Comparison Of Elizabeth Cady Stanton And Solude Of Self

During the shaping years of this country, there were many social classes that faced immense persecution and mistreatment. In two of these groups specifically, leaders rose that aided in the freeing of these minorities from their oppression. One of these leaders is Martin Luther King Jr., who in his speech entitled “I Have a Dream”, addresses all colored Americans and expresses his views on the treatment of African Americans all around the country. The other leader is Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who in her two addresses “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” and “Solitude of Self”, challenges men and women alike to help end the injustices committed against women. Although both King and Stanton are working towards a very similar cause, they

One main similarity is the use of popular, well known documents or addresses in all of the aforementioned speeches. Stanton bases her entire “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” speech on the Declaration of Independence, and has it follow the structure of this document almost exactly. In her speech “Solitude of Self”, Stanton even goes on to quote from the bible when she quotes from the book of Matthew “My God! My God! why hast thou forsaken me?” (King James Bible, Matt. 27:46). King mentions many documents and addresses in his “I Have a Dream” speech, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address. These are all mentioned in an effort to increase the sense of devotion in their followers. King and Stanton are both trying to cause a change of major national law, which causes them to use past documents that state and define the purpose of government, as well as other scripts that state higher law that must be followed by all people. This is done to try and convince the people that will truly cause the change, such as Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court. It obviously was also effective as in both of these cases the laws and amendments were made that completed these causes end goals. This tactic is not the only one that King and Stanton had on common,

These examples helped those listening that perhaps weren’t part of the minorities King and Stanton were addressing see what these groups were faced with. King does this in his speech when he discusses the trials many African Americans were facing at the time, including police brutality and unlawful detention. These tribulations were extremely prevalent at the time of King 's address throughout all of America. Stanton also does this mainly in her “Declarations of Sentiments and Resolutions” speech. She stresses many examples of how women were being treated unfairly. For example she says things such as, “Having deprived her of this first right as a citizen the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her of all sides” (Stanton 1). These and many more examples help all those looking in from the outside to see the struggle that these people have had to battle against for a majority of their