Feminism, By Elizabeth Cady Stanton And Lucretia Mott

The first meeting to discuss women's rights took place in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention in New York. It was there that Elizabeth Cady Stanton proposed equal suffrage for women. At that meeting, they drafted the Declaration of Sentiments which illustrated the oppression American women were facing. Although countless, courageous women would sustain this fight, it would be 1920, 72 years later, before Congress ratified the 19th amendment which gave women the right to vote (Timeline of Women's Suffrage). The defining moment in this long battle occurred in 1917 when Carrie C. Catt gave her magnificent speech on women’s suffrage to Congress. Catt’s use of ethos, pathos, and logos, helped persuade Congress to pass the 19th amendment.

The first women 's rights convention is held in Seneca Falls, New York. After 2 days of discussion and debate, 68 women and 32 men sign a Declaration of Sentiments, which outlines grievances and sets the agenda for the women 's rights movement. A set of 12 resolutions is adopted calling for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women.

The entire Women’s Movement in the United States has been quite extensive. It can be traced back to 1848, when the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. After two days of discussions, 100 men and women signed the Declaration of Sentiments. Drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, this document called for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women. This gathering set the agenda for the rest of the Women’s Movement long ago (Imbornoni). Over the next 100 years, many women played a part in supporting equal treatment for women, most notably leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which allowed women the right to vote.

Prior to this time period woman were expected to follow rule of man and had little to no rights, unlike men. The Seneca Falls convention was an event that changed this. Declaration of Sentiments proclaimed, “He has created a false public sentiment, by giving to the world a different code of morals for men and women,” (Seneca Falls 305) Somewhere along the way of creating America the roles of a gender were created and misinterpreted. This is saying that women are equal to men and can do everything men cannot and that it is not morally wrong for this to occur. Support for women’s rights came from important funding documents such as the Declaration of Independence. Declaration of Sentiments expressed, “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights;” (Seneca Falls 304) This quote explains that the Declaration of Independence is in support of women’s rights. No man should be greater than women and vice versa. The reform grows in size and significance because as soon as one person speaks up others feel as though they can as well. Many events were significant to the reform impulse but slaver and women’s rights are two that stand

Women’s rights began due to the fact that the only big role a woman had was in the household. Their responsibility was to raise their children and to education them in religious matters. Because of such responsibilities women began arguing that they themselves had to be educated in order to educate their children. The fact that women only had a few rights went against religious beliefs of equality. According to the Bible, a man and woman are both equal in the eyes of God. The man is commanded to be the head of the household and the wife should be submissive to that authority. However, that does not mean the woman is any less important than a man, it just means the man and woman play different roles. In 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention took place, led by Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott. At the Convention, women discussed religious and moral issues, as well as the role of women in society. These women insisted that they were held to the same standard as men and that they should be granted the same rights and privileges. Regardless of practicing Christianity, women were viewed in society as little more than slaves, with not much of a voice and with only slightly more rights. At the Convention they founded the Declaration of Sentiments, adding to the words of the Declaration of Independence saying “all men and women are created equal.” They put forth the ideas of allowing women to vote, to control their property

In a similar manner to the slaves, women were motivated by the beliefs preached in camp meetings and churches during the Second Great Awakening. Due to the amount of free time the women had, they attended these churches more often than men, allowing them to absorb the ideas from the sermons. These women not only became motivated to fight for the rights of slaves, but also for their own since human freedom was one of the essential ideas of the Second Great Awakening. During the international anti-slavery convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were denied the right to participate just because of their genders. With the ideas of the Second Great Awakening in their minds, they created the Women’s Right Convention in Seneca Falls, where they wrote the Declaration of Sentiments that listed all of the ways in which males have wronged them by denying equality to them. It marked the beginning of a long struggle to gain equality between men and women. Among the many things that they wanted to have equality in was divorce, inheritance, property, and children. Therefore, the concept of freedom for all Americans from the Second Great Awakening triggered a movement to give women freedom from the bonds of men by means of equality.

One of the many movements in the reform is the women's rights movement. Women could not vote, attend schools, or have certain jobs. They were expected to take care of the house, cook, and clean. Two women named Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Stanton impacted this movement in many ways. They had the idea to create a convention after they were told women could not take part in the proceedings . Their convention discussed many things such as, social, civil, and religious rights of women. This was the first gathering aimed toward women. Later Stanton wrote The Declaration of Sentiments. The Declaration of Sentiments talked about full equality for women. This document changed society and women were now allowed to do things they were not allowed to do before.

Many women suffered beatings from their husbands who would frequently arrive home intoxicated. Women were fed up with these measures so they had the first convention it was held in New York. After days of discussion they finally settled upon “The Declaration of Sentiments” which had outlined their hardship

Home life for women, however, was not as pleasant as society portrayed it. Once married, any property that the woman owned went to her husband, not only this but women could not vote. In society, it was acceptable for men to beat their wives as long as they were using a reasonable instrument, about 10 percent of women avoided marriage because they did not want to face the cruelty of men and lose their land. In a way, women of the 19th century could be compared to black slaves and when slaves gained their freedom, women started taking stand for their own rights. Their main goal was to earn suffrage, the right to vote. With the right to vote they would have a say in the presidents and would be able to fight against their abusive husbands. Famous women’s rights leaders were Elizabeth C. Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, and Susan B. Anthony, Stanton held the first feminist convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Here, they demanded rights regarding suffrage, divorce, property rights, and equal wages. The Declaration of Sentiments, shown in document 7, was written by Stanton at Seneca Falls convention. Seen through her claims, women felt they should have the same rights as men and, since they also payed taxes, should be represented in the government. The Declaration of Sentiments stated that all men and women are created equal, as opposed to the original declaration which

