Women owe many of the rights they have today to Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s relentless efforts and life-long work and advocating for Women’s Rights. Stanton wasn’t only a suffragist, she also strived for women to get women to be able to divorce their husbands. She wanted women to try to keep themselves from getting pregnant. She wanted women to have "sexual freedom" and be able to marry whoever they choose, regardless of race.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born Elizabeth Cady on November 12, 1815 in Johnstown New York. She was the eighth of eleven children of Daniel and Margaret Cady. Her father was a Federalist attorney who served a term in Congress, and was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1847. Her mother was the daughter of Colonel James Livingston an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
Elizabeth studied at Johnstown Academy until she was 16, she learned Latin, Greek, Math, Religion, Science, and French. She was in many co-ed classes where she could compete with the boys. She spent a lot of time with her father, he would give her access to his law library, and even let her debate with the law clerks. Elizabeth came to understand that married women had very little rights, they couldn't own property, have a say in their income, employment, or in the custody of their own children. She went on to get the best education a woman could get at the time at Emma Willard’s Troy Female Seminary.
She went to live with her cousin, Gerrit Smith, a leading abolitonist, philanthropist and religious critic. Living with him got her more closely involved with the abolitionist, temperance, and women’s rights movements. While living with Smith, she met and fell in love with Henry B. Stanton. Although it was going against he...
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Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. "Declaration of Sentiments." Seneca Falls Convention. Seneca Falls, New York. 19 July 1948. Speech.
..., she was merely trying to make her point known and knew that she must be forceful about her beliefs to order to get attention and get her point across. Stanton is a woman to honor for the work and success she accomplished in the fight for womenâs rights.
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 speeches and influences throughout her years have helped others. She wanted the government to stop using male pronouns unless they were specifically talking about a man. Elizabeth Cady Stanton also wanted women to be as equal as men. Elizabeth influenced political ideas to give women rights, and would give speeches which would influence others.
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.
Although women did not have the same rights as men, they came to possess a mentality that was a force to be reckoned with in a fight for equality. In 1848 at Seneca Falls, New York, 150 women and 30 men met to dispute the male sovereignty of the time. At this conference, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an educated, married abolitionist, presented the “Declaration of Sentiments”. This document was a testament to the drastic changes the United States would have to go through to include women in its widespread ideals. As the basis for their argument, the writers of the Seneca Falls Declaration utilized the Declaration of Independence to catch the attention of the public and display the severity of the situation. However, in her oration, Stanton changes the male centralized voice of the Declaration of Independence. When addressing the self –evident truths, she expressed that “all men and women are created equal” instead of the original phrase that excluded women (Anthony, Stanton, and Gage, 239). Their document was further structured with 18 grievances and 11 resolutions; each was meant to recognize women as equal members of society. As the current government has “become destructive of [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness], it is right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government” (Anthony, Stanton, and Gage, 240). Because women were rightfully entitled to an equal station beside men, they demanded the recognition of the rights that society was currently denying them. The most controversial resolution presented at the conference was the desire to vote. Women wanted this ability because they deserved to have a voice in the laws that would inevitably affect them. As free American citizens, it was their inalienable right to vote and have some form of representation in legislation. The Seneca Falls Conference and the Declaration of Sentiments was just the beginning of a public fight for women’s equality and rights.
Born on November 12, 1815, in Johnstown, New York, Elizabeth Cady grew up around wealth and privilege, the daughter of Daniel Cady, a well-known judge, and Margaret Livingston. In 1826, the death of her brother Eleazar motivated her to excel in every area her brother had in an attempt to compensate her father for his loss. After her graduation in 1833, she became interested in the world of reform at the home of her cousin Gerrit Smith. There she fell in love with the abolitionist Henry Brewster Stanton.2
After teaching for 15 year, she became active in temperance. However, because she was a women she was not allowed to speak at rallies. Soon after meeting Elizabeth Cady Stanton she became very active in the women’s right movement in 1852 and dedicated her life to woman suffrage.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an important element of the Women’s Rights Movement, but not many people know of her significance or contributions because she has been overshadowed by her long time associate and friend, Susan B. Anthony. However, I feel that she was a woman of great importance who was the driving force behind the 1848 Convention, played a leadership role in the women’s rights movement for the next fifty years, and in the words of Henry Thomas, “She was the architect and author of the movement’s most important strategies ad documents.”
Another issue that presented her with difficulties in her teaching job was that of slavery and abolitionism. She had been raised a block away from Harriet Beecher Stowe and had heard stories from Harriet Tubman...
Elizabeth Stanton was a social activist and was one of the originators of the women’s moment in the United States. Stanton was an Author of many books, she was also a wife and a mother 7 children . She campaigning for women 's right with an emphasis on women 's rights to vote. In this paper I will walk through some of Stanton’s major life events.
The early women's movement was dominated by an uncompromising attitude of right versus wrong. This attitude came from the involvement of this same segment of society in the abolitionist movement. While intellectually appealing, in "Not Wards of the Nation: The Struggle for Women's Suffrage," William H. Chafe tells us that early women's rights advocates "were generally dismissed as a 'class of wild enthusiasts and visionaries' and received little popular support (Oates 153). One of the founders of this movement was Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
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.
It was necessary for them to establish this because without an organization women 's rights would be harder to achieve. In addition, women have been playing a role in American history for centuries, but many of them have gone unrecognized for the achievements they have won. Therefore, it was time for women to stand up for themselves and win the rights freedoms that they deserved. In order to establish a basis of gaining equal rights, women started out as supporters for causes and then incorporated their own rights while they were in the supporting movement. Moreover, Stanton argued for “is the opportunity, perhaps for the century, to base our government on the broad principle of equal rights for all.” (pg. IV). Establishing the goals of the organization was a crucial for women because without a goal set in place, it will be difficult to move on with the process of gaining Equal Rights for all. These women would by all means go to the far reaches of the country to establish women 's rights. For example, "Stanton and Anthony allied instead with white supremacists that supported women’s equality. Many fellow activists were dismayed by Stanton and Anthony’s willingness to appeal to racism to advance their cause." (Reconstruction and Women, pg. IV). Therefore, women faced many obstacles like going against their will to gain support and aid in their
“The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality,” this was stated by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a very crucial women’s suffragist. Over time, women’s history has evolved due to the fact that women were pushing for equal rights. Women were treated as less than men. They had little to no rights. The Women’s Rights Movement in the 1800’s lead up to the change in women’s rights today. This movement began in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention. For the next 72 years, women continually fought for equal rights. In 1920, they gained the right to vote which ended the movement and opened the opportunity for more change in women’s lives. Because of the Women’s Rights Movement, women today are able to vote, receive
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