Abstract This paper explains that, at the mid-point of the nineteenth century, ElizabethCadyStanton and her so-called "Ladies of Seneca Falls" objected to rules and regulations and norms of "proper" behavior laid down for them by men and which required that women forfeit their legal existences once they marry. The author points out that CadyStanton's so-called racial period began when she started having doubts about religion; therefore, freed traditional religious obligations, she turned to a form of religious liberalism. The paper stresses that ElizabethCadyStanton's theme was "feminine individualism": Women were every bit as good as men and should not be treated as if they were somehow inferior.
From the Paper "While other names pop up throughout the decades, it is still the strength of Cady Stanton that kept the movement alive and vivid. It was she who righted the ship when another feminist activist was accused of an adulterous affair. In fact, 1876, the one-hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence was sought as a time to promote women's rights. Lobbying by influential women, including Cady Stanton, produced a special "Women's Building" erected on the grounds of the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876. Cady Stanton, and some others, planned to write a Declaration of Women's Rights, to be read in that building on July 4th. Although the central force dealt with denial of voting rights, Cady Stanton also included "articles of impeachment" against those in charge of the government who refused to recognize the equality and rights of women."
A book review of the biography of women's rights activist ElizabethCadyStanton entitled "ElizabethCadyStanton: A Radical for Women's Rights" by Lois W. Banner.
Abstract This paper reviews the biography of ElizabethCadyStanton, who lived from 1815-1902 and includes biographical data on the author plus a listing of her published books and articles. It looks at how Banner's book includes detailed documentation, based on primary sources, of CadyStanton's life and participation in the early years of the women's rights movement. The review covers all aspects of the historical period as described by Banner, concluding that while a massive amount of helpful information on this period is discussed and revealed, some readers may find the work plodding and overly inclusive.
From the Paper "Banner is obviously sympathetic to the feminist cause, yet she attempts to describe the burgeoning women's movement and Stanton realistically, describing strengths, weakness, and inconsistencies as well as offering possible factors that influenced her thoughts and actions. The author seems determined to discuss every possible influence that might have effected Stanton. The extensive index allows the reader to check out how Elizabeth Cady Stanton reacted to contemporary influences like Marxism, communitarianism, birth control, other feminists, temperance, John Stuart Mill, slavery and just about every other idea that was around during her lifetime."
Abstract This paper introduces ElizabethCadyStanton, a revolutionary feminist of the nineteenth century who wrote extensively and promoted women's equality while also railing against those forces in society that she saw as keeping women in their place. The paper traces Stanton's life, from her birth in 1815 to her marriage to antislavery orator, Henry B. Stanton. It examines ElizabethStanton's activist career as writer, as president of the National Woman Suffrage Association and as co-cordinator of the Seneca Falls Convention which resulted in the 'Declaration of Sentiments' - a call for equal rights for women and African-Americans. The paper also looks at the activities led by Stanton which paved the way for women's franchise in America, two decades after her death.
From the Paper "The amendment would in effect grant suffrage to African-Americans, a goal Cady Stanton, Anthony and their female colleagues had long supported. But it would do so in a manner that pointedly excluded women. Penalizing states when "the right to vote . . . is denied to any of the male inhabitants," the 14th amendment would introduce gender restriction into the Constitution for the first time (Frost and Dupont 169).
Anthony and Stanton saw this as an expansion of male suffrage, and they tried to generate opposition among other members of the movement. Her former allies refused: They would support the amendment, they explained, because the former slaves needed the power of the ballot to protect their freedom, rights and dignity. Cady Stanton didn't disagree with that analysis but demanded, "Do you believe the African race is composed entirely of males?" (Frost and Dupont 169)."
Abstract This paper explains that ElizabethCadyStanton is credited with the authorship of "The Seneca Falls Declaration" (1848), the seminal of the United States feminist movement, which then was called woman's suffrage because women, along with African Americans and Native Americans, were still disenfranchised. The author points out that, after the death of her brother, young Elizabeth vowed to do all in her power to become manly, which, to her, meant becoming learned and courageous, so she studied Greek, learned to ride a horse like a man and developed an independent intellectual life. The paper relates that when she listed all the economic grievances in the "Declaration of Sentiments", from denial of educational opportunity to making her 'civilly dead' upon marriage, ElizabethCadyStanton was the first to describe the double-standard, a concept that still lingers.
