You've probably heard about the abolitionists in the 1800s. They were the people who spoke out against slavery and helped enslaved people gain their freedom. You may also have heard about people working for women's rights in the 1800s. Many of the same people were involved in both these civil rights struggles.
One of the earliest gatherings for women's rights in the United States
took place on July 19 and 20, 1848 in Seneca Falls, N.Y. The meeting was
organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and others and was
attended by many famous Americans, including Frederick Douglass. Today,
the Women's Rights National Historical Park stands near the spot where the Seneca
Falls Convention was held.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton lived in Seneca Falls with her husband and children. In 1840, she attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. None of the women delegates to the convention were allowed to speak at the meeting. They were all forced to sit behind a curtain. At the convention, she met Lucretia Mott, and they agreed that they must do something to help guarantee women basic civil rights. Imagine traveling all the way from the United States to England by boat and then being kept out of the room!
Lucretia Mott was a Quaker and was angered at the brutality and injustices against enslaved people and by the conditions and injustices in women's lives at the time. Mott was an active abolitionist and opened her home to escaped slaves.
At the Seneca Falls convention, Stanton read the "Declaration of Sentiments" to the assembly. This document was based on the Declaration of Independence, and it argued that women and men should be treated equally. Although the declaration called for a woman's right to vote, women would not be able to vote in the United States until 70 years later in 1920.
Tom Turner
Copyright 1997 Regents of the University of Michigan
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