Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in an unprecedented movement, raised the concern for the issue of woman's rights. In her day, such matters of "enlightened motherhood", temperance, and abolitionism were seldom taken to heart by the opposite sex. When she spoke at woman's advocacy conventions, anti-feminists and conservative reformers alike censured her. Although her stand on woman's rights was her main interest, it was work in progress toward a larger and more far-fetched goal. Her priorities concerning an idealistic society could be structured as a pyramid. As the foundation, she suggested reform for prisoners and the working class; she opted to eradicate domestic violence against women through the rehabilitation of alcoholic husbands, and not far behind was the proposition for liberal divorce of said husbands. That being accomplished, marital equality and idyllic child-raising would gradually approach her dream of utopia. Mild amendments along the way support her broad tolerance for the modifications in society. Amid suffrage were the theories of eugenics, phrenology, and anticlericalism; her tendency to leap from one unmentionable interest to another left most advocates confused and irritated; some Cady Stanton enthusiasts, however, applied her views to their budding beliefs. Only eighteen years after her death would the closest thing to her dream of utopia be realized: the Nineteenth Amendment granting women the right to vote. The foundation from which Cady Stanton cultivated her contentions had been the luxury and privilege of her Johnstown home in New York. Inquisitive at eleven, she spent the latter of the evenings in her father Daniel Cady's office, engrossed in his childhood tales, in addition to his court cases and law... ... middle of paper ... ...litical liberty. Another raised hand and another quizzical mind brought forth ideals, which changed to suit their life and times, to the very issues we undertake today, such as the Republican's crusade to ban late-term abortion. In Mary Wollstonecraft's time, what woman would challenge the Church (and other institutions) as boldly as a man would? Cady Stanton made it a point not only to upset intransigent religious institutions but to hopefully open the eyes of weaker, desperate people seeking a guide. Soon she abandoned all caution in making public her radical views about marital relations. "A multitude of timid, undeveloped men and women, afraid of priests and politicians, ... are a hindrance rather than a help in any reform." ... forced national recognition of the morality of antislavery with a "thoroughly sifted small group of picked men and women." (64)
Anne Hutchinson has long been seen as a strong religious dissenter who paved the way for religious freedom in the strictly Puritan environment of New England. Another interpretation of the controversy surrounding Anne Hutchinson asserts that she was simply a loving wife and mother whose charisma and personal ideas were misconstrued to be a radical religious movement. Since this alleged religious movement was led by a woman, it was quickly dealt with by the Puritan fathers as a real threat. Whatever her motives, she was clearly a great leader in the cause of religious toleration in America and the advancement of women in society. Although Anne Hutchinson is historically documented to have been banished as a religious dissenter, the real motive for her persecution was that she challenged the traditional subordinate role of women in Puritan society by expressing her own religious convictions.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, born in 1815, was known for her dedicated role as a women’s rights activist. At the peak of her career, she teamed up with Susan B. Anthony and formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and also eventually brought about the passage of the 19th amendment, giving all American citizens the right to vote. But before all that, Stanton started out as an abolitionist, spending her time focused on abolishing slavery but then later becoming more interested in women’s suffrage. One of her most famous moments was
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the most renowned women to lead campaigns for women’s rights. Her efforts were focused on "opportunities for women, for married women’s property rights, the right to divorce, and the right to custody of children; her most radical demand was for women’s right to vote" (Davidson and Wagner-Martin 845). In general Stanton wished to instill independence and self-reliance in all women. Stanton was an inspiring orator of speeches including the Declaration of Sentiments as well as the book The Women’s Bible. Upon analysis of her speeches and other works, as well as gaining knowledge of her background, one is able to assume that personal experience strongly affected her writing, which illustrates her writing as representative in that it addressed inequality based on the issue of gender. Another factor that influenced her writing was the way in which she interpreted the great works, the Declaration of Independence and the Holy Bible. Noticing the obvious discrimination and guidelines set for women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton composed a new "women friendly" version of each that she called the Declaration of Sentiments and The Women’s Bible.
Wollstonecraft, Mary. “A Vindication of the Rights of Women with Structures on Political and Moral
Borden in 1893 describes how gender stereotypes can influence the minds of a nation and how the public and media influence, male dominated court hearing, and refute of evidence all lead to Lizzie’s full pardon. Kathryn Jacob’s begins with background on Lizzie Borden; how she was favored by her father as the youngest daughter, how she “had evidently given up hope of marriage, but she led a more active life, centered around good works,” and how “she taught Sunday school class of Chinese children, (and) was active in the Ladies Fruit and Flower Mission, the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement, and the Good Samaritan Charity Hospital” (p.53).The Women’s Christian Temperance Movement (WCTU) was a popular social movement that focused on a “do everything policy” to fix the problems of the community, including problems deeper than just alcohol (Brady Class Lecture,2014). The WCTU was seen as a positive movement for women to maintain their womanly roles while using their moral values to better society. Regardless of the life Lizzie lived, her stepmother and father were both killed
However, the writers of the Constitution had omitted women in that pivotal statement which left women to be denied these “unalienable” rights given to every countryman. Gaining the support of many, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the leader of the Women’s Rights Movement declared at Seneca Falls that women had the same rights as men including the right to vote and be a part of government. The Women’s Rights movement gained support due to the years of abuse women endured. For years, men had “the power to chastise and imprison his wife…” and they were tired of suffering (Doc I). The new concept of the cult of domesticity supported women’s roles in society but created greater divisions between men and women.
