The Women’s Rights Movement, and The Seneca Falls Convention One of the most important events of the nineteenth century was the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York. It was the first official meeting that would advocate for the legal status of men, and women to be equal. The convention was important because in the early to mid-1800s, and even as late as the 1940s women had very few rights. They could not get an education, could not vote, and could not hold public office. Men were in complete control of their wives and children. Two of the most important women that organized the Seneca Falls Convention were, Lucretia Mott, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Susan B. Anthony, and Lucy Stone would also become important to the women’s …show more content…
Women could not get the same education as men. It was rare for women to attend college, or to learn beyond what was necessary to maintain the house hold. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a rare exception. Her father was a judge, so she grew up in a wealthy family, and was lucky enough to receive a quality education despite not going to college. The education she received when she was young would help her to write the Declaration of Sentiments. In addition to not being able to get an education, women were excluded from juries, could not vote, or hold public office. McMillen writes, “…voting was a privilege, not a right, of citizenship. Most Americans assumed that women did not need to vote; husband and fathers would represent them well.”(24) At the time it was believed that because women did not demand the right to vote they shouldn’t have to deal with the burden of suffrage. Finally, married women were at the mercy of their husbands. When a woman married she yielded control of her property to the husband, even though the property would still be legally under the wife’s name. The husband would also have complete control over the household and children. The Seneca Falls Convention was the first time these inequalities were formally addressed, and would be the beginning of the women’s rights …show more content…
Early in her life, Stanton was an admirer of Mott’s contributions to the anti-slavery movement. Stanton had first met Mott on her honeymoon at an anti-slavery convention. These two women would become the principle organizers of the Seneca Falls Convention, which was the first formal meeting about women’s rights. The meetings took place over two days, in which one hundred people signed the Declaration of Sentiments. The Declaration of Sentiments was a revision to the phrase “…all men are created equal…” written by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. When Stanton wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, she wanted equal legal status for men and women. As well as women’s