What Every Woman Should Know About the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848
March 9, 2009
by Anna Belle Pfau
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This statue honoring Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Susan B. Anthony was given to the U.S. by sculptor Adelaide Johnson in 1921; it was relegated to the basement of Congress until 1997.
Picture, if you will, an auditorium in London in 1840. In your mind’s eye, picture the rich wood of the banisters, the rows of curved, cushioned seats, a great clamor happening on the stage and the floor. Men from all over the world, dressed in their Victorian best, are debating how to end slavery. Above this din, on the balcony, sit a smattering of women in long skirts and bonnets; among them, two women sit whispering to each other as they watch the action below. One of the women is young, a blushing bride, in fact, on her honeymoon; the other is a middle aged woman, and well-known abolitionist in the United States. These two American women, incensed at their banishment to the balcony (a custom to which they are unfamiliar), are plotting a Convention of their own.
I often like to fantasize about that conversation between Elizabeth Cady Stanton (the blushing bride) and Lucretia Mott (the well-known abolitionist). I’m sure it was a fiery and learned conversation, considering these were two very smart very passionate women. It would take eight more years before they could realize their promise to each other to unite and hold a Women’s Rights conference in the United States, but they did, in Seneca Falls New York, 1848.
It is so hard for us to imagine sometimes what this world would have looked like because it is so foreign to us. We are accustomed to our technological advances, and think nothing of zipping across the state, the nation, or the world at a moment’s notice, in record time. Stanton and Mott would have spent about a month making the voyage to London. When they met 8 years later, it was at a tea party at Jane Hunt’s house in Waterloo, NY, which, at just 4 miles down the road took considerably less time. We could drive it in five minutes today, but it would have taken more than an hour via horse and buggy on dirt roads for Stanton to get there from her house in neighboring Seneca Falls.
July 1848
Lucretia Coffin Mott (1793-1880)
Though the Seneca Falls Convention on Women’s Rights kicked off the first wave of American women’s rights activism, it was nearly an impossible feat. Stanton and Mott only reconnected around July 10th, and they staged the convention at local Wesleyan Chapel little more than a week later, on July 19th & 20th. They announced their intentions via the Seneca County Courier on July 16th as a “convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of women.” Because they thought the move was bold enough to warrant attack, they scheduled the first day for women only, inviting men to participate on the second day. However, many men did show up on that first day and they were not turned away, nor did they heckle or try to disrupt. Most were supportive of the effort, and many were among the 100 signers of the document issued by the convention, The Declaration of Sentiments.
Declaration of Sentiments
Some of the words had already been written 72 years earlier in the Declaration of Independence. Those words were so powerful and true that they almost begged to be employed to a larger end than designed. The first paragraph differs because the aim is different. Rather than trying to disentangle from a distant tyranny, the signers of the Declaration of Sentiments sought to join a group with others in a show of unity that was the spirit of the Declaration of Independence. To that most famous of lines, a single word was added–women.
We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
And as the Declaration of Independence ends with a long list of wrongs to be righted, so did the Declaration of Sentiments have its resolutions. While all of them are of note in the context of the time, I point to these two as my personal favorites:
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.
Resolved, That it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise.
The first was not the reality then, and is not even the reality now, though we have come a long way since 1848. That it’s still not true is part of what drives this movement. The second is the truth and heart of the matter–it did take women working together toward a single end, for many women to the exclusion of all else, as well as another 72 years to bring the second resolution to fruition.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) and her daughter, Harriot, who would later go on to continue her mother's fight.
That women are the equal of men seems so obvious today that it hardly needs to be stated, but in 1848 this was a radical notion. At that time, women had no rights unless they were unmarried, and even then they had precious few. Marriage was practically compulsory, and as soon as she married, a woman became the property of her husband, as did any children created by the union. She was expected to surrender herself body and soul to her husband and family, was denied working opportunity unless her husband was a deadbeat or her family was so poor her work was required. Her options were limited generally to domestic work like cleaning, sewing, and cooking for others. Even teaching was at that time a male-dominated field. It was this world that these women and men gathered together in order to change. Women in America today enjoy so many of the freedoms that they do, including the right to vote for any candidate they choose, because of the long fight born at this historic event.
