How Did The Seneca Civil War Impact The Women's Rights Movement?

The average woman in 1848 could not vote, they worked at home for the cottage industry; which is making cloth at home, and taking care of the children; but if they did work, they worked in factories and made little to nothing. This was also known as the Cult of Domesticity. This system emphasized ideas of femininity. During this time, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott went to London with their husbands to participate in the National Slavery Abolition Convention only to find out that they were not allowed to participate in the convention because they were women. They decided to hold a Women’s Rights Convention in New York when they returned, this convention became known as the Seneca Falls Convention. At the Seneca Falls Convention

The struggle for Manifest Destiny made it a conflict for women at this time. Manifest Destiny was a worry for Congress, because it would change the balance in the Congress between free and slave states. This was a concern because if the U.S. won the states from the Mexican American War, the Missouri Compromise would make the states slave states which would throw the balance in Congress between free and slave states. Women were trying to convince Congress that women deserved the same rights as any man, but the Mexican American War was a bigger issue in Congress at this time. The women of the Seneca Falls Convention decided not to continue to push for women’s rights until later in time. Women felt that Congress was not truly listening to them while the war was going on (Active USA Center). During the time of the Mexican American War, women were getting ready to push for the right to vote, but Congress was more focused on the issues of slavery. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass had worked together before, but at this time they had a decision to make. Were women’s rights more important than the freeing of slaves? Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the defenders of women’s rights movement decided against pushing for the right to vote, and instead helped Frederick Douglass fight for the freeing of slaves (Dubose and Dumenil). Women were not going to stand in the way of the freeing

The backlash from the men in society saying that women were scandalised in saying that they deserved the right to vote. Men did not believe that the government was something that women should be involved in. Elizabeth Cady Stanton had said before the “Declaration of Sentiments, Grievances and Resolutions” came out that men would perceive it as a misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule it. (Eisenberg and Ruthsdotter). When the backlash hit from the Declaration, Elizabeth Cady Stanton lost many followers. She lost followers because they felt that men would disown them if they were found with Stanton, and because they thought that these ideas were outlandish. Women thought that these ideas were outlandish because they had lived this way for so long why would they want to change the way they live now. The backlash from the declaration damaged the women’s rights