Revolution
The Seneca Falls Convention was the first woman's rights convention. It was revolutionary because these women took a step outside of their sphere and brought the problem of woman's rights to the public. They took the first step of trying to change woman's inequality by holding this convention to make people aware of woman's rights.
Stanton had stated, "The most momentous reform that had yet been launched on the world---the first organized protest against the injustice which had brooded for ages over the character and destiny of one-half the race." Women had been silent about their lack of rights for so long, and this was the first organized even that acknowledged their rights.
In this time period, there was an overall consensus that women would not speak in public. Therefore, it would have been hard for women to gain rights if they had not gone against this, as they needed to form a public identity.
Stanton had stated, "The most momentous reform that had yet been launched on the world---the first organized protest against the injustice which had brooded for ages over the character and destiny of one-half the race." Women had been silent about their lack of rights for so long, and this was the first organized even that acknowledged their rights.
In this time period, there was an overall consensus that women would not speak in public. Therefore, it would have been hard for women to gain rights if they had not gone against this, as they needed to form a public identity.
Stanton's Address
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
She gave a speech on the second day of the convention. In this speech she wrote about how she felt on women's rights. She proclaimed: "Our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support, to have such disgraceful laws as give man the power to chastise and imprison his wife, to take the wages which she earns, the property which she inherits, and, in case of separation, the children of her love; laws which make her the mere dependent on his bounty." Stanton
"The right is ours. The question now is: how shall we get possession of what rightfully belongs to us?
"The voice of woman has been silenced in the state, the church, and the home, but man cannot fulfill his destiny alone, he cannot redeem his race unaided."
"The right is ours. The question now is: how shall we get possession of what rightfully belongs to us?
"The voice of woman has been silenced in the state, the church, and the home, but man cannot fulfill his destiny alone, he cannot redeem his race unaided."
Presenting the Declaration of Sentiments
The Declaration of Sentiments presented at the convention, was formatted like the Declaration of Independence, except instead of blaming the King, they blame the husband. The begin by stating: “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, life, and pursuit of happiness.”
Media Exposure
Although it took a while for women to gain equal rights, the Seneca Falls Convention publicly announced the demand for women’s rights. It was the publicity from this convention that made it such a revolutionary idea in women’s rights.
“Imagine the publicity given to our ideas by thus appearing in a widely circulated sheet like the Herald. It will start women thinking, and men, too, and when men and women think about a new question, the first step in progress is taken. The great fault of mankind is that it will not think.” -Lucretia Mott
“Imagine the publicity given to our ideas by thus appearing in a widely circulated sheet like the Herald. It will start women thinking, and men, too, and when men and women think about a new question, the first step in progress is taken. The great fault of mankind is that it will not think.” -Lucretia Mott
The Right to Vote
In the declaration, they asked that women be equal to be men, as they believed God had designed them to be. The most debated resolution was the right for women to vote. Elizabeth Cady Stanton insisted that they keep this in the declaration, as she believed that women should have equal political power as men.
“Resolved, that it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise."
-Declaration of Sentiments
“Resolved, that it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise."
-Declaration of Sentiments