Rhetorical Analysis Of The Declaration Of Independence

The Declaration of Independence is a major representation of freedom put together by one of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson. The proposal of having separated independence had already been conveyed by John Locke and a few other philosophers. However, Thomas Jefferson condensed these philosophies into sections of injustices opposing the King of Britain to give justification for separating the attachment that was in between Britain and the settlements. Along with this historical document, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an important part of the women's rights movement, put together a document named, “The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Seneca Falls Convention, 1848.” Stanton’s essay is very similar to the writings of Thomas Jefferson,

She created this document completely parallel to that of Jefferson's and showed the irony in Jefferson’s words to try and make a change for the rights of women. As people around the country began learning of this new effort, women gained more supporters. Jefferson put together the Declaration of Independence to gain freedom because “all men are created equal” (551). But unfortunately, women at the time were property of men, were treated like slaves, and had no liberty. To demonstrate her end, Stanton took the complete preamble from the Declaration of Independence and showed that the focal point of her declaration would solely be on rights of women in opposition to gaining independence from Britain’s despotism. Since the Declaration of Independence was very well known, it was extremely improbable that the documents similarity wouldn’t be familiarized by people. The resemblance helped Stanton to attach her main points of attaining women’s liberty from society's cruel and oppressive rule along with the Founding Father’s ideas of freedom, in resistance to the tyranny of Britain. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson describes that, “The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let

Stanton deviates from Jefferson’s patterns because she perceives equality of the sexes to be a major general notion of independence, whereas the Declaration of Independence see’s equality of men and politics to be a major notion of independence. Stanton includes a list of resolutions in her essay of things that needed to be arranged for the freedom of women and illustrates, “Resolved, That woman is man’s equal-was intended to be so by the Creator, and the highest good of the race demands that she should be recognized as such.” (Stanton 559). In this area of her resolution, Stanton manifests that women are equivalent to men and that even the highest authority has declared for this to be correct. Another area Stanton adjusts is Jefferson’s s declaration that, “all men are created equal” (551) and changes it to “all men and women are created equal” (557) in order to show that women deserve just as much as men do for they are both equivalent. Stanton’s deviations from Jefferson’s patterns was essential for her purpose because she wanted to gain equal rights with men and had to show what needed to be achieved for