“Deborah Sampson, the daughter of a poor Massachusetts farmer, disguised herself as a man and in 1782, at age twenty-one, enlisted in the Continental army. Ultimately, her commanding officer discovered her secret but kept it to himself, and she was honorably discharged at the end of the war.” She was one of the few women who fought in the Revolution. This example pictured the figure of women fighting alongside men. This encouraged the expansion of wife’s opportunities. Deborah, after the Revolution along with other known female figures, reinforced the ideology of Republican Motherhood which saw the marriage as a “voluntary union held together by affection and mutual dependency rather than male authority.” (Foner, p. 190). This ideal of “companionate” marriage changed the structure of the whole family itself, the now called Modern Family in which workers, laborers and domestic servants are now not considered member of the family anymore. However even if women thought that after the war they would have been seen from the society in a different way it never happened. The revolution haven’t changed the perception of the woman and the emancipated ideal
Perhaps the most crucial reformists of the time period were those battling to obtain their God-given rights. Many lower class workers, such as African Americans, women, and immigrants, sought after the opportunity to vote, work it certain facilities, and be accepted in society as a whole. An engraving by Patrick Reason depicts an African American female in chains; with the inscription ‘Am I not a Woman and a Sister?’(Doc C) The woman shown is crying out, begging to be heard and listened to. Many males of the time period did not take female reformists seriously, or listen to them at all. On August 2nd, 1848, through the Seneca Falls Declaration, Elizabeth Cady Stanton prote...
Both Mary Wollstonecraft and Sor Juana de la Cruz are writers of the Enlightenment period, but they each approach women’s rights in a different way. While De la Druz was a Catholic nun from Mexico ad preferred to study and be alone, Wollstonecraft asserted women’s rights for all through publications directed at the masses. During the Enlightenment, people began to question old authoritative models like the Church. Our texts states, “thinkers believed inreason as a dependable guide. Both sides insisted that one should not take any assertion of truth on faith, blindly following the authority of others; instead, one should think skeptically about causes and effects, subjecting all truth-claims to logic andrational inquiry” (Puchner 92). Indeed,
In “Disorderly Women: Gender and Labor Militancy in the Appalachian South,” Jacquelyn Hall explains that future generations would need to grapple with the expenses of commercialization and to expound a dream that grasped financial equity and group unanimity and also women’s freedom. I determined the reasons for ladies ' insubordination neither reclassified sexual orientation parts nor overcame financial reliance. I recollected why their craving for the trappings of advancement could obscure into a self-constraining consumerism. I estimated how a belief system of sentiment could end in sexual peril or a wedded lady 's troublesome twofold day. None of that, in any case, should cloud a generation’s legacy. I understand requirements for a standard of female open work, another style of sexual expressiveness, the section of ladies into open space and political battles beforehand cornered by men all these pushed against conventional limitations even as they made new susceptibilities.
Women spent majority of their day ironing, washing clothes, baking, sewing clothes and raising their children (page 17). Religion also added to women’s lesser status (page 18). Religion was at the core life of Americans, female submission was decreed to be part of God’s order (page 18). Lucretia Mott soon pointed out that many scriptures celebrated female strength and independence (page 18). As a young girl Elizabeth Cady Stanton learned about laws that limited rights of wives and as an adult found ways to reform marriage and divorce laws (page 23). Things were looking up for women, by 1850 female wage workers made up nearly a quarter of the manufacturing labor work force (page 30). Women were still excluded from occupations such as the military, ministry, law, medicine and jobs felt inappropriate for women (page 32). During this antebellum period women were starting to rise up and realize they deserved to have the same rights and privileges men received. This gave women hope that things could change. By the second quarter of the 19th century few positive changes for women pushed Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B Anthony, Lucy Stone and others to challenge injustices and reform efforts (page
Susan B. Anthony is the most well known name in women's rights from the 1800s. Most people who are not familiar with the history of this time are aware of Susan's reputation and nearly everyone of my generation has seen and held a Susan B. Anthony silver dollar. For these reasons I was greatly surprised to learn that Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the original women's rights movement spokeswoman and Susan B. Anthony her protégé.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s speech was very impactful thanks to her well thought-out address, emotionally impactful statements, and rhetorical devices. By using emotional, logical, and ethical appeals, she was able to persuade many, and show a first hand look at someone personally crippled by the lack of women’s rights in her time. Through her experience, she was able to give an exceptional speech conveying the deprivation of women in her time, changing society, and helping women reach equality in America.
Mary Wollstonecraft was a self-educated, radical philosopher who wrote about liberation, and empowering women. She had a powerful voice on her views of the rights of women to get good education and career opportunities. She pioneered the debate for women’s rights inspiring many of the 19th and the 20th century’s writers and philosophers to fight for women’s rights, as well. She did not only criticize men for not giving women their rights, she also put a blame on women for being voiceless and subservient. Her life and, the surrounding events of her time, accompanied by the strong will of her, had surely affected the way she chose to live her life, and to form her own philosophies.
In the late 19th century, Susan B. Antony , Elizabeth Cady Stanton ,Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Harriet Beecher Stowe were famous suffragettes. Influenced by the secular intellectual reasoning that followed the Age of Enlightenment, some of these suffragettes saw in the Church an obstacle to women’s rights and encouraged a matriarchal writing.