Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Declaration Of Sentiments And Resolutions

This historical and extraordinary document was drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton at the convention for the women`s rights at Seneca Falls in New York on July 19 and 20, 1848.

The Declaration of Sentiments, a document written by activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucrietia Mott, discusses injustices towards woman and the rights that have been withheld from them, such as voting and denied admittance into colleges. Stanton and Mott want readers, primarily men, to understand, to take action, and to fight against the opression that has been put on women of all ages, race and religion in the United States. Without the help of Stanton and Mott, womens rights may have been an overlooked issue yesterday and today, therefore, their message is incontestably crucial.

Stanton’s “Declaration of Sentiments” was the first convention for women rights. Its purpose was to address the status of American women. Stanton felt that women were feeling they were getting shorted and disrespected of their rights. It was a list of resolutions to the problems dealing with their rights. She also included needs for women’s right to education, property, and vote. One of the resolutions was to resolve a law that prevented women from occupying a position in society. A main resolution in the declaration was that women were created equal. One hundred people signed the Declaration of Sentiments. The major theme of the Declaration of Sentiments was an attack at women rights and that they should have the same rights as men because

Elizabeth Cady Stanton forever changed the social and political landscape of the United States of America by succeeding in her work to guarantee rights for women. Stanton as a young girl wanted to make her father proud and tried to live to the men’s ways (as Daniel Cady’s only son had died at the age of 20). She graduated from the Emma Willard 's Troy Female Seminary in 1832 and then was drawn to the abolitionist. Later on she married an reformer as she joined other women in the movement. Then she met Susan B. Anthony and the two had started to work together to change the world of women’s rights. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an important leader and left a legacy because she gave thoughtful/well-spoken speeches, made a very influential person

Unlike other women, she was willing to speak out on many issues, from women’s suffrage to the woman's right to ride bicycles; she was always looking for a way to speak out and reform. Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s was always working towards her main goal of the equal treatment of men and women and because of this, she is recognized as one of the most remarkable individuals in women's history as well as American

Women did not have many rights in the 19th century. They could not vote, serve on juries, if married could not keep wages or own property, and women could not get a good education. At a convention when two women tried to join a meeting they could not have a role in the proceeding. Later she made a convention that over 300 men and women showed up to. Then Stanton wrote the Declaration of Sediments that showed the rights they wanted.

Stanton states, “When the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man” (Stanton 1). Stanton used this line to start her declaration as Thomas Jefferson used it in the first line of the Declaration of Independence. Using such a well trusted piece of writing that helped shaped the United States increases her credibility which helps her case in her argument. Another point in Stanton’s view, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: in that all men and women are created equal” (Stanton 1). This line starts the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, but Stanton added in “women” instead of just “men”.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott meet at a National Anti-Slavery Convention, which influenced them to hold a Women’s Rights Convention. In 1848 they held a national women’s rights convention, known as the Seneca Falls Convention. At the convention Elizabeth Cady Stanton created the “Declaration of Sentiments”. Proposed in the Declaration was “that all men and women are created equal”. Over 300 men and women gathered at Seneca Falls for the convention and unanimously voted for women to have the right to have equal rights as men.

From this knowledge, Stanton realized that women did not have same rights with

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was, no doubt, one of the most important activists for the women’s rights movement in the nineteenth century. Not only was she the leading advocate for women’s rights, she was also the “principal philosopher” of the movement . Some even considered her the nineteenth-century equivalent of Mary Wollstonecraft, who was the primary British feminist in the eighteenth century . Stanton won her reputation of being the chief philosopher and the “most consistent and daring liberal thinker” of the women’s right movement by expounding through pamphlets, speeches, essays, newspaper and letters her feminist theory . However, despite being an ardent abolitionist during the Civil War who fought for the emancipation of all slaves , her liberal feminist theory was tainted by a marked strain of racism and elitism that became more conspicuous as she started pressing for women’s suffrage .

“We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and woman are created equal.” This quote was said by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The quote is relating to women not being able to vote. In 1920, it was the first year that woman got the right to vote. Women were not being treated right. They realized when they were trying to end slavery. During one of the meetings, the were put to the back of the room behind a curtain. The reason for change to occur is that women weren’t treated well. They sometimes got beaten by a rod. Another reason is that they didn’t have the right to vote, at all, and all their rights got taken away when they were married. Men and women weren’t treated the same way. They couldn’t vote which made them feel very discriminated.

While Stanton and Brady do disagree with how women are viewed and treated, Stanton’s priority was fairness in politics and education, not so much on the injustices that occurred within the home Elizabeth Cady Stanton was pushing for women’s right to vote and to participate fully in the running of the country. She shadows the Declaration of Independence to gain credibility and patriotism, particularly from the phrase, “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men, and women, are created equal” (Patterns,557). The Declaration of Independance and the Declaration of Sentiments are purposefully compared. For example, the colonists wrote the Declaration of Independence in order to inform the King of the unfairness and to take action and to make change. The Declaration of Sentiments does the exact same thing, only instead of the problems bing taxation without representation and the quartering acts, the issues were freedoms to vote, have property and own oneself apart from a spouse, followed by the promise to take action against the injustice.

Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton both are leading women’s rights activists during their time; their work influenced the American Peoples’ view on women.   They founded one of the earliest pro-women’s rights movements in the country, which was essential in spreading feminism throughout America.   Their lifelong battle against inequality to combat slavery and promote feminism through literary works like; 'The Revolution' and the Declaration of Sentiments speeches, succeeded after their death when women got the right to vote.

The principal organizers of the Seneca Falls Convention were Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a mother of four from upstate New York, and the Quaker abolitionist Lucretia Mott. About 100 people attended the convention; two-thirds were women. Stanton drafted a “Declaration of Sentiments, Grievances, and Resolutions,” that echoed the preamble of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.” Among the 13 resolutions set forth in Stanton’s “Declaration” was the goal of achieving the “sacred right of franchise. Overall women have been metaphorical and literally fighting for equality throughout history whether it be in a factory making war supplies in World War 1 or trying to save the lives of young soldiers in a medical tent in World War 2 or even being in the fight and killing terrorists for their county in the war on terrorism.

Who was Elizabeth Cady Stanton? Stanton was a radical reformer for women's rights, many people may not know who she was or what significance she held for women today. In the book, Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Radical for Women’s Rights by Lois W. Banner, the reader gets to learn more about her, her family and what her importance was from 1815 to 1902. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born on November 12, 1815 in Johnstown, New York. She was born to a lawyer that had no problem expressing favoritism toward his son and a mother who was sweet and taught her children to follow their dreams.