordon, 2009). She was born into a high-class, conservative,

In the Declaration of Sentiments, author Elizabeth Cady Stanton expresses her anger of the oppression experienced by women in the United States. After being rejected to attend the World’s Anti-Slavery convention in London, Stanton was frustrated because she was being rejected for being a woman. This motivated Stanton to share her own ideas on advocating women’s rights and changing the way women are treated in society because of the mistreatment done to her, as well as many women across the nation waiting for their voices to be heard. Stanton parallels the Declaration of Sentiments with the Declaration of Independence by using laws that the male population regarded as righteous and including how it had negative effects on over half the American population. This put into question male authority and supremacy, creating a more concrete argument by revealing what men already have under the law, to what women should have. The sophistication of the Declaration of Sentiments to a document that the U.S. government values highly, threatens the values of the U.S. by making women’s rights a more pressing issue. The Declaration of Sentiments targeted the U.S. government and the population by appealing to their own opinions and beliefs in order to recognize that women were being treated like second-class citizens. Although the Declaration of Sentiments never made a significant impact on the

Susan B. Anthony once said, "It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union." Women's rights pioneer and Suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton uses a critical tone to call attention to the oppression of women in her speech, "The Destructive Male." She points out that men's ideas are the only ones that are cared about and listened to. In Stanton's opinion, men are revered for their tough nature and inclination to war, while women are expected to be more delicate and not form their own opinions. Through the use of logos, correction of erroneous views, and criticism Stanton conveys to her audience that women are equal to men, and therefore deserve a place in politics. Unfortunately, she died of heart failure before she got a

Here Elizabeth Stanton explains that men have not allowed women into certain positions of employment, such as medicine and law. This is grievous because while women can’t hold any of these positions, they are forced to take up “feminine” jobs, if they are able to at all, and women are not able to study what they are truly passionate about.

Most of the American society does not possess a basic knowledge of when the civil battle for women’s rights began. In the year 1848, the first convention of U.S. women’s rights was held in Seneca Falls, New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a primary speaker and one of the women behind the organization of the convention. Stanton had many beliefs that at the time were unfathomable to many conservative people because it required a widespread change in how the country was run. E. Cady Stanton has put her name in history on all topics of human rights, in particular: being an abolitionist, suffragist, and what we refer to today as a feminist or equal rights activist. During the convention, her speech “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” called particular attention to equal rights for women in a country that inaccurately prides itself on freedom. Stanton’s work on equal rights opens with allusion to the “Declaration of Independence” and appeal to morals and ethos, leading to a section formed around anaphora and appeal to pathos, and then concluding her speech on appeal to logos, pathos, divine morals, and ethos.

Stanton is known for speaking about women's rights at the Seneca Falls Declaration on August 2, 1848 (doc I). Stanton argued that is equality was a democratic ideal of the United States then why were women not granted equality. While men had the right to chastise and imprison their wives (doc I), yet women were not even allowed in the voting booths to represent themselves in “the government under which we (they) live” (doc I). This was not equality in fact Stanton and many other women worked hard in order to shorten this gap, Stanton was seeking to expand the core democratic value of equality specifically equality of the sexes. Although Stanton's efforts were not effectively introduced to the nation until later the efforts shown in this particular reform movement proves the validity of the statement ““Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals”.” During the same time period as Stanton a man named Samuel F.B Morse was trying to lessen equality specifically the equal rights of

On the contrary, in the Declaration of Sentiments, Stanton relies much more heavily on appeal to pathos: “He has endeavored, in every way that he could, to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life.” By saying that ‘he’ [man] has endeavored to destroy her, Stanton calls upon the reader to feel bad for the person who is being ‘destroyed’. The argument of the Declaration of Sentiments as a whole is that women should be treated more as individual and equal beings to their male

One point that Elizabeth Cady Stanton makes is that the man never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise. This is very true seeing that women were not even allowed to work because their place was at the home where they were to raise the family. If women did work for a part time they would not get even close to the amount of money that males get. She also states that he has taken from her all right in property, even the wages that she earns. Women at this time were not allowed to own property. She also states that he has withheld her from her rights, which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men, which even includes foreigners. This meant even if you were the smartest, kindest, and most willing to work hard woman alive, you still would be treated worse than the least respected man.

Despite how equal men were treated, the like was not reciprocated for females. Men (at least of white ethnicity, high power) could participate in the election of our presidents; also known as voting. However, because women were thought to be rather inferior and nothing but childbearers, they did not have this divine right.

Nonetheless, Stanton managed to target her audiences, by assuming herself as almost a philosopher communicating about life and individual human soul, rather than as a feminist (1). Consider that her audience were males and did not form a positive impression on her before she made the speech, Stanton was able to grab her audiences’ attention by turning away from her usual approach to promote women’s suffrage and raising a question about individual rights (Ginzberg 170). The speech was structured in a way that all individuals could relate to the speech, and benefit from reflecting about the question proposed by the speech.

The foundation of colleges for women as well as events at women’s rights conventions intellectually challenged society’s views on women’s traditional roles. As education became more of a public governmental service, the educational

will do in the 1800’s, managing their home. Even though Stanton liked where she was they moved to Seneca, Falls and met with her old friend Mott. In 1848, they granted their promise and held the first Women’s Rights Convention, in addition to this, the people who attended this meeting believed or wanted to have equal power as men. In the Convention Stanton drafted the Declaration of Sentiments which is similar to the Declaration of Independence, “the best protection any women can