Women's Rights: Women And Politics In The Era Before Seneca Falls

Women’s rights were first addressed at the Seneca Falls convention of 1848 in which the Declaration of Sentiments formulated. The document laid out various rights, for example: a woman’s voting right. At that time nothing changed for women and the declaration was met with criticism from men. This was the foundation of Women’s Movement, but it proved to be a long road. (Kelly, "Womens Suffrage and the Seneca Falls Convention")

The exclusionary aspects of feminist activism in the 19th and 20th centuries are fundamental topic of the Sojourner Truth and The Combahee River Collective. In these two readings some of the concerns arisen are very similar, and they are both from the prospective of black women. In both readings they talk about how they would like to see equality between men and women because there is no reason why women and men can’t be equal.

Starting in the nineteenth century women’s rights was a very hushed subject, it wasn’t really talked about because everyone thought of women as being the homemakers, taking care of the family and making meals while the men went out and worked. During

Starting in the nineteenth century women’s rights was a very hushed subject, it wasn’t really talked about because everyone thought of women as being the homemakers, taking care of the family and making meals while the men went out and worked. During

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.

The convention was organized by two women, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who were barred from a World Anti-Slavery Convention in London because of their sex. This motivated them to establish a women’s rights movement in the United States. At the Seneca Falls Convention, which was held in upstate New York, women were advocating for women’s rights and raising awareness about women’s suffrage for the very first time. Stanton drafted a document called “The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments” which was read at the convention and offered a greater understanding of the freedom and liberties they were fighting for. One of the most important things they were fighting for was a women’s right to vote.

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.

Stanton’s most memorable convention was the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 where one hundred men and women gathered for the historic convention. There she introduced her manifesto, the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, which proclaimed that men and women are equal and women need more protection under the law. The document also called for expansion of employment and educational opportunities along with the right to vote for women. Stanton’s manifesto was inspired by the United States Declaration of Independence, The press was not fond with the Seneca Falls Convention and complained that all the women that attended were sour maids and childless women. Although the media did not approve of her remarkable meeting, it brought attention to the women’s rights movement on the political standpoint. (Elizabeth Cady Stanton

For more than a century, women from all over have deliberately confronted and engaged in numerous protests to destroy all restrictions, control and violations in regards to many prejudices made against their gender. Yet, it was not until the mid 1800’s that powerful women such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott passionately fought and publically spoke for the rights that women deserved as American citizens. Essentially, the movement for women’s full entitlement reached out to an enormous audience with the Seneca Falls convention in New York and inspired the creation of a written stand on political requests by Stanton and other activists, named and remembered as The Declaration of Sentiments. At

Meeting Lucretia Mott lead to one of Stanton’s greatest accomplishments which was the world’s first women’s rights convention, the Seneca Falls Convention. “The Seneca Falls Convention, a gathering on behalf of women’s rights held in the upstate New York town where Stanton lived, raised the issue of woman’s suffrage for the first time” (Foner 452). This was a huge milestone to spread the word about women 's equality in the United States. It was the first women’s convention, so it gathered a lot of hype and attention to women’s need of rights. There’s no reason why women should not get the right to vote, or the right of education just because their gender. Thankfully, “the convention was the beginning of the 70 year struggle woman’s suffrage” (Foner 453). Stanton helped spread the voice of women and their own ideas about rights. With the men being dominant in the society, it was difficult to lead the way of women 's rights, but the Seneca Falls Convention started it all.

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

As the United States was continuing recovering from the Civil War and embracing the expansion of the West, industrialization, immigration and the growth of cities, women’s roles in America were changing by the transformation of this new society. During the period of 1865-1912, women found themselves challenging to break the political structure, power holders, cultural practices and beliefs in their “male” dominated world.

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 “The Keynote Address of Seneca Falls”, Elizabeth Stanton uses the rhetorical devices, repetition, imagery, and tone to portray her feelings about women’s rights and to speak up for all women who believe that woman are just as great as man. Seneca Falls in New York was where one of the first women’s right’s convention was held, which over three hundred people, men and woman, attended. This convention is where Elizabeth gave her speech to hundreds of people who wanted to reach the same goals.

Abigail Norton Bush was an abolitionist and women's rights activist who was president of the second women's rights convention in Rochester. Bush spoke for a unified generation of feminists committed to achieving political skills in service to their sex. She rebelled furiously against inequalities towards women, and she held many conventions promoting gender equality.(Retrieving the American Past 7). One of the many Women’s rights movements, the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and numerous women. The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention. It advertised itself as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman". Held in Seneca Falls, New York, it spanned two days over July 19–20. Women who spoke out against segregation and inequality, ultimately were granted those luxuries. Speaking your mind sometimes can be one of the more effective ways to deal with