Women: Segregation And Oppressed 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

With the advancement of suffrage to equal pay, over the last century, women’s rights have progressed immensely. Through historic marches and demonstrations across the United States, women protested for their equal place in politics and social progress. Despite the fear-mongering components used in achieving these rights, women’s rights are still thoroughly debated within society today. Over the last century, incredible and unreachable goals have been fulfilled for women, such as the right to vote and a sense of equal state in the “Free World,” and can only improve in the years to come.

Led by a fair number of women, the Second Great Awakening opened new possibilities for women. The idea that women were subordinate to men was slowly becoming a thing of the pass. Women broke the social norm and began to lead reform movements in order to gain rights. The Grimké sisters regularly spoke to coed audiences about abolitionist efforts in order to gain support and spread the idea of abolition (Pastoral Letter to the Liberator, 1837). However, women didn’t fully receive equal legal status and rights until the mid-nineteenth century. The Seneca Falls Convention ultimately paved the way for women’s rights and the Declaration of Sentiments proposed “women’s equality in everything from education and employment to legal rights and voting”(Hewitt, Lawson

Women were seen as inferior to men and thus their rights were disregarded. This thought of male supremacy was pushed to its end once knowledge was brought to women’s rights during the Seneca Falls Conference of 1848. During this conference, awareness was raised on the fact that women were equal to men. Once society was notified of women’s equal rights, they became aware of the way women’s rights were withheld from them by men. Women were not permitted to practice their rights which were granted to them by birth.

One key sentiment that the attendees of the Seneca Falls convention detailed, was “He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.” This sentient is significant because it drew attention to the submissive state of women. The women were expected to submit to laws that she had no voice in or the ability to format the laws in way that would benefit them. The men were primarily benefited by laws and it hindered the women’s ability to succeed in a role outside of the home. Stating that women had no voice, showed how it had become a man’s world where they were the speakers of the people and could make decisions, as they know best. The resolution to this sentiment, is giving women their inalienable rights to actively participate in meetings regarding law making and giving them access to the elective franchise.

Women’s rights activists in the late 19th century objected an amendment proposing a “man’s government” in America. The amendment faced strong opposition because suffragists believed there was already excessive executive power given to men. So, these women demanded equal representation and access to the same civil liberties as men had by exposing the gender inequality they met through a series of persuasive tactics demonstrated in the article: “Manhood Suffrage.”

The 19th Amendment guarantees a vote for women in the United States of America, but how did this constitutional change happen? Many females prior to this accomplishment faced struggles from external forces that denied their rights and capabilities. Feminism and equal rights were and still are prominent in American society. In order to provide women of the future what is rightfully theirs, women during the 1700s have taken control of their opinions and used their strong-will to make the necessary changes in American society. During the Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton exclaimed in her address, “The right is ours. The question now is: how shall we get possession of what rightfully belongs to us,” (Stanton). The leaders, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott of the Seneca Falls Convention, along with other female leaders, displayed civil disobedience, provided powerful lectures, and organized conventions that gave a new perspective on gender equality.

In the early 1800's, many of the women in the United States were coming to realize that they wanted to obtain more rights. The male gender had way more rights than women, and they had run more things than women. Finally, women began to come forward to voice their opinions about how men and women are made to be equal; no less, no more. It was now time for women to go out and pursue whatever they wanted to pursue and not have to worry about the fact that they are females or that they are weaker or have less education than a man. The Seneca Falls Convention would soon be one of the biggest victories for women's rights.

The United States was founded by the principle that “all men are created equal” but as we struggled for the fight of equality for African Americans, we forgot about the fight for equality for women. It is not until thirty years after the Gilded Age when the 19th Amendment was passed, giving women the right to vote. A major advocate for women’s suffrage was Elizabeth Cady Stanton who believed that “that the isolation of every human soul… must give each individual the right to choose her own surroundings” (188). Even though women were able to come together during this period, they could not fully unite as African American women were left out of the movement, as illustrated in Live Pryor’s plea for help from Susan B. Anthony, another strong advocate for women’s rights. Ultimately

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 Seneca Falls convention happened in 1848 and begun the first women’s rights movement. It issued the manifesto of the Declaration of Sentiments. In the primary resource “Declaration of Sentiments”, the first of all the listed injustices towards women was “He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise (Declaration of Sentiments 24). It was soon followed by “He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead.” and “He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns (Declaration of Sentiments 24).” The two main purposes of the ideology was to raise awareness of gender equality, and grant women the right to vote and hold property; however, the resistance from the ideology of separate spheres was too strong, even from women (Hartmann 31). In the primary source “Woman’s Suffrage a threat to the home” and interview with Mrs. Arthur M. Dodge, a vassar-educated and a mother of six sons who opposed to woman suffrage. She once said, “what does the vote amount to? women do not need it to accomplish really good things (Marshal

At the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, many men and women gathered to discuss women’s rights, or lack thereof. The abolition of slavery had not yet occurred in the United States, but some women saw more important matters at hand: their position in society. Five women headed the organization of this convention, held in Seneca Falls, New York, over two July days. This group included a woman by the name of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who delivered multiple presentations during the convention, including one keynote address that demanded freedom and political representation for women. Stanton made it known in this address that she did not expect the women’s rights movement to have an overwhelming level of acceptance, but also that she did not care,

The culture is the social behavior and norms found in human societies which mean every country has own culture. For example, women in the Arab country, they wear scarves (hijab), but every country has different doctrines which mean some of them cover everything including hands and face, others, cover everything, but not include face, and hands. According to the book says, “Purdah can include the physical segregation of women from men as well as the requirement that when women appear in public space they cover their hair or other parts of their body”(63). Which means this is law from religion that women have to cover their body and hair, but different doctrines and also from law government. However, as we watched a video in the class “Saudi