Seneca Falls Convention Research Paper

Seneca Falls Convention
Cristina M. Laudando
James B. Conant High School

Introduction
In 1848 Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were both abolitionists, they met and together organized the Seneca Falls Convention. They both had reasons and goals to end women’s suffrage and slavery. The convention was meant to show people that women should have equal or even some similar rights as men. There was a lot of preparation and time that the women had to put into this. Many women back then were too afraid to stand up for themselves and for their rights. These two women specifically …show more content…
The convention came to the surface when two women met at the Anti- Slavery Convention that was being held in London. Women such as Elizabeth Stanton, Martha wright, and Lucretia Mott were three out of many women who wanted to advocate women’s suffrage. Elizabeth Stanton was a suffragist and one of the leading women in the women’s rights movement and the Seneca Falls convention. She was born on November 12, 1815 in Johnstown, New York. Her parents even favored her brother. “Her parents were Daniel Cady and Margaret Livingston Cady. From early on, her father “made no secret of his preference for another son.” This prompted Stanton to excel in her schoolwork and become eager to succeed in the same ways as her male counterparts.” She went to Emma Willard's Troy Female Seminary School and she graduated at 17, after graduating she immediately began to fight for women’s rights. As for Martha Wright she was born on December 25, 1806 in Boston Massachusetts. She was also an abolitionist, feminist and she signed the Declaration of Sentiments. “ The Declaration of Sentiments was inspired by the Declaration of Independence and followed its form. It demanded that women get the same rights as men and that society would acknowledge those rights. In the sentiments, a list of male oppression toward women appears. This includes keeping women subordinate in state and in church, monopolizing the work …show more content…
These women had to put a lot of time and effort into their work and raise awareness to people that women’s rights should be similar if not equal to men’s rights. Stanton and Mott called for the conference to discuss religious, social, and civil rights for women. They started planning in the beginning of July to later have the convention on July 19 and 20, of 1848. The planning involved advertising which was done in newspapers that had headlines saying the two day conference was being held at the end of the month. The convention was held at the Wesleyan chapel in Seneca Falls, New York in July. The convention was two days long, the first day was specifically for women that were invited to attend. It was advertised so that on the first day, somewhere around 200 women that were invited came together at the chapel and then Stanton read the Declaration of Sentiments and Grievances. This was thought of over days and represented the issues that were forced on women in the U.S. and caused women to petition for their rights. The second day was when all of the public was invited including the men. Around 50 men did show, one of them being Frederick Douglass- a famous African American abolitionist. On the second day, the Declaration of Sentiments was signed and the convention actually passed 12 resolutions for women’s rights. The Declaration included a preamble which said “We hold these truths

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