From the Paper "By the time, the married Elizabeth Cady Stanton moved with her family to Seneca Falls, NY, in 1937, her life had degenerated into the typical one of a rural woman of her era: too much looking after too many people, from children to servants. While she slaved, white men's rights were expanding and reformers, among them Susan Anthony and Lucretia Mott, recognized that "Jacksonian equality was rhetoric as far as women and slaves were concerned." Still, there had been other small movements. During the 1830s, it became possible for married women to own property that had brought into a marriage and the money they earned; this eventually undermined male dominance to a small degree. The changes had not, however, been altruistic, a representation of the uncommon notion that women were morally superior to men."
Abstract This paper discusses the life and achievements of ElizabethCadyStanton, who was one of the most prominent leaders of her time for women's rights. The paper discusses her fight calling for women's right to vote in the United States. The paper also compares her life and achievements to those of Lucretia Mott and her long-time friend, Susan B. Anthony, who were also both very active in women's rights.
From the Paper "In 1878, nearly 30 years after the first convention aimed at working for women's suffrage, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Stanton wrote Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States, which Anthony delivered at the Centennial Celebration of 1876 in Washington, DC (NPS, PAGE). Gage and Stanton remained interested in other social issues as well, and started working on a "Woman's Bible" that would present Christian beliefs without encouraging the subjugation or devaluing of women (NPS, PAGE). Once Stanton's children had all achieved adulthood, she became president of the National Woman Suffrage Association and later of the National (Griffith, 170)."
Abstract This paper explains how Stanton helped organize the Women's Loyal National League, founded and presided over the National Women's Suffrage Association and spent the greater part of her adult life as one of the primary intellectual and public figures in the fight for women's rights. Despite these achievements, this paper discusses how Stanton was not very well-known.
From the Paper "In the mid-1800s, the most cherished view of women was that they represented Home and Mother. These were sacred duties, almost on par with religious, eternal truths to which society generally adhered. Biologically, as well, women were considered inferior to men - both in terms of physical strength and intellectual capacity. Women's roles were to nurture men of genius, which was an act of unsurpassed importance if men of genius were to evolve and society were to advance in any way. To challenge this status quo meant not only discomfiting pre-conceived religious and social norms, it meant challenging the very core of "civilized" society."
Abstract This paper begins by comparing speeches by civil rights activists Martin Luther King, Jr ("I Have a Dream") and Malcolm X ("The Ballot or the Bullet"). It explains and compares the differences in tones, use of imagery and other techniques which made these two speeches so memorable. The paper then analyzes "Dying To Be Thin" by Jennifer Breuer to give an example of a speech which is more clinical and informative in nature. Women's rights activist, ElizabethCadyStanton's speech "The Declaration of Sentiments", given at the 1848 Seneca Falls Conference is then discussed as an example of a combination of learning, education, experience, eloquence and passion.
From the Paper "With this shift in language, and thus shift in perspective, Stanton makes a radical statement about the equality of women to men in the public sphere. This was something that most Americans in the middle of the 19th century did not believe (or had not considered). To be an effective advocate for her cause, Stanton had both to reveal and to conceal the truly radical nature of her ideas. By phrasing her analysis of women's rights in terms of the Declaration of Independence, Stanton was (implicitly) arguing that what she was arguing for was not radical, was simply a natural and even necessary extension of the rights of all and any Americans that the Revolutionary War had been fought to gain. But, by phrasing her analysis of women's rights in terms of the Declaration of Independence, Stanton was also (implicitly) arguing that her demands were as radical and as morally right as those demands made by the colonists to King George."
This paper discusses the people who were instrumental in changing the political and social "landscape" of American women in the 19th and 20th centuries: John Adams, ElizabethCadyStanton, Susan Brownell Anthony, Frederick Douglass and Betty Friedan.
