Declaration vs. Declaration Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote “A Declaration of Sentiments” in July 1848 as a fight for women’s rights at a convention in Seneca Falls, New York, where she presented it. Stanton modeled the writing of her own declaration on the infamous “Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson. Although both of these pieces of writings were based on American freedom, they were two completely different aspects of freedom and deriving issues. “The Declaration of Sentiments” was based on the equality of men and women, and “The Declaration was based on political equality. Stanton's style of her writing was nearly identical to Jefferson’s. She is trying to get more attention to the independence and rights that women failed to receive during those times and was determined to change that. Due to Stanton's way of addressing the issue, she has had a huge impact on the gaining of women's rights. …show more content…
Of course Jefferson then goes on to talk about the political aspects of freedom in America, while Stanton goes on to talk about the lack of equality between men and women and lack thereof when it comes to women's equality. Stanton strategically did this to catch the attention of the American public, especially the women, as the point of the convention was to get women to want to get equal treatment with men from equal treatment in marriage to equal working opportunities. While using the same style as Jefferson, Stanton also used a lot of his wording. The use of “He” is constantly used by both Jefferson and Stanton, but both have different meanings. In Jefferson’s declaration, “He” is referring to the King; whereas the use of “He” in Stanton’s writing refers to male
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the most renowned women to lead campaigns for women’s rights. Her efforts were focused on "opportunities for women, for married women’s property rights, the right to divorce, and the right to custody of children; her most radical demand was for women’s right to vote" (Davidson and Wagner-Martin 845). In general Stanton wished to instill independence and self-reliance in all women. Stanton was an inspiring orator of speeches including the Declaration of Sentiments as well as the book The Women’s Bible. Upon analysis of her speeches and other works, as well as gaining knowledge of her background, one is able to assume that personal experience strongly affected her writing, which illustrates her writing as representative in that it addressed inequality based on the issue of gender. Another factor that influenced her writing was the way in which she interpreted the great works, the Declaration of Independence and the Holy Bible. Noticing the obvious discrimination and guidelines set for women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton composed a new "women friendly" version of each that she called the Declaration of Sentiments and The Women’s Bible.
America is well known for many things, and one of the main qualities is the idea and practice of freedom and liberty. When thinking of the United States, one would probably say “Land of the free, Home of the brave.” America is a place where citizens have rights, can have happiness, and are free to live the life they choose. Although America is so free now, have citizens always had the rights that they have today? The founding fathers of the United States of America made the way to freedom when the Declaration of Independence was written, but even though it was written down, not all citizens had freedom. When Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote The Declaration of Sentiments, she used The Declaration of Independence as a guide. Freedom was still freedom, of course, but Stanton used it for a purpose that was different from how the founding fathers used it. When Stanton wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, she not only included the way Americans believe in freedom and liberty, she also included the way the beliefs can change and be interpreted in different ways.
“To deny political equality is to rob the ostracised of all self-respect.” - Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Stanton did not reveal much in her memoirs, so the author had to work hard to bring this information to the surface. The convention changed the course of history by starting by protecting women’s rights and enhancing overall gender equality. The book is a reflection of women’s activity in the name of their freedom and rights and equality for fifty years. The book is significant both to the present and to the past, as long as there are many issues in the society related to the women’s rights, and to the time studied in the class. 2.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” These were the mighty words that Thomas Jefferson wrote down he developed his portion of the Declaration of Independence. Some people do not recognize Thomas Jefferson as one of the founding fathers, with other names like Ben Franklin and John Hancock being thrown around the room, but yet we should see him as the most important one. Thomas Jefferson was assigned to make a draft for the document. He chose to talk about how all men are equal and everybody deserves life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The declaration of independence is one of the most important documents in history and made all men equal, meaning one race is not superior to another. This influenced the public by making the black race have hope because now, they could see that one day they would be just as equal as...
Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s speech was very impactful thanks to her well thought-out address, emotionally impactful statements, and rhetorical devices. By using emotional, logical, and ethical appeals, she was able to persuade many, and show a first hand look at someone personally crippled by the lack of women’s rights in her time. Through her experience, she was able to give an exceptional speech conveying the deprivation of women in her time, changing society, and helping women reach equality in America.
When Thomas Jefferson wrote the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, it became one of his greatest legacies. In the first line he wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" (U.S. Constitution, paragraph 2). Jefferson wrote these words to give inspiration to future generations in the hopes that they would be able to change what he either would or could not. The word “men” in the Declaration in the early 1700 and 1800’s meant exactly that, but even then it only was true for some men, not all. Women, children, and other segments of the population such as slaves and Native Americans were clearly not included. Jefferson himself was a slave owner and held the belief that women were inferior to men. Though women played no role in the political environment, they were crucial to the development and economic success of the times. The strength, courage and work ethic of pioneer women like Martha Ballard in “A Midwife’s Tale” (Thatcher, 1990) created the very fabric of the community and wove it together so the community could thrive.
