Critique Of Anthony Rotundo's Deceleration Of Sentiments

Revisions and Critiques are one of the corner stones of humanity. Nothing would have ever changed in this world if nobody ever critiqued or questioned it. Throughout this class we have had the chance to read some of these critiques that sparked anything from change to at least thought. I have picked out the 3 that I believe either have critiqued something to a point that it could have sparked change or smaller critiques that could have ignited thought in the minds that read it at that time and now. One of these works is Deceleration of Sentiments which was wrote by Elizabeth Stanton to critique the way the Deceleration of Independence was written to protect men. Another piece I will be discussing is American Manhood written by Anthony Rotundo

All of these critiques bring up important issues that at the time were taken as how things were, and not something that should be changed to overall improve society.…………... In the Declaration of Sentiments previously mentioned Elizabeth Stanton sought to critique the declaration of independence and the way it only addressed and secured the rights of white males. This critique not only took place in the language she used, but also the way she mimicked the Declaration of Independence. This mimicking enhanced the message of her document because there is no way the readers can deny the ties between the two. In this piece she addressed many of the issues women of that time were facing. Although it mainly was written to address the issues white women faced due to the way white women were the main focus of the women’s movement at that time. Stanton wrote this with the help of her fellow women that were at the Seneca Falls convention, due to their only being white women there it strictly addressed their issues. This document was meant to be a very explicate critique of the declaration of independence and the state of America as a whole at that time.

Davis and Rotundo both chose to go with a more implicate critique which I feel is to decrease backlash so that more thought can be had instead of immediate outrage. This work mainly looks at the grass roots of feminism which can be both viewed as a critique or just a statement of facts. Davis starts by introducing the feminist movements and it beginning ties to the abolitionist movement which was just growing stronger at the time the feminist movement began. Davis then goes on to discuss the racial tensions that began to develop when the feminist movement was picking up speed as the abolitionist movement died down. Although they were all fighting for the same basic rights when it was no longer convenient for white women to have the African American population as part of their movement they forgot about them. This can be seen in the was Fredrick Douglass’s daughter was treated when she tried to attend a white school. As Davis states she was turned away and to add insult to injury “The principal who issued the order was an abolitionist woman!” (Davis, page 59) Davis’s main critique is that the white women used the abolitionist movement to push ahead their own agenda till it was no longer necessary. Davis also mentions how no women of