Declaration Of Sentiments Analysis

Luis Arias

Analysis of The Declaration of Sentiments

Written in 1848 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, The Declaration of Sentiments has changed the world of women’s rights, changing it into what it is today. This document was written as a declaration, and as a petition. It was written for the Seneca Falls Convention on July 19-20 1848. This convention was for the purpose of women discussing their rights and desires to be free of the oppression that they faced. On the second day of the convention, men were invited to come and show support to the women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born on November 12, 1815, and died on October 26, 1902. She was born number eight of eleven children to parents Daniel Cady, and Margaret Livingston Cady. Her mother was

a descendant of Dutch settlers and her father was an attorney who later became the Supreme Court Justice of New York. Stanton was an abolitionist and believed in the abolishment of slavery very strongly. She later devoted all her time to being a women’s rights activist. Stanton worked tirelessly for the equality of people. She was also a wife and mother to eight children. Unlike most women during her time, Stanton had a formal education and attended Johnstown Academy. This was a co-educational school and she attended classes with both young men and women. After her graduation from the Academy, she experienced some of her first gender discrimination where she saw that she could not attend college like many of the boy she went to class with. She later attended Troy Female Seminary, where she would be the keynote speaker some years after.
The form this document took on was very deliberately done. The beginning of this declaration is modeled after the Declaration of Independence. This was a smart decision because it was women’s way of declaring their freedom from the oppression similar to the oppression that the colonists faced from the British Empire. Modeling their document after this already prominent and historical declaration gave the women a powerful template and backing, which powered their statements. Stanton gives special attention to add the “woman” to every “man” in the document. She is writing this declaration to the governing men of the country so that they may acquire the same freedoms as their male counterparts. This document was written for the men in society. Men were and may arguably still be the dominant figures in society. This is especially true for life in the 1800s when this was written . men dominated everything from the workforce to those who ruled and governed. Women, very similarly to slaves at the time, had no rights and had to listen to their “master” or their men. Knowing that this document is being written to men allows us to see the tact and skill used to write this paper. Stanton is not rude in her declaration nor does she harbor any “man- hating” sentiment in her writing. The only feelings being expressed in this paper is the need for equality.
This document has undeniable value when it comes to the changes it has made in history.

Women’s suffrage has been a prominent issue and even now, there are issues of sexism and equal rights. This document is valuable in the sense that it really laid out the terms of conditions, which a certain group of women wanted to get across. It also provided much of the ground work as well as the push needed to actually get their job done. This document was created in order to list many of the issues that were affecting women at the time, and things that can be done to rectify these wrongs. It was created to insight change in the world that they lived in, and has affected the world, which we experience today. Stanton states many of the problems that women faced. The first is that women are not treated equally to men at all. In fact, women had almost the same relationship to men, as slaves did to their masters. Because of this, one of the first thing that Stanton writes is that men and women are created equal, therefore should have the same rights as each other. Stanton then proceeds by saying that it is the right of those who suffer to refuse allegiance to those who are oppressing them. She is setting up the scene to talk about women’s rights. She then makes a daring statement by saying that history is riddled with “repeated injuries” by man towards women. This could have been a potentially dangerous statement to make as a woman during the 1800s. The first specific issue mentioned by Stanton is that man has not granted women the right to vote. The next grievance is that fact that women were made to obey laws, which they had no say in writing. Stanton wanted women to be able to vote as well as have a voice in the decisions that are made outside of elections. She then mentions how even the most “ignorant and degraded” men have the rights that women of good standing do not. Women are left without representation and once married, are “civilly dead”. She then talks about how men

have laid the rules in regards to marriage and have left nothing to the women in the event of a divorce. Women would not be educated if the man chooses so and that is another point Stanton makes. She also mentions how women had no place in the affairs of the church and how the men have basically deemed themselves gods in relation to the women in their lives.
Many of the issues women faced were presented in this declaration for women’s rights, but one thing we do not know about are the other issues that were afflicting women at the time. Looking solely at this document, we cannot tell if it worked or not. Looking at our history and the progression of women’s rights, we can see that the issues Stanton mentioned are no longer problems the same way they were before. Women were not, are not, and won’t ever be objects or property of the men in the world. Women in the 1800s were determined to be treated as equals and would work hard and persevere to achieve the goal of equal rights.