Abstract This paper presents the important contributions of each individual in shaping the history of the women sector as they fight for their rights and liberation from the patriarchal and oppressive American society during their time.The author presents ElizabethCadyStanton, who organized the first women's convention, the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, where the "Declaration of Sentiments" was publicly announced the base for the 19th amendment in the US Constitution. The paper cites that Betty Friedan's psychological and social analysis of the American women sector paved the way for a new women's rights (feminist) movement, giving women the opportunities in a society previously dominated by men.
From the Paper "John Quincy Adams is the second president of the United States and one of the main proponents for the formulation of the US Declaration of Independence. Adams figures into the women's rights history because he is the spokesman for the Declaration of Independence proposal in the Congress during his term as a legislator. The drafting of the Declaration of Independence became an important chance for women to assert their rights in the society, such as the right to vote and have jobs/roles equal to that of men's roles and jobs. The formation of the Declaration of Independence became an important issue as Adams considered the significance of the inclusion of women's rights to the law that will be formulated. Despite the influential opinion of his wife Abigail Adams to take into consideration the rights of women in the society, Adams have a different view of how the Declaration of Independence will be crafted?that is, women's rights will not be included in the said law."
A look at 19th century proposals for racial and gender equality in education and in political affairs through the work of W.E.B. DuBois and ElizabethCadyStanton.
Abstract This paper examines how novelist, W.E.B. DuBois, and female suffragist, ElizabethCadyStanton, have managed to bring to light the underlying problem that is still at the basis of gender and racial inequality. It discusses how that underlying problem is the apparently hard-to-overcome problem of white men assuming and using all their power to maintain, superiority over anything or anyone other than white men. It analyzes their fights and the parallels between what they espoused in their fights for racial and gender equality.
From the Paper "There are, of course, similarities in the message, and those similarities are more pronounced between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and W.E.B. DuBois than between Stanton and DuBois predecessor and sometime mentor, Booker T. Washington. First, of course, Washington was the son of a slave, born into slavery himself. DuBois was the son of a freeman, born free in Massachusetts after the Civil War, and able to avail himself of an excellent "white man"s? education, with degrees from Fisk University, Harvard University (where he earned his Ph.D. in history in 1895) and the University of Berlin."
Abstract This paper discusses the long road travelled by many women's right activists. The paper contends that if it had not been for these women who laboriously paved the way to equality between the sexes, women would not be able to be in the kind of positions they hold in society today. The paper presents a brief overview of the work done by ElizabethCadyStanton and Lucretia Mott, two of the greatest women to stand out, who organized the first women's rights meeting in 1848 and created the Declaration of Sentiments.
From the Paper "Today many women are achieving tasks that seemed unreachable nearly a century ago. Women are taking on laborous work, such as working in rail yards. They are also competing in sports that were mainly tagged for men only. A few examples of these sports include: basketball, baseball, snowboarding, surfing, football, etc. Women are now enrolling in the navy, army, marines; not just as nurses but as actual soldiers. They are taking active political roles in the United States government. Women are furthermore gaining bigger roles in big business as vice presidents and CEO's. In addition, women can not only expect to receive unbiased consideration by university admissions offices, but they are the majority gender of enrolled students. They can even earn their own income and not have to turn it over to their husbands. As strange as this sounds now, it was not always the case. America's women could not have achieved these roles with out the past experiences of other women who demanded change. "
Abstract This paper studies the woman suffrage movement and the opposition it faced. The paper outlines the changing societal roles and expectation that brought about the campaign to extend the right to vote to women: (1) the perception that the woman's role was exclusively to attend to the family, (2) the perception that extending the right to vote would be a slippery slope and (3) the perception that men were more intelligent -- and therefore better able to cast votes. Next, the paper discusses the leadership and activity of the leaders of the suffrage movement: ElizabethCadyStanton and Susan B. Anthony. The paper then turns to the actions and involvement of more radical female suffragettes, including Chapman Catt and Maud Wood Park. The paper concludes with an analysis of oppositional forces, and discusses how these forces continue to be echoed among some right wing conservative groups today.
