{"id":991,"date":"2022-05-02T18:07:48","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T22:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/?post_type=project&p=991"},"modified":"2022-05-02T18:11:05","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T22:11:05","slug":"seneca-falls-and-the-declaration-of-sentiments","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/project\/seneca-falls-and-the-declaration-of-sentiments\/","title":{"rendered":"Seneca Falls and the Declaration of Sentiments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Drafted in New York in 1848, this \u201cDeclaration of Sentiments\u201d provided by the Library of Congress highlights the growing interests during the nineteenth century in the women\u2019s movement for suffrage as well as the reformation of society\u2019s denial of women having rights in politics, economics, education, jobs, etc. The document, written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was proposed at the Seneca Falls Convention on July 19th<\/sup>, 1848, to fight against the inferior status of women. The Convention itself was held in Seneca Falls, New York, and followed the anti-slavery movement in which the women who organized the Convention were incredibly active. This reform movement sparked an awareness of women\u2019s inferior position and inspired them to hold the Seneca Falls Convention in order to discuss eleven resolutions and their specific goals to \u201csecure women the right to vote and hold property.\u201d[1]<\/a> The \u201cDeclaration of Sentiments\u201d, which was the center focus of the Convention, had the specific purpose of asserting the equality of women by modeling the framework of the \u201cDeclaration of Independence\u201d and creating parallels between the struggle for the rights of men with those of women. It is noticeable in the historical source that Stanton models that wording structure and parallels with the \u201cDeclaration of Independence\u201d when she writes: \u201cthat all men and women are created equal\u201d to include women in the major rights of \u201clife liberty and the pursuit of happiness. \u201d[2]<\/a> Not only Stanton advocated for the document, but \u201cthree hundred men and women attended the convention in the Wesleyan Methodist chapel; of those, one hundred signed the Declaration.\u201d[3]<\/a> Thus, the conversation about women\u2019s suffrage began when the \u201cDeclaration of Sentiments\u201d was proposed, and the Seneca Falls Convention gave women a place to find their voice and focus on the injustices at hand.<\/p>\n

Prior to the start of the women\u2019s suffrage movement, women were subjected to a specific gender role and were expected to be the primary caretaker of the household. This restraint required the women to stay out of the man\u2019s sphere in areas outside the home such as working and voting. Since the colonial era, women \u201ccould not vote or serve on juries. College was rarely an option. A wife often had no control over her property or her children. She could not make a will, sign a contract, or bring suit in court without her husband\u2019s permission.\u201d[4]<\/a> The “Declaration of Sentiments” not only spoke up against the gendered structure of society that existed in the United States during the nineteenth century but also the white male privilege that was causing the inequality.<\/p>\n

This historical source exhibits that that time period’s gendered structure is what ignited the women\u2019s drive for equality. After the American Revolution, there was a growing passion for removing the male separate spheres in society that was created by the male domination that existed. This was due to the Revolution’s emphasis on the patriotic nature of the war that in turn highlighted the inferior status of women because the war \u201cstressed the political and military roles of men while ignoring the equally important supportive roles of women.\u201d[5]<\/a> Yet, this sparked outrage due to the unrecognized role women had in aiding the revolution as well, which is where the outrage began. For example, women had also \u201cserved the revolutionary army in substantial numbers as nurses and cooks, and in small numbers as combatants and spies; they had raised money for the war effort.\u201d[6]<\/a> It is noticeable in the \u201cDeclaration Sentiments\u201d that Stanton sought to reiterate that women should be granted the same rights as men because they are just as significant to society\u2019s development, yet they were never given the platform or representation to showcase their potential.<\/p>\n

Although the Revolution highlighted the sex insubordination, the women\u2019s rights movement was officially launched by the declaration at the Seneca Falls Convention because the convention was “significant for American women both symbolically as the birth of the modern feminist movement, and as a source of inspiration and direction in the long struggle for equality.\u201d[7]<\/a> For the first time in history, women were given a voice to promote unification and equality through the \u201cDeclaration of Sentiments\u201d. The declaration accurately in pointing out the large cases where women under the law were not equal. Much of society belittled these identifications Stanton made due to the belief that they were \u201coverstating their complaints\u201d and did not need to be included in the political sphere.[8]<\/a> Yet, everything highlighted in the declaration was truly needed and reflected nothing more than basic constitutional rights. For example, when Stanton demanded legislation, it would validate a married women\u2019s rights \u201cto the property they had brought into their marriages and to wages and income earned during the marriage.\u201d [9]<\/a> This was viewed as a large and unnecessary order because no woman had reached this extent of voicing against the confines placed upon women. It called upon women\u2019s notable worthiness and created a platform for the rights that were owed to women.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Harris, jennifer chapin. \u201cCelebrating Women\u2019s Herstory: The Story of Seneca Falls.\u201d Off Our Backs<\/em> 28, no. 7 (1998): 9\u20139. http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/20836139<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Library of Congress, Seneca Falls and the Start of Annual Conventions, https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/exhibitions\/women-fight-for-the-vote\/about-this-exhibition\/seneca-falls-and-building-a-movement-1776-1890\/seneca-falls-and-the-start-of-annual-conventions\/declaration-of-sentiments\/<\/a> accessed April 10, 2022<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Parker, Alison M. Review of The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848: A Pivotal Moment in Nineteenth Century America<\/em>, by Sally G. McMillen. Reviews in American History<\/em> 36, no. 3 (2008): 341\u201348. http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/40210932.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Shi, D. E. (2018). America: A Narrative History (Brief Eleventh Edition) (Vol. Volume 1). W. W. Norton, 476. https:\/\/app.perusall.com\/courses\/2022_spring_hist1301wb-american-history-i\/america-a-narrative-history-brief-eleventh-edition-vol-1<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Wilson, Joan Hoff, and Elizabeth F Defeis. \u201cRole of American Women: An Historical Overview.\u201d India International Centre Quarterly<\/em> 5, no. 3 (1978): 163\u201373. http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/23001287.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Kerber, Linda K. \u201cFROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE TO THE DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS: THE LEGAL STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC 1776-1848.\u201d Human Rights<\/em> 6, no. 2 (1977): 115\u201324. http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/27879046.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Wilson, Joan Hoff, and Elizabeth F Defeis. \u201cRole of American Women: An Historical Overview.\u201d India International Centre Quarterly<\/em> 5, no. 3 (1978): 163\u201373. http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/23001287.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Kerber, Linda K. \u201cFROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE TO THE DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS: THE LEGAL STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC 1776-1848.\u201d Human Rights<\/em> 6, no. 2 (1977): 115\u201324. http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/27879046.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Kerber, Linda K. \u201cFROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE TO THE DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS: THE LEGAL STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC 1776-1848.\u201d Human Rights<\/em> 6, no. 2 (1977): 115\u201324. http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/27879046.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drafted in New York in 1848, this \u201cDeclaration of Sentiments\u201d provided by the Library of Congress highlights the growing interests during the nineteenth century in the women\u2019s movement for suffrage as well as the reformation of society\u2019s denial of women having rights in politics, economics, education, jobs, etc. The document, written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5287,"featured_media":1085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"project_category":[199,18,7],"project_tag":[324,325,326,320,321,144,53],"class_list":["post-991","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project_category-1800-1865","project_category-19th-century","project_category-post-civil-war-to-1900","project_tag-324","project_tag-declaration","project_tag-genderinequality","project_tag-nineteenthcentury","project_tag-senecafalls","project_tag-womenssuffrage","project_tag-feminism"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5287"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=991"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1095,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/991\/revisions\/1095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_category?post=991"},{"taxonomy":"project_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_tag?post=991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}