Of course, many people would argue that we should all have the freedom to be who we are whether it is the language we speak in our country that we live in or our race from where we come from. Although, in order for many people to gain their rights and to have the freedom they want they had to battle for them, in other words, die for their freedom. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass both redefine “freedom” by initiating that freedom is not precisely for everyone. In her speech, “The Declaration of Sentiments,” author and speaker, Elizabeth Cady Stanton maintains almost the same as Frederick Douglass about the rights of women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton states, “In the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he becoming, to all intents and purposes, her master - the law giving him power to deprive her of her liberty...”
The Declaration of Independence includes the statement that all men are created equal. Not all people had the rights and freedoms of everyone else. Source B is a letter from Abigail Adams to her husband, John Adams. She declares that the Continental Congress in Philadelphia should be generous and favorable to the women, by letting them have a say in government, and give them more rights. In Source C, the author of this slave petition to the House of Representatives expresses his feelings of not being able to have freedoms as an African American living in America.
America is the land of the free and home of the brave, but has it always been? If someone were to reference old documents like The Declaration of Independence or even The Constitution they would think so, but American history itself says otherwise. During the mid 1770’s slavery was an almost unquestioned normality and women had no rights, however when The Declaration of Independence was written, the statement, “all men are created equal” appeared while Thomas Jefferson stated the natural rights of every human. This statement is clearly not true in the eyes of the men who wrote and edited this document, hence proving that the statement “all men were created equal” is hypocritical. In accordance to primary sources gained from this period of intolerance and recreations of it, it is clear that not only were the women not treated as equal, but the African men and women treated as property were also stripped of the three main rights and liberties the Declaration argues for.
The idea of all men are created equal is specious because there were Slavery, and women did not have equal rights as men. Sources A, B, C, D, show how the statement “all men are created equal” is hypocritical. The Declaration of Independence, from Source A, provides the reader that the Declaration of Natural Rights is false. In Source B, the letter from Abigail Adams shows how men had “unlimited power,” and women did not have the ability to vote, own property, or speak out in Congress. In Source C, it conveys how Slavery provoked unfair rights, embittered lives, and the loss of natural rights.
Thomas Jefferson wrote one of the most important and ironic phrases in the United States’s history: “...that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable right; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (652). The Declaration of Independence boasts that it supports that all men have a right to liberty. However, even though they declare it, it does not always hold truthful. The declaration only promotes the freedom and separation as a united country or for the men of the occupied countries. There is no reference to women, people of color, or children in regards to liberty.
By using the countries’ own governmental document, Anthony masterfully poses, “In this very first paragraph of the declaration, is the assertion of the natural right of all to the ballot; for, how can “the consent of the governed” be given, if the right to vote be denied. Again: ‘That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundations on such principles’” (Anthony par. 4-5). Women are citizens of the United States who are governed, yet they have no say in their government.
“Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote… if we are to consider her as a citizen, as a member of a great nation, she must have the same rights as all other members” (Brinkley, 483). Woman began fighting for equality by pushing for voting rights. Furthermore, women affected progressivism by developing roles outside of the household and also urging for suffrage which led to the passage of the 19th amendment that granted women the right to
Another document, Speech at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention, explains that women should be equal to men. The author shows the audience that women are powerful and strong and deserve equal rights. “the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone”, a powerful quote from the speech, shows how the speaker advocates for women's equality. Also, the background information explains
It can be argued that black men were not more deserving of rights than women, and that black men gaining rights before women was disregarding women and their suffering as a whole. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton made this claim in a letter to The Revolution (June 18, 1868), when they wrote, “But we say, if you will not give the whole loaf of suffrage to the entire people, give it to the most intelligent first. If intelligence, justice, and morality are to have precedence in the government, let the question of the woman be brought up first and that of the negro last.” Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton believed that rights should be given to those who are of a higher moral status, that women deserved them more because of their intelligence. They also wrote, “How insulting to put every shade and type of manhood above our heads, to make laws for educated refined, wealthy women.”
He believes that women and men should have equally rights on everything, that is no correct because of being born as a woman you do not have less right, than a man. He concluded that equality is not based on sexuality and skin color. Douglass was, one of the most important defenders of women rights, in the 19th century. He participated in the First Women Rights Convention in 1848, together with Elizabet M’ Clintock, a Quaker woman, who believe in equality for women, to work in a business atmosphere. Douglass wrote a passage in his North Star newspaper, point out by The National Historical Park Service New York , about women rights in a political perspective, which begins by illustrating “All that distinguishes man as an intelligent and accountable being, is equally true of woman; and if that government is only just which governs by the free consent of the governed, there can be no reason in the world for denying to woman the exercise of the elective franchise” (National Park, p. 1).
Freedom of being who you are and acceptance is something that people with blessing overlook, and people without it strive to attain. Throughout American literature and history, problems of injustice have always been present. Sadly, many just accept the fact they are detested by society and very few know how to fight against it. The community has a way of creating a variety of oppression groups, American Literature being no exception, such as race and gender. Only with the help of these daring, brave authors can society revolutionize, each in their own unique way.
In today’s world, it seems to be that women have the same rights as men, but it wasn't always this way. The speech “Women’s Rights to Suffrage” by Susan B Anthony is the most compelling of all. Susan B Anthony persuades the audience that all women should have the same rights as men. It’s shown through the speech that the federal constitution says “we the people”, the government has no right to take away rights from just one gender, and that women are considered people as well. The fact that the constitution says “we the people” is a primary point in this speech.
From the founding of a new nation, one phrase is heard throughout its history: The five words that, “All men are created equal” (Declaration of Independence). Throughout the nation’s time, whether it be the Gettysburg Address (Lincoln) or the Letter from a Birmingham Jail (King). The nation itself believed in the fact that every person of the human race is equal to each other, no matter their skin color, race, gender, or anything else of that matter as it is the most basis of most, if not all, human rights. All men and women of all backgrounds are able to live in and contribute to the great nation without fear of having their basic rights taken away. The United States adequately supports human rights by allowing its citizens to choose what
Whether it be social discrimination or women’s rights, people in the history of the United States have been fighting for equal rights. The poem “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and the speech titled “After Being Convicted of Voting in the 1872 Presidential Election” by Susan B. Anthony both have similarities and differences. They are similar with their central idea and author’s purpose; they are different in how their supporting details are executed. The two pieces share the central idea of “an aspiration for equal rights” and a similar author’s purpose. Both the speech and the poem share the plea of the author, whether it is an emotional plea or a political plea.
Susan B. Anthony, a woman who was arrested for illegally voting in the president election of 1872, in her “On Women's Right to Vote” speech, argues that women deserve to be treated as citizens of America and be able to vote and have all the rights that white males in America have. She begins by introducing her purpose, then provides evidence of how women are citizens of America, not just males by using the preamble of the Constitution, then goes on about the how this problem has became a big problem and occurs in every home in the nation, and finally states that women deserve rights because the discrimination against them is not valid because the laws and constitutions give rights to every CITIZEN in America. Anthony purpose is to make the woman of America realize that the treatment and limitations that hold them back are not correct because they are citizens and they deserve to be treated like one. She adopts a expressive and confident tone to encourage and light the hearts of American woman. To make her speech effective, she incorporates ethos in her speech to support her claims and reasons.
