In 1848 at a church in Seneca Falls, New York, men and women gathered for the First Women’s Rights Convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Marth Coffin Wright, Mary Ann M’Clintock, and Jane Hunt. This historic event is seen as the launching point for the women’s suffrage movement, despite the fact that many in attendance were uncertain it was wise to push for that right for the women at this time. The organizers were also very involved in the abolitionist movement.
Elizabeth and her husband honeymooned in London at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840. It was there she met Lucretia while their husbands were attending the event, from which they were excluded on account of their sex. Together, they decided they would organize a women’s convention back in the United States.
While there had been some proponents for women’s rights in America as early as the 1830s, there had been little progress made. By the time of the Seneca Falls convention, it had become a divisive issue. A Declaration of Sentiments became necessary to address their grievances. Following the example of the Declaration of Independence penned by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, Elizabeth listed their desire to be granted equal rights by the government whose laws they were forced to follow without being permitted to vote for them. As the declaration in 1776 listed what King George had done to the colonists, Elizabeth enumerated the “repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her” including taking her wages and property if married, denying her access to education, and destroying her confidence to make her dependent on him. Read the entire Declaration of Sentiments here.
Famous women’s suffragist Susan B. Anthony was not at the event and did not meet Elizabeth until 1851. Susan was unmarried and free to spend time campaigning for women’s rights, unburdened by domestic life. However, she often came to Elizabeth’s home to help with the children and give her friend time to write the speeches for Susan to later go out and give. Then, when her children were grown, Elizabeth traveled across the country, giving speeches for women’s rights, including her most well known speech “Our Girls,” advocating for the higher education of women. The pair lectured, lobbied, protested, and even published a newsletter together for the cause of women’s rights. The two women would continue together in friendship to press for women’s rights for over fifty years.
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