There are many important documents in history that have influenced the lives of women today, but possibly none more important than the “Declaration of Sentiments” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The declaration was able to make an extremely strong and memorable impact, not only for the ideas presented in it, but also for its strong rhetoric and use of figurative language such as anaphora and syntax; also, notable is its imitation of the “Declaration of Independence”. Though written over one hundred years ago, the declaration written at the Seneca Falls Convention addressing women’s rights has made influences still felt today including but not limited to the right to vote, gender equality in the eyes of the law, and even just simple things such as women wearing pants or the confidence of young girls.

Of all the issues that were in the middle of reformation mid 1800’s, antislavery, education, intemperance, prison reform, and world peace, women’s rights was the most radical idea proposed. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was a rally held by Elizabeth Cady Stanton with the common goal to eventually achieve equal rights among all citizens. Frederick Douglass, who became an acclaimed activist in the African American Equal Rights movement, accompanied the movement. Moreover, The Declaration of Sentiments was a document that reflected the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, reiterating the sentiment from the Bible that “all men [and women] are created equal.” Concurrent to the publication of this document, for the first time, women insisted that they were men’s equals in every way. The Declaration of Sentiments was pivotal in Women’s history, although it was not given credit until the late 20th century. However, immediately after the Declaration of Sentiments was published, women and activist groups were inspired to take action towards rights for all underprivileged American citizens. The convention took place in a small town in upstate New York, which was home to four of the five people who organized the gathering. (DuBois, 1999, p. 45) This was the first time female equality was discussed in a public place. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was one of the most important events in women’s rights history.

In 1848 a group of women met at the Seneca Falls Convention in New York and began to formulate a demand for the enfranchisement of American women (Women’s Suffrage, 2011). Elizabeth Cady Stanton composed the Declaration of Sentiments, modeled after the Declaration of Independence, stating that “a man should not withhold a woman's rights, take her property or refuse to allow her to vote” (Kelly, 2011, para.3 ). The convention participants spent two days arguing and refining the content of the Declaration of Sentiments, then voted on its contents; the document received support from about one third of the delegates in attendance. The Seneca Falls Convention was not a resounding success, but it “represented an important first step in the evolving campaign for women’s rights” (Tindall & Shi, 2010, p.374, para.1).

The women 's suffrage movement, the time when women fought for their rights, began in the year 1848 and continued on all the way through the 1860s. Although women in the new republic had important roles in the family, the house, and other obligations, they were excluded from most rights. These rights included political and legal rights. Due to their gender, they have been held back because they did not have as much opportunities as the men did. The new republic made alterations in the roles of women by disparaging them in society. During this era, men received a higher status than women. Because women were forced to follow laws without being allowed to state their opinions, they tried to resist laws, fight for their freedom and strive to gain equality with men. This leads to feminism, the belief in political, social, and economic equality between men and women. It is the feminist efforts that have successfully tried to give rights that men had, to women who have been denied those rights. Upon the deprivation of those rights, the Seneca Falls convention and the Declaration of Sentiments helped women gain the privileges and opportunities to accomplish the task of equality that they have been striving for.

(Goldfield, 338) Since the cult of domesticity was making women inferior to men, women decided to do as the slaves did and fight for their own freedom. The women’s rights movement began in the mid-1800s. Female and male abolitionist found it necessary that women should be able to have the same rights as men. Just because biologically they are different, it does not mean they do not deserve the same rights. Women were denied the right to vote, property and a right to an education or job. (Goldfield, 338) At first the women’s movement was slow. Many women were afraid to speak out in fear of being shunned by their community. This was a brand new scary task that Women for the first time were going to deal with. A women speaking out against the norms of society was seen as a terrible thing to do. When you have many women speaking out for the same thing a change must be done. When the first national convention for women’s rights was called in Seneca Falls, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were able to successfully use the Declaration of Independence as a model for their own Declaration of Sentiments. (Goldfield, 339) In their Declaration they branded that “male patriarchy as the source of women’s oppression” (Goldfield, 339) Stanton and Mott called for full women’s rights and to become independent citizens. Although the fight for women’s rights was always an important issue, most abolitionists deemed it less important

“Feminist organizations lobbied for equal pay for equal work, an end to sexual harassment, paid maternity leave, and legalized abortions to eradicate gender discrimination and sexual inequality” (Keene, 862). Not only were there issues in the workplace for women but issues resided in the heart of the feminist movement between the ethnically diverse women with differing views as well. By this point, equal rights had been a problem for decades upon decades and had just begun to start getting fixed. A solution began to submerge when the Equal Rights Amendment was proposed in 1972 stating that rights should not be denied in the United States regardless of gender, but eventually failed when they came up 3 states short of ratification (Keene, 863). The rights movements that have gone on for so long in the United States, although not one hundred percent successful, have proved to help women get the rights they feel they deserve such as voting, working, the ability to have abortions, etc. These social elements provided during the twentieth-century have made a huge statement for the people of America in which for generations to come will show that such movements are made through the perseverance to fight in what we