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Different groups at different times have turned to founding documents of the United States to meet their needs and to declare their entitlement to the promises of the Revolution of 1776. At Seneca Falls, New York in the summer of 1848, a group of American men and women met to discuss the legal limitations imposed on women during this period. Their consciousness of those limitations had been raised by their participation in the anti-slavery movement; eventually they used the language and structure of the Declaration of Independence to stake their claim to the rights they felt women were entitled to as American citizens. This Digest places the events of the Seneca Falls Convention within the larger context of American reform movements of the 1840s, discusses the influence of the Declaration of Independence on the Convention, and provides teachers and students with a sampling of social studies curriculum resources such as primary source documents, books, articles, and lesson plans available through local libraries or the World Wide Web.
America in the 1840s was in the throes of cultural and economic change. In the years since the Revolution and the Constitutional Convention, the nation's geographic boundaries and population had more than doubled, the population had shifted significantly westward, and many Americans' daily lives had drifted away from Jefferson's vision of a nation composed of independent farmers. Instead, farmers, artisans, and manufacturers existed in a world built around cash crops, manufactured goods, banks, and distant markets. Historians generally refer to this shift from production for a local economy based on a series of shared relationships to production for a distant, unknown market as the Market Revolution. Not all Americans welcomed these changes, which often left them feeling isolated and cut off from traditional sources of community and comfort.
In an effort to regain a sense of community and control over their nation's future, Americans, especially women, formed and joined reform societies. Inspired by the message of the Second Great Awakening (a religious movement that emphasized man's potential and forgiveness of sin) and the Transcendentalist message of man's innate goodness, reformers joined together in organizations aimed at improving life in America. These groups attacked what they perceived as the various wrongs in their society, including the lack of free public school education for both boys and girls, the inhumane treatment of mentally ill patients and criminals, the evil of slavery, the widespread use of alcohol, and the "rights and wrongs" of American women's legal position. The Seneca Falls Convention is a part of this larger period of social reform movements, a time when concern about the rights of various groups percolated to the surface.
What brought three hundred men and women to this small upstate New York town in July 1848? Women of the Revolutionary era such as Abigail AdamsAbigail Smith Adams Date of Birth: November 11, 1744 Place of Birth: Weymouth, Massachusetts Date of Death: October 28, 1818 Place of Death: Quincy, Massachusetts Occupation: First Lady of the United States Remarks: Wife of John Adams and mother of John Q and Judith Sargent Murray raised questions about what the Declaration of Independence would mean to them, but there had never been a large scale public meeting to discuss this topic until Seneca Falls. Many women participated in reform organizations whose goals were to improve the lives of others and to fight for the rights of those who could not speak for themselves, such as schoolchildren and the mentally ill, so the air was ripe for a close examination of women's rights as well. A consciousness-raising experience, however, was necessary to turn these women's thoughts to their own condition.
The triggering incident was a direct result of participation in anti-slavery organizations by Elizabeth Cady StantonElizabeth Cady Stanton and her daughter Harriot In the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source. at the Seneca Falls Convention, July 19-20, 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton ( November 12, 1815 October 26, 1902) was a leadin and Lucretia MottLucretia Mott ( January 3, 1793 November 11, 1880), was the first major American women's activist in the early 1800s and is credited as the first " feminist", but more accurately, the launcher of women's political advocacy. She was a Quaker, a women's rig. Anti-slavery societies proliferated in the Northeast region of the United States and in some parts of what today we call the Midwest. Many of these organizations had female members. In 18401840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). Events January 3 One of the predecessor papers to the Herald Sun of Melbourne, Australia, The Port Phillip Herald is founded by George Cavanaugh. January 10 Uniform penny postage the World Anti-Slavery Convention met in LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England, and with over seven million inhabitants in the Greater London area, is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe (after Moscow). From being Londinium the capital of the Roman province of Bri; some of the American groups elected women as their representatives to this meeting. Once in London, after a lengthy debate, the female representatives were denied their rightful seats and consigned to the balcony. It was at this meeting, while sitting in the balcony and walking through the streets of London, that Elizabeth Cady StantonElizabeth Cady Stanton and her daughter Harriot In the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source. at the Seneca Falls Convention, July 19-20, 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton ( November 12, 1815 October 26, 1902) was a leadin and Lucretia MottLucretia Mott ( January 3, 1793 November 11, 1880), was the first major American women's activist in the early 1800s and is credited as the first " feminist", but more accurately, the launcher of women's political advocacy. She was a Quaker, a women's rig met. Eight years later Stanton and Mott called a convention to discuss women's rights.