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Voting for a Change
“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
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Susan B. Anthony was an activist for the Women’s Rights Movement. As a child, she was raised to be independent and outspoken. As a leader, she did just that. She stood up for what she believed in. Anthony organized, traveled, and spoke to people about what needed to be modified for women. Her parents were Quakers, which is a branch of christianity. They believed that all men and women should study, work, and live as equals (“Biography of Susan B. Anthony”). She adopted these thoughts and became a leader of the movement for women. She recognized her passion for women’s rights and dedicated her life as a suffragette, an advocate of women’s right to vote (“Biography of Susan B. Anthony”). A meeting with Elizabeth Cady Stanton led to lifelong friends in political organizing for women’s rights and women’s …show more content…
It made it possible for women to get voting rights and it made it possible for women to continue to gain equal rights today. The Women’s Rights Movement created different opportunities for them. It made it possible for them to vote, promote the increase in women’s pay, and have equal power men are able to have. This movement brought women together to fight for the rights they deserved. Women had hope for equal rights, they began lecturing, marching, and writing to achieve what the American women were fighting for (Gordon, Ann D.). The movement began with the first convention ever dedicated to women in 1848, called the Seneca Falls Convention where 68 women and 32 men signed the Declaration of Sentiments (1848 Declaration.). The Declaration of Sentiments of was based on the Declaration of Independence but included the rights women deserved in the text. It is also known as the “Women’s Declaration of Independence” (1848 Declaration). At the convention, they discussed and created an outline for the movement. The women worked together to fight for what they
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.
The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, the first women's rights convention in American history, was an outgrowth of almost twenty years of female activity in social reform. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the most important of the feminists in the 19th century. She was highly educated in law, but could not continue in law due to her sex, Stanton was involved in the abolitionist movement and many other women's rights issues. In 1848, Stanton along with some other females organized the Seneca Falls Convention, where they put together a declaration that in a way resembled the Declaration of Independence. Today many historians believe that this declaration that they drafted was a great turning point for women's rights. And they were right indeed seeing that this convention would soon lead to women gradually gaining rights so that they would eventually be equal to the rights of a male. Today it is still debated whether women are still discriminated against. I believe in some unfortunate cases this is true, but for the most part women have gained equal rights to males.
Susan Brownell Anthony, being an abolitionist, educational reformer, labor activist, and organizer for woman suffrage, used her intellectual and confident mind to fight for parity. Anthony fought for women through campaigning for women’s rights as well as a suffragist for many around the nation. She had focused her attention on the need for women to reform law in their own interests, both to improve their conditions and to challenge the "maleness" of current law. Susan B. Anthony helped the abolitionists and fought for women’s rights to change the United States with her Quaker values and strong beliefs in equality.
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.
Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) is considered one of the most influential figure in the women’s suffragist of her generation and has become an icon of the woman’s suffrage movement. Anthony is known to travel the country to give speeches, circulate petitions, and organize local women’s rights organization. Anthony was born in Adams, Massachusetts. After the Anthony family moved to Rochester, New York in 1845, they became active in the antislavery movement gaining more supporters across the country. In 1848 Susan B. Anthony was working as a teacher in Canajoharie, New York and became involved with the teacher’s union when she discovered that male teachers were paid more than female teachers a month. Her parents and sister Marry attended the 1848 Rochester Woman’s Rights Convention held August 2Anthony’s experience with the teacher’s union, antislavery reforms, and Quaker upbringing, established ground for a career in women’s rights reform to grow.
Every citizen of the United State was grant the right to vote since their birth in the United State or when they passed
The entire Women’s Movement in the United States has been quite extensive. It can be traced back to 1848, when the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. After two days of discussions, 100 men and women signed the Declaration of Sentiments. Drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, this document called for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women. This gathering set the agenda for the rest of the Women’s Movement long ago (Imbornoni). Over the next 100 years, many women played a part in supporting equal treatment for women, most notably leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which allowed women the right to vote.
The structure of the declaration was nearly identical to The Declaration of Independence, with one of the sentences reading “We told these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal” (Elizabeth Cady Stanton). While the Declaration of Independence listed grievances to the King of England, the Declaration of Sentiments listed women’s grievances to men, specifically stating where women believed they were wronged by men. The declaration’s message had a lasting impact on the audience and had unanimous support as did the other resolutions that were presented at the convention. The convention ended with a significant amount of men and women signing a document that would give men and women the same political and civil rights, including the right to vote (Common Core Exemplar). The Declaration of Sentiments is also referred to Women’s Declaration of Independence and the second name captures how important this document is. On July 13, 1848, Women essentially declared independence from men. They declared that they do not need to be dependent on men to live fulfilled lives, and presenting these ideas in the 19th century was revolutionary. Women have always been seen worldwide as the weaker sex who can’t function without the support of men and the Seneca Falls Convention proved those stereotypes wrong. It gave women a voice, and they continue to build on that voice to this
The Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 started a women’s rights movement; a small group of women demanded the right to vote, claim progress in property rights, experience employment and educational opportunities, have social freedoms, and other essential demands touching every aspect of life. Women wanted a change and needed a new place in society. They did not have the most basic democratic equality of all, the equal right to vote, until the 19th amendment was adopted in 1920. As they gained the right to vote, women began feeling the right to explore other opportunities.
