Seneca Falls Convention Research Paper

The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was the first spark to women's rights movements in Antebellum America. Without this meeting, life for women today could be entirely different. Rights that seem obligatory to women today, like being able to vote, and occupational diversity for women. Women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Coffin Mott helped to kickstart the innovative ideas produced before and through the convention.

Women have always been fighting for their rights for voting, the right to have an abortion, equal pay as men, being able to joined the armed forces just to name a few. The most notable women’s rights movement was headed in Seneca Falls, New York. The movement came to be known as the Seneca Falls convention and it was lead by women’s rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton during July 19th and 20th in 1848. Stanton created this convention in New York because of a visit from Lucretia Mott from Boston. Mott was a Quaker who was an excellent public speaker, abolitionist and social reformer. She was a proponent of women’s rights. The meeting lasted for only two days and was compiled of six sessions, which included lectures on law, humorous

When the women’s right movement began in the antebellum years in the northern United States, it seems to be sparked by the abolitionist struggles against slavery. A Women’s Right Convention at Seneca Falls, New York in the late 1840s was one of the biggest emergence of women’s rights. Leading this convention were many prominent women including Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who were all trained in the school of

Back in the mid 1800’s the first women’s convention was initiated by Elizabeth Stanton, along with others who founded the Women’s Suffrage Movement. After attending an World Anti-Slavery Society meeting, where the women were required to sit is a separate area away from the men, the women decided that they were little better than slaves and decided to do something about it. (Pearson, 2017)

Eight years before the Seneca Falls Convention, in 1840, a World Anti-Slavery Convention was held in London. There, delegates had voted to not have women participate in the convention and sit in a sectioned off area. At that time two of the Seneca Falls Convention organizers were present, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Lucretia Mott was a mid-forties Quaker minister, abolitionist, and feminist. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was young bride and abolitionist who admired Mott, who soon became close friends. At some point during the convention, they spoke about the idea of having a woman’s rights convention. Eight years later, Stanton lived in Seneca Falls and Mott came to visit her sister, Martha C. Wright, in a neighboring town Waterloo. While in a social visit on July 14, Luretia Mott, Elizabeth Stanton, Martha C. Wright, Jane Hunt, and Mary Ann McClintock concluded that it was time to “discuss the

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.

The Declaration of Sentiments contained several resolutions including that a man should not withhold a woman's rights, take her property or refuse to allow her to vote.” There were around 300 suffragists that attended including Fredrick Douglass, who revised the paper. When people discovered this convention took place, it became very controversial. Elizabeth Cady Stanton even threatened to move out of town.

The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, the first women's rights convention in American history, was an outgrowth of almost twenty years of female activity in social reform. Elizabeth Cady

Sub-point A: Women formed organizations to fight for suffrage. One of the most memorable events was the gathering of abolitionist activist at the Seneca Falls Convention. The Convention was organized by Elizabeth Candy Stanton and Lucretia Mott. The Convention showed attention to unfair treatment of women, the convention was attended by 300 people and 40 of them was men. (show pictures of the convention)

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.

Another important reform movement was that of women suffrage. In the early 19th century, married women could not enter into contracts without their husband 's consent. Women also lost all title to property or future earnings upon marriage. Children were also legally controlled by the father. Women were also often left without protection against kidnapping or even imprisonment by husbands and other male relatives. Women were also denied educational opportunities in a male dominated society. There were many women involved in this movement but there were a significant few who stood out. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the Seneca Falls Convention, and many other movements along with many papers and declarations calling for a women 's right to own property and to vote. Later the two formed the National Women 's Suffrage Association.

(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

The Seneca Falls Convention, which was held on July 19-20, 1848 in the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York, was referred to as the first women’s right convention. It was the milestone in the entire movement of women’ rights, which has positive lofty significance for all the women in the world, because through this convention an organized women’s right movement was initiated in the United States. Many historians associated the Seneca Convention as part of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s biography, owing to the fact that she was the event’s main organizer. In fact, it was only recently when the Seneca Convention was recognized by historians as a significant event in history (Lerner, 3). Consequently, it was through this recognition that the convention was acknowledged as a result of women’s increased awareness of their rights during that period. This historical event paved the way for women to express their sentiments against disfranchisement, which means the deprivation of the civil rights including vote, education, working and owning private property. In the Declaration of Sentiments, they asserted “that women should have equality in every area of life: politics, the family, education, jobs, religion, and morals” (Wellman, 1).

Women were not allowed to participate in social or political issues. One of the major reforms pre-civil war was the push for women’s rights. This reform is extremely important to me, as I am a female. Activists such as Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, and Susan B. Anthony helped pave a road towards equal rights for both genders. The Seneca Falls Convention was held in 1848 and was a milestone turning point for this reform.

The first convention dedicated to women’s rights was in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. It spanned both the 19th and 20th of July. This convention was run by two women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott and organized by Mary M’Clintock. This event attracted approximately one-three hundred people, the majority being women. At this convention a modified draft of the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence was drawn and stated, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.” The title of this modification is known to be “Declaration of Sentiments, Grievances, and Resolutions”, written by Elizabeth Stanton. Thirteen resolutions were made including “that a man should not withhold a woman 's rights, take her property or refuse to allow her to vote,” and “sacred right of franchise.” The revision of the Declaration of Independence received signatures from female and male supporters. Sixty-eight of the signers were women and 32 were men, including Frederick Douglass. Although the Seneca Falls Convention was the first women’s rights convention in America, it was inspired by the World Anti Slavery Convention in 1840 in London. This convention invited women but did not allow them to speak their opinions. Lucretia Mott expressed the hypocrisy of this in her diary and thus sparked the beginning of the fight for