Elizabeth Cady Stanton's The Declaration Of Sentiments

“The United States in the 1840s seethed with a variety of reform movements, inspired by the religious upheaval known as the Second Great Awakening” (DeBlasio). “The Declaration of Sentiments is a document drafted primarily by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and signed in 1848 by 68 women and 32 men, 100 out of some 300 attendees at the first women's rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York, now known as the Seneca Falls Convention” (“Declaration”). “Formatted similarly to the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration Of Sentiments and Resolutions states the feelings of women who at this time had no legal rights in our country such as the right to own property, vote, earn wages, own business, own land, as well as other rights that men received

For example, “He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise. He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns. He has endeavored, in every way that he could to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life.” This makes the American government and men and women throughout the colonies think about how the men are controlling everything women do and their way of life. Elizabeth Cady Stanton listed multiple facts and truths about how the government (which consists only of men) and the men themselves are taking away these women's rights and property. She further explains how unfair these laws and regulations are and the little freedom women actually have. The men would not let the women take part in the government nor will they put her in the position where she is higher than a

For example, her declaration is formatted the same way that Thomas Jefferson, wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776 separating the document into three sections. In Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration, his three parts include general principles and rights, detailed particular instances from the king, and drawn conclusions about what they are going to do next. Elizabeth Cady Stanton follows keeps the same format but strays away from it at times to keep the ultimate goal in mind: complete and absolute women’s rights as a citizen of the United States. She starts with general principles and rights, just like Jefferson; but instead of including detailed particular instances, Stanton talks in broader terms about how men have denied women over the course of history without citing specific examples with names and dates. In the end, she strays away from Thomas Jefferson’s third section as well and in the end she engages with the audience, calling for immediate action. Elizabeth Cady Stanton uses the call for action to inspire her listening audience to want to protest and rebel so they can eventually gain the same equal rights and opportunities that the men already