From the Paper "The turn of the century saw the apparition of a new wave of fighters and believers in the women's right to vote. Women like Chapman Catt and Maud Wood Park, not to mention Stanton's daughter, Harriot E. Bleach, used their dedication and commitment to push further the process. Some of them believed that they would have better chances to succeed if they appealed to a certain category of women. Chapman Catt, for example received support from middle-class women, while Lucy Burns or Alice Paul turned to working women and radical movements in their efforts. A subsequent radicalization of the movement followed, with demonstrations and alternative forms of protest, such as chaining oneself to the White House fence . Hunger strikes in jail often followed their arrest."
Abstract This paper traces the history of the women's suffrage movement in 19th century America, with an emphasis on its leaders and goals. In particular, the contributions of ElizabethCadyStanton and Fanny Wright are illustrated through their writings and lectures. The paper states that women earning the right to vote meant a nearly complete transformation of social norms in the United States. The paper also describes the connection between the abolitionist movement and women's suffrage. The writer concludes that despite the ratification of the 19th Amendment, women still suffered from widespread discrimination and continue to fight for equal rights even today.
From the Paper "Susan B. Anthony and scores of other prominent suffragists rallied as much for the cause of abolition as for women's rights. One of the most notable companion causes of 19th century suffragists was the temperance movement. In fact, suffragist Frances Willard had been intimately involved in the Christian Temperance movement and in 1891 became president World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union. The temperance movement's primary objective was the reduction in alcohol abuse, and in 1872, the Prohibition Party became the "first national political party to recognize the right of suffrage for women in its platform," ("Women's History in America"). Therefore, the women's suffrage movement did not exist in isolation of other social, economic, and political causes."
Abstract This paper outlines the history of the Women's Rights Movement. A detailed description of three central female figures involved, is provided: ElizabethCadyStanton, Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone. Each of these women's roles played in the progression of the Women's Rights Movement is discussed. The various legislative successes enjoyed by the early Women's Rights Movement are presented.
The Start of the Revolution
The Unjust Treatment of Women
Declaration of Sentiments
Ridicule Turns to Power
Susan B. Anthony
Lucy Stone
Conclusion
Works Cited
From the Paper "In July 13, 1848, the Women's Rights Movement began (Degler). Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a housewife and mother, discussed the status of women during a tea with four female friends. Stanton expressed her dissatisfaction regarding the limitations placed on women under America's new democracy. She wondered aloud why women did not enjoy the same freedom as men, despite the fact that they had taken equal risks during the American Revolution (Degler, p. 96). Stanton and her friends agreed that the new republic would benefit from having women play greater roles in society. The women create a plan to change things on this day."
From the Paper "Although they did not live to see the fruits of their effort, the work of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton was key in advancing the social reform issues in the nineteenth century, mainly that of women's suffrage. "
This paper compares and contrasts the arguments in favor of women's rights made by three pioneering American feminists: Judith Sargent Murray, Sarah Grimke and ElizabethCadyStanton.
Abstract This analysis reveals the centrality of religious argumentation to the feminism of all three. This paper discusses how Murray and Grimke were both converts to varieties of evangelical Protestantism who drew considerable intellectual and emotional nourishment from strands of Christianity, which encouraged, or at least did not discourage, their personal development. Unlike Murray and Grimke, however, Stanton did not convert to evangelicalism. The writer examines how Stanton, instead, launched upon a secularizing trajectory that took her beyond Christianity to Comtean Positivism and rationalism. Unlike Murray and Grimke, she acknowledged the problems inherent in any attempt to square Christianity with feminism. However, she never rejected the Bible completely, and she is appropriately viewed with respect today as a pioneer of feminist biblical criticism. The paper concludes that although feminist thought demonstrates considerable progress in the century between Murray and Stanton, this progress was at odds with the growing influence of evangelical Christianity in American life as a whole.
From the Paper "In the above paper, we charted the development of nineteenth-century American feminist thought against the backdrop of American intellectual history as a whole. Yet although there is a clear sense of progress here, it has to be conceded that such progress was strictly internal to feminism. If one looks at the broader development of American intellectual life, however, it is apparent that, despite the demise of the state churches by 1833 (Isenberg 101), the serial religious revivals of the nineteenth century fostered greater national dependence on Christianity as a source of the country's national ethos. The intensifying hegemony of evangelical Christianity made the Bible increasingly authoritative. The more authoritative the Bible became, the more entrenched its doctrines of female subordination became in the wider society."