During America's early history, women were denied some of the rights to well-being by men. For example, married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money that they might earn, and women hadn't the right to vote. They were expected to focus on housework and motherhood, and didn't have to join politics. On the contrary, they didn't have to be interested in them. Then, in order to ratify this amendment they were prompted to a long and hard fight; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the 19th century, some generations of women's suffrage supporters lobbied to achieve what a lot of Americans needed: a radical change of the Constitution. The movement for women's rights began to organize after 1848 at the national level. In July of that year, reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902) and Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), along with Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and other activists organized the first convention for women's rights at Seneca Falls, New York. More than 300 people, mostly women but also some men, attended it. Then, they raised public awar...
Social movements refer to informal groups of people who focus on either political or social issues. The goal of the social movement is to change things in society, to refuse to go along with the norm, and to undo a social change. For example, the Women’s Rights Movement that began in the 1840s was geared towards getting women more equality in relation to political, social, and economic status in society (Foner). Along with this, women gained a louder voice to speak out about what they wanted to change and implemented the change. Prior to the Women’s Rights Movement, women were often timid, compliant, obedient, and mistreated. After the 1920s, a movement towards more equality was shifted in society views, however not all were convinced or changed by the new ideas of women. Although women began to get increased rights, the typical gender roles, which they were expected to follow did not loosely lesson. Women still found themselves doing the same gender roles, house roles, and family roles even after the 1920s. It was not until the 1960s when the Feminist movement began (Foner). The literary piece is “Why I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady and the goal of the Feminist Movement was to create new meanings and realities for women in terms of education, empowerment, occupation, sexual identity, art, and societal roles. In short, the Feminist Movement was aimed to gain women freedom, equal opportunity and be in control over their own life.
“Independence is happiness.” A large supporter of women’s rights and one of the reasons women have many rights today; Susan B. Anthony was born in February 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts into a family of Quakers where women were considered equal to men. As a young woman she had been a teacher until she became involved in the temperance movement, from that time on she worked for women’s rights after she realized women were not really treated equally while in the temperance movement. Anthony worked for women’s rights but also incorporated it into other movements, temperance, labor, and education. Susan B. Anthony had a significant impact on women’s rights in American history, through organizing and participating in organizations, writing books and a newspaper, her partnership with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, voting illegally, and petitioning against U.S. Congress.
Born on February 15, 1820 amidst a patriarchal society, Anthony devoted her entire life to fight for women’s suffrage movement in the late 19th century. An American civil rights leader who believed in the equal power between men and women, she not only fought against gender discrimination, but also propelled the world to acknowledge women’s rights (Wikipedia, “Susan B. Anthony”). Anthony demonstrated many characteristics of self-actualization throughout her life. Raised with a religious upbringing in a Quaker family, she and her family lived the controversial eras of slavery, worker’s unions, and temperance movements. Unlike many other slaves or lower class citizens of her time, her biological and safety/security needs had been fulfilled, allowing her to devote herself to broad social problems as her mission in life. After attending the Seneca Falls Convention (women’s rights convention) and joining the National Women’s Rights Convention in 1851, Anthony never stopped challenging institutions and dogmatic thinking (National Park Service. “Women’s Right...
In the past, many people believed that women’s exclusive responsibilities were to serve their husband, to be great mothers and to be the perfect wives. Those people considered women to be more appropriate for homemaking rather than to be involved in business or politics. This meant that women were not allowed to have a job, to own property or to enjoy the same major rights as men. The world is changing and so is the role of women in society. In today’s society, women have rights that they never had before and higher opportunities to succeed.
Beginning in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century women began to vocalize their opinions and desires for the right to vote. The Women’s Suffrage movement paved the way to the nineteenth Amendment in the United States Constitution that allowed women that right. The Women’s Suffrage movement started a movement for equal rights for women that has continued to propel equal opportunities for women throughout the country. The Women’s Liberation Movement has sparked better opportunities, demanded respect and pioneered the path for women entering in the workforce that was started by the right to vote and given momentum in the late 1950s.