Women's Suffrage: Creation of the 19th Amendment Essay

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.

California women and men worked tirelessly to strengthen the women’s suffrage campaign from 1893, when the state legislature passed an amendment permitting women to vote in state elections, through the final passage of the amendment in 1911. The strength of the movements themselves, passionate support overcoming harsh opposition, pushed by the people and the organizations championing for the women’s vote were the main contributing factors which accumulated in the eventual passage of Amendment 8. Since California women have begun to vote, there have been many advancements and setbacks in the other women’s rights movements, including the Nineteenth Amendment and the Equal Rights Amendment.

A two-day period convention led by Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott. The document that they produced is called the Declaration of Sentiments which was declaring the rights of women modeled on the Declaration of Independence. It listed the grievances that women wanted to address that they didn’t have consent of the governed. They couldn’t earn employment at their own will and couldn’t go to school for higher education. The property they obtained before and during the marriage went to the man. If the man left the woman, they have no rights and divorce at their own wills. They can’t serve on juries. The most controversial issue is that they didn’t have the right to vote. Lucretia Mott was against that as were a lot of women had thought that it was outrageous that women would have the right to vote, there it actually ended up being included. Frederick Douglass, the african-american abolitionist from Rochester New York who ran the North Star, gave a speech at the end of the second day which he eloquently and powerfully argued for women’s right to vote to be included in the

The women at the Convention believed this could be the most impactful change made, stating that freedom and liberties were not possible without the opportunity to vote. However, this was not the only issue addressed at the convention. The Declaration on Sentiments criticized the entire system of inequality in the United States which denied women access to education and employment, gave husbands power over their wife’s earnings and property and guardianship of their children after divorce, and robbed women of their legal status after marriage. The Seneca Falls Convention marked the beginning of a long fight for women’s suffrage in America; it also promoted awareness for women’s rights and

Susan B. Anthony, the Grimke Sisters, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and even Frederick Douglas were all in favor of the cause. Another setback for the movement came when women were banned from attending the 1840 Anti-Slavery Convention. As a result of this ban, the Seneca Falls convention held on April 2, 1848, to gain supporters and raise awareness of women's rights and suffrage. This led to the famous writing of the Declaration of Sentiments written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She describes the goals of the convention, voting rights, equal rights to men, and representation in government.

she urged women to not put the fate of society in the hands of the

right to vote when the 19th amendment got ratified in the year 1920. Before the 19th amendment, only 4 states gave women the right to vote. The western states gave women the right to vote so that more people could come to their states. The women suffrage was run by strong women. Two of the women were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady. The women got the right to vote because they have been fighting for their rights since 1775, women were striking for their rights at their job to so that they can be equal as men, the women’s right convention that opened the new possibility for women, and the 4 states that gave women rights before the 19th amendment.

The “Declaration of Sentiments” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott stated that all men and women were created equal, therefore they both should have the inalienable rights of “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” (Doc 1). Since both women and men were created equal, the idea of suffrage should be of one for all, not subjected to only white, Anglo-Saxon males. These inalienable rights of liberty should pertain to the right to vote. Additionally, it was questioned that since women were able to take care of their families, loving and guiding their children, why were they not allowed the freedom to vote (Doc 6). This poem by Herman Paley discussed the idea of how various women throughout history “gave” the United States their leaders, then they should also have the right to

During the late 1700s, women were not seen as being equal to men. They were imaged as one who stayed at home and took care of the kids. No one ever imagined a woman voting. Some women actually supported the fight in allowing blacks to vote. During the time the 15th amendment passed, many women who supported Women’s Suffrage were disappointed in which they were excluded in the idea of allowing “everyone” to vote. Before the Civil War, the movement for Women’s Suffrage started to pick up steam, but had become lost due to the interruption of the Civil War. One of the acts that stood out the most for Women’s Suffrage was the Seneca Falls Conference in 1848. This was organized by two American activists, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. They were the first to organize a conference to address Women’s rights and issues, and with sixty- eight women and thirty two men, they signed “The Declaration of Sentiments”, a document that was similar to the Declaration of Independence, but directed towards women’s rights. Getting suffrage for women was not an easy campaign. During 1890- 1919, many states were in a mix on their decision on suffrage for women. Some agreed with equal suffrage, others partial, and the rest wanted no suffrage at all for females as displayed in Document 6. Women’s Suffrage finally became a reality when it was ratified as an amendment (19th) in

Women, like black slaves, were treated unequally from the male before the nineteenth century. The role of the women played the part of their description, physically and emotionally weak, which during this time period all women did was took care of their household and husband, and followed their orders. Women were classified as the “weaker sex” or below the standards of men in the early part of the century. Soon after the decades unfolded, women gradually surfaced to breathe the air of freedom and self determination, when they were given specific freedoms such as the opportunity for an education, their voting rights, ownership of property, and being employed.

The Convention of Seneca Falls was held in central New York. The convention lasted for two full days on the dates of July 19 and 20th in the year 1848. Elizabeth Stanton decided to hold a gathering to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman. Stanton led the convention with the help of friend Lucretia Mott. The articles states that the Convention of Seneca Falls is what helped to open up the idea of equality for both genders saying that it “marked the beginning of the seventy year struggle for women’s suffrage.” Stanton and Mott had first became acquainted in England at the World Anti-Slavery Convention. This was the same conference that refused to accommodate Mott and other representatives due to the fact that they were women. Lucretia Mott was a woman in her mid-forties, she was a Quaker minister, feminist, and abolitionist. Stanton composed a document called the Declaration of Sentiments. The Declaration of Sentiments was a document declaring the given rights of women. This document is what defined the convention. It was slightly based off of the Declaration of Independence. The Convention of Seneca Falls was announced to the citizens by a small, unsigned notice placed in the Seneca County Courier. The first day of the convention was reserved solely for women to discuss and debate on the Declaration of Sentiments document. On the second day of the convention, they opened it for all people to attend. Frederick Douglass gave a powerful speech

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).

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.

The signing of the Declaration of Sentiments caused uproar among people (“Declarations of Independence”). The women at Seneca Falls were going against the “cult of true womanhood” but that didn’t stop them from persevering and moving forward.

Women eventually became repulsive against the standards of which they were being held to, yet they had to remain quiet. Several organizations were created regarding women’s suffrage. Many of the organizations had committed members who devoted all of their free time to the organization. Susan Brownell Anthony was one of those committed members. Anthony was born on February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts. She became interested in Women suffrage at a young age. She practically devoted her life to the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Anthony’s father worked as a farmer. Eventually he became wealthy by starting a cotton mill. Despite their, wealth they lived a simple life. Keeping up with their Quaker faith. Quakers believed in equality between the sexes. Anthony was raised in an environment filled with outspoken women resulting in her outspoken personality. In 1849, Anthony quit her job and rejoined her parents, who moved to Rochester Newyork, where Anthony became intrigued with the fight for women 's suffrage. Anthony 's participation in several organizations and outspoken nature made her a target for criticism. The editors of the newspaper attempted to perceive her to the public as a “bitter spinster” who only had interest in Women Suffrage because she could not find a husband, when in fact Anthony had received numerous proposals all of which she had refused. She felt that if she were to get married she would