Stanton’s Stand for Women’s Right

652 Words2 Pages

"We must have our freedom now. We must have the right to vote. We must have equal protection of the law." These were Martin Luther King Jr.’s words in
1965 and even though he was fighting for the rights of African Americans, what he said can be related to many other situations in the world such as prejudice against other minorities. Elizabeth Cady Stanton had the same ideas in her speech about women’s rights. In 1848 she gave a speech fighting for women and showing her opposition to the gender roles in society. Just like other great public speakers, Stanton used rhetorical strategies such as allusions, rhetorical questions, alliteration, and “rule of three” to persuade people to see women as equals.
One of the major rhetorical strategies Stanton used was allusion. She used many allusions in her speech but one that really commands attention is her allusion to Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc was a brave woman who helped France and inspired the troops to win the war they were fighting. Stanton was trying to get women to do the same. She wanted women to take the rights they deserved and the equal chances they desired. Stanton also alluded to Joel 2:28. This verse says, “And it shall come to pass afterwards, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.” When she said this she reminded everyone that God included daughters too and women are fulfilling what the prophet told long ago. One of the final things she alluded to was the Christian republic in the nineteenth century. She wanted the laws limiting the rights of women “erased form our statute books, deeming them a shame and a disgrace to a Christian Republic in the nineteenth century.” She used historical references to persuade women and m...

... middle of paper ...

... three critical areas of moral development and responsibility. The point of this statement was to remind women that they have a voice and they are being cut short of all they can do by laws telling them they are not good enough just because they are women.
Using these rhetorical strategies, Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivered a powerful speech to both supporters and non-supporters of her mission. The way she used these rhetorical strategies really influenced the audience to take a stand against the prejudice imposed on women and eventually women were given more rights. Stanton went above and beyond in helping other women escape from oppression and just like other great speakers she will be remembered. However, she will not be just remembered for what she did in helping people, she will be remembered for her inspiring words and ability to give such stimulating speeches.

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast Hillary Clinton And Susan B Anthony

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were some of the most powerful women in the U.S. in the 1800s. These two women had many things in common. They were both abolitionist, speakers, and authors. Susan herself was the NAWSA’s first president, and Elizabeth’s life efforts helped her bring up the 19th Amendment. I stated that everybody had the right to vote. Both, of these women had or were apart of a company were Susan managed and Elizabeth wrote. They were a powerful team they actually printed an illegal paper called the “Revolution”. They actually met each other for the first time in 1851.

    Read More

  • Comparing MLK And Elizabeth Cady Stanton

    948 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Comparing Elizabeth Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments and The Women’s Bible

    2337 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Influence Of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Speech

    522 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Antebellum Reform DBQ

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience Susan B Anthony

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    Susan B. Anthony believed that women should have the same rights as men. She fought for this right in many different ways, but she is most famous for showing civil disobedience by voting illegally. Unfortunately, Anthony fought all her life for women’s rights, but her dreams were not fulfilled until 14 years after she died (“Susan” Bio). Anthony attended a women’s rights convention before she started campaigning for women’s rights (“Susan” Encyclopedia par. 2). The adage of the adage.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of the Declaration of Independence and King's I Have A Dream

    1263 Words  | 3 Pages

    "When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children-black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants-will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last'" (King, 312). Works Cited Jefferson, Thomas. The. The Declaration of Independence.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography Of Susan B Anthony

    1647 Words  | 4 Pages

    “To think I have had more than 60 years of hard struggle for a little liberty, and then to die without it seems so cruel.” (Susan B. Anthony)

    Read More

  • How and why did the lives and status of Northern middle-class women change between 1776-1876

    800 Words  | 2 Pages

    Between the years 1776 and 1876, many people from different backgrounds and religions joined the fight for women's rights. Among them were some of today's most memorable female activists, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who was also a mother of seven children. She was first influenced by a Quaker woman, named Lucretia Mott, who she met outside of a world antislavery convention in 1840. Eventually, Stanton joined Susan B. Anthony, who was a fearless "militant lecturer for women's rights," in "a more strident, drive for divorce liberation, sexual freedom, and reproductive control for women. Other crusaders for women's rights include Amelia Bloomer, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, and even the second first lady, Abigail Adams. Those who opposed the suffragists believed women to be inferior and "irresponsible" beings who were "physically and emotionally weak, but also artistic and refined." They also had "finely tuned morals" and were the "keepers of society's conscience." On the other hand, men were thought of as "strong but crude" and with a natural tyrannical and savage nature that needed to be "guided by the gentle hands of their loving ladies." Abigail confirms the male's natural desire for arbitrary power in Document B, for she stated, "[...] all Men would be tyrants if they could."

    Read More

  • Reform Movements

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    Susan B. Anthony who was a Quaker, was therefore opposed to the immorality slavery but also played a role in the movement calling for equality and rights of women. Anthony was inspired by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who was also active in both movements, but very famous for her aggressive action in the Women's Movement, which can be shown by Document I. Elizabeth Cady Stanton played a very important role in The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848. This convention also sought to expand democratic ideals, and more radically than perhaps any other event of any movement. They produced a declaration which stated that all men and women are created equal, and should therefore be treated equal. Stanton believed that women should be equally "represented in the government" and demanded for the right to vote.

    Read More

  • The New Republic - Women's Rights

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women began standing up for more rights and realizing that they could be treated better. 1840 the World Anti-slavery Convention in London showed a great example of inferiority of women. Women were denied a seat at the convention because they were women. Women like Elizabeth C. Stanton and Lucretia C. Mott were enraged and inspired to launch the women’s rights movement. Elizabeth Stanton promoted women’s right to vote. “If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to forment a rebellion and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.

    Read More

  • Not for Ourselves Alone

    2596 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Pathos, Logos, Ethos And Logos In Barack Obama's Speech

    544 Words  | 2 Pages

    “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

    Read More

  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony

    392 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Use of Rhetorical Devices in a Women's Speech

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    Elizabeth Cady Stanton, along with many other women, packed into a convention on a hot July day to all fight for a common cause; their rights. At the first Women’s Rights convention, Stanton gave a heroic speech that motivated the fight for the cause to be even stronger. Through Stanton’s appliances of rhetorical devices such as emotional, logical, and ethical appeals, she was able to her win her point, change the opinions of many, and persuade people to follow her.

    Read More

More about Stanton’s Stand for Women’s Right

Open Document