More than three hundred citizens came to take part in one of the most important documents written in women’s history during the Women’s Right’s Convention in upstate Seneca, New York, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott on July 19-20, 1848 (Ryder). Stanton became persistent when she included a resolution supporting voting rights for women in the document, intimidated by this notion her loyal husband threatened to boycott the convention. “Even Lucretia Mott warned her, ‘Why Lizzie, thee will make us ridiculous!’ ‘Lizzie,’ however, refused to yield” (Rynder). As Mott dreaded, out of eleven resolutions the most argumentative was the ninth–women’s suffrage resolution. The other 10 resolutions passed consistently. “According to Cady Stanton’s account, most who opposed this resolution did so because they believed it would compromise the others. She, however, remained adamant” (Rynder). When the two-day convention was over, one hundred men and women signed the historical the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments to...
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Thomas Jefferson, a white, Christian, political southern slave owner, wrote these words in 1776, a period in United States history when slavery thrived. The writer of the Declaration of Independence contradicts himself when he states that all men are created equal, when in actuality, his slaves were denied all that humans were meant to cherish.
In anaylsing the validity of this statement, “We are all benefiting from the great feminists who struggled and suffered and worked to give us everything women now enjoy.” it can be concluded that Stanton was a women who was able to reinvent and influence women’s rights all over the world. She was a feminist who encountered many struggles, leading and influencing thousands of women throughout her career. To this day her work is still remembered and recognised by all, as the right to vote becomes increasingly important in today’s world.
Women’s rights pioneer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in her speech, The Destructive Male, expresses her feelings about Women's suffrage in 1868, and brought to light the misconception that women are not equal to man and imply that men bring more destruction than restoration.
Sixty- nine years after the Declaration of Independence, one group of women gathered together and formed the Seneca Falls Convention. Prior and subsequent to the convention, women were not allowed to vote because they were not considered equal to men. During the convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivered the “Declaration of Sentiments.” It intentionally resembles the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal…” (Stanton, 466). She replaced the “men” with “men and women” to represent that women and men should be treated equally. Stanton and the other women in the convention tried to fight for voting rights. Dismally, when the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced to the Congress, the act failed to be passed. Even though women voiced their opinions out and urged for justice, they could not get 2/3 of the states to agree to pass the amendment. Women wanted to tackle on the voting inequalities, but was resulted with more inequalities because people failed to listen to them. One reason why women did not achieve their goals was because the image of the traditional roles of women was difficult to break through. During this time period, many people believed that women should remain as traditional housewives.
In the speech, Stanton mentions the “record of blood and cruelty the pages of history reveal” (Stanton) in regards to the established patriarchy. The phrasing of the “pages of history” grant Stanton support and belief because the actual historical record of Stanton’s argument displays the accurate knowledge of events and implies a need for change. Also, Stanton uses the conflict between man’s law and God’s law to support her cause: “she must respect his statutes, though they strip her of every inalienable right, and conflict with that higher law written by the finger of God on her own soul” (Stanton). Through the juxtaposition of man’s “statutes” and “higher law,” Stanton validates her standing because by using God as a higher power and implying that men are against God, it is only natural for women to gain rights because it is the “godly” thing to do. Elizabeth Cady Stanton implements ethos to gain validity in her cause in employing actual evidence for history and emphasizing the support of women’s rights by
Stanton and Mott were infuriated with the rejection of women, so they decided to hold a women’s rights meeting. This meeting was considered a Women’s Rights convention and was held in Seneca Falls. This was the very first meeting and was held in New York. Stanton then composed “The Declaration of Sentiments.” The text proposed that women should receive the right education, and changes to the law to raise the status of a “lady.”
The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson between June 11th and 28th of 1776. This document was created to demonstrate a new concept of government, resonating the thirteen colonies’ reasons for separating from England and declaring war. Moreover, to dissolve the political relationship that America had with England’s laws. This document’s rhetoric was directed at King George the third. Jefferson constructs a philosophical statement that carries the peoples voice and appeals to his readers through fundamental beliefs. Lewis Masquerier adopted this philosophical statement in his document, Declaration of Independence of the Producing from the Non-Producing Class in 1844. The underling theme is almost the same, equality for men and the right to liberate one-self from oppression. However, Masquerier’s declaration has many similarities but at the same time many differences, such as the topic of social reform instead of political. Masquerier notices the importance of the original document 68 years later creating a historical difference in tone, style, and rhetoric. Non-the less, both documents utilize langue to influence the audience and call for a social reform established by concepts of Marxism using rhetoric.