U.S. History
A Brief History of the Evolution of the Women’s Rights Movement
An Obvious, Yet Accepted Inequality
Women were viewed and treated as inferior from the time our nation was formed back in the 17th century. Women had few legal rights during the colonial era (i.e. it was illegal for a female to inherit property from her family, unless she had no brothers/husband). This did not change after America gained its independence. Women continued to be viewed as second class citizens, underserving of equal treatment under the laws. In the early 1800s, women were second-class citizens. Women were expected Women were not encouraged to obtain a real education or pursue professional career. Most colleges did not accept women as students. Women were barred from becoming doctors or lawyers. The occupations available to them involved menial labor (i.e. factory work). After marriage, women did not have the right to own their own property, keep their own wages, or sign a contract. In addition, all women were denied the right to vote. Single women possessed more rights than married women, but they were also socially shunned by society. A single woman could own property or enter into a legal contract. Married women lacked these rights. A married woman’s property belonged to her husband in the eyes of the law. This inequality was an accepted part of early American culture. Very few people believed in gender equality. But that began to change in the 1820s.
The Beginning of the Women’s Rights Movement
The 1820s marked the beginning of the first reform movement in the United States. During this time, Americans began to identify and attempt to fix social problems in early American society (i.e. alcoholism, prison conditions, & education). Both women and men took part in the Reform Movement. The reformers succeeded in educating Americans about the dangers of alcohol consumption and making the nation’s prisons more humane. Another issue that reformers began to address in the 1830s was slavery. Reformers believed that slavery was immoral and that humans should be treated with greater equality. This led reformers to begin questioning the lack of legal rights held by American women. This marked the beginning of the women’s rights movement.
In 1848 the first national convention on the issue of women’s suffrage took place in Seneca Falls. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of the convention’s organizers wrote the “Declaration of Sentiments & Resolutions” which was signed by 100 of the conventions’ 300 attendees (68 women and 32 men). The declaration identified specific examples of gender inequality and offered up solutions for improving the problem. Today we are going to examine this document to get a better understanding of American women’s status in the mid-1800s .
UU.S. History
Selected excerpts from“The Declaration of Sentiments & Resolutions”, Seneca Falls 1848
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (main author) / Glossary
1. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women 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; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. L3
2. The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. L3
3. He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise. L2
4. He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice. L2
5. He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men--both natives and foreigners. L1
6. Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides. L2
7. He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead. L1
8. He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns. L1
9. In the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he becoming, to all intents and purposes, her master--the law giving him power to deprive her of her liberty, and to administer chastisement. L3
10. He has so framed the laws of divorce, as to what shall be the proper causes, and in case of separation, to whom the guardianship of the children shall be given, as to be wholly regardless of the happiness of women--the law, in all cases, going upon a false supposition of the supremacy of man, and giving all power into his hands. L3
11. After depriving her of all rights as a married woman, if single, and the owner of property, he has taxed her to support a government which recognizes her only when her property can be made profitable to it. L2
12. He has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those she is permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration. He closes against her all the avenues to wealth and distinction which he considers most honorable to himself. As a teacher of theology, medicine, or law, she is not known. L2
13. He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education, all colleges being closed against her. L1
14. He has endeavored, in every way that he could, to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life. L2+
15. Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one-half the people of this country, their social and religious degradation--in view of the unjust laws above mentioned, and because women do feel themselves oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States. L3 / usurpation (n): the act of stealing another person’s power or property
candid (adj): truthful, honest
compelled (v): forced
degraded (adj): inferior
deprived (v): denied
civilly (adj): relating to civil rights
covenant (n): agreement, legal contract
chastisement (n): punishment
supposition (adj): uncertain belief
monopoliozed (v): to take the greatest share of something
scanty (adj): small
remuneration (n): money paid for work/service
facilities (n): ability to do something
abject (adj): extremely bad
disfranchisement (n): to be denied power
Name: U.S. History
Date:
Core:
Reflections on the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments & Resolutions
Directions: Use your copy of the “Declaration of Sentiments & Resolutions” to complete this assignment.
Part I. Paraphrase
Select a section from the text (#1-15) and paraphrase it in the space below. The sections are rated according to the level of difficulty (L1 – easiest, L3 – toughest).. Select a challenge that seems appropriate for you.
Section Selected / Your Paraphrase# ______
Part II. Comprehension Check
1. Identify the primary author of this document. ______(1 point)
2. In what year was this document written? ______(1 point)
3. What is the topic of this document? ______(2 points)
4. Compare and contrast this document with the Declaration of Independence, 1776. You should focus on important similarities and differences for full credit (If you can’t remember the Declaration of Independence…google it!)
Similarities / Differences(2 points) / (2 points)
More on the Back!
5. Did the women feel as though they lacked legal rights? Support with primary source examples
Women ______(did or did not) feel as though they lacked legal rights. According to the document: ______
______(3 points)
.
6. Did women feel economically inferior to men? Support with primary source examples.
Women ______(did or did not) feel economically inferior to men. According to the document: ______(3 points)
7. According to this document, what was wrong with education in America (be specific)? Support with primary source examples
______(3 points)
8. How is the institution of “marriage” portrayed in the declaration? Support your answer to question #8 with primary source evidence
a. Good
b. Bad’
c. Neutral
I chose answer choice _____ because in the text it says: ______(3 points)
9. How do the words presented in line #14 of the declaration connect with the “tools of oppression” used against slaves in America as described by Frederick Douglass?
______
Begin your response by identifying the injustice being described in line #14 and then explain how it’s similar to the injustices experienced by slaves in America