Neither Elizabeth Cady Stanton nor Lucretia Mott lived to see the 19th Amendment passed. They never got the chance to vote, a fact worth remembering next time you find yourself in the voting booth. Only one woman in attendance at Seneca Falls in 1848, one of the signers of the Declaration of Sentiments, Charlotte Woodward (Pierce), lived to see the 19th Amendment ratified.
***
When I get tired or frustrated, I remember these ladies and the men who joined them. I think of that tiny town in New York, with its colonial houses and dirt roads, the river just a stones throw from the Chapel itself. I think of those streets on those hot July days, the women wrapped in the fashions of the time, sweating under so many layers, speaking loudly and solemnly before the gathering crowd. I think of the men in their short pants with tights, the shirts and jackets, the cufflinks and high collars and shoes they would wear. I imagine the stench of horses and sweat, of food wilting in the July heat. I picture the face of young Charlotte Woodward, just 18 years old and earnest, an instant and life-long convert to the cause.
The constraints these women and men faced were enormous. What they accomplished on these two July days was tremendous, and the freedoms we women have today, to vote, to choose our destinies, to have an education and rights to our children, all of this we owe to Stanton and Mott and the women and men who attended those two days and were transformed by the experience. These women worked tirelessly during the 19th century to make the rights we have today possible. They had no rights, and had precious few choices themselves. While most would not live to see women granted the ultimate right, the right to vote, they are responsible for it nevertheless.
When we meet next week, you will read the incredible tale of the final push for the right for women to vote. It is the most compelling tale we have in American women’s history, and it started with this event, the Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention of 1848.
Sources:
Lucretia Mott @ Historic La Mott, PA
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Women’s Rights Historic Park
Jane Hunt
Martha Wright
Mary Ann M’Clintock
This story is probably the most well-known story in American Women’s History, but plenty of people still don’t know it. It is an important setting to consider as we’ve moved from Mercy Otis Warren and continue forward next week to Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and the 19th Amendment. I hope you enjoy.
Thank you, dear readers. Writing this series has been a dream come true for me.
well you deserve for your dream to come true, Anna Belle. your articles are a treasure.
One of the things that struck me most about the Declaration of Sentiments was that women have an obligation to challenge and change the government/laws; the following immediately follows the first quote from the Declaration that Anna Belle provided, above:
“Whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves, by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled.”
http://ecssba.rutgers.edu/docs/seneca.html
Gives a description of the convention, including some of the Resolutions discussed and voted on prior to finalizing the Declaration. One of these is: “Resolved, That it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise.”
It’s a shame Charlotte Woodward never got to actually vote following the ratification of the Amendment. I think one of the lessons of Seneca Falls is that change may come slowly, and we can’t necessarily judge success by what happens in our lifetimes.
It’s also telling that the Declaration, 160 years after it was written, still reads as a mighty radical document.
Finally, if you’re ever up near Seneca Falls/Binghamton/Rochester/Syracuse, I highly recommend visiting the Women’s Rights National Historical Park.
Good point, Digger. I went to Seneca Falls with my best friend, Beth, and my 12 year old neice, Amber, and we had a lovely time. Neither of them even knew.
We stood before the granite wall wherein the Declaration is chiseled in its entirety and took turns reading it out loud. We all had goosebumps and chills. It is still one of the grooviest memories I have.
I hope this isn’t the same church/museum.
http://www.13wham.com/news/loc....._Aakw.cspx
Oh, Thia! It is! That’s just horrible…
Thia,
That church is just up the block from the original 1843 Wesleyan Chapel, and adjacent to the Women’s Rights National Historical Park Visitor’s Center. It was where the Wesleyan congregation moved in 1871, after selling the original chapel.
The news article you posted is terribly confusing about the whole thing… reporters make me crazy sometimes! The original chapel , where the convention took place, is no longer a complete building. From 1871 through the late 20th century, it housed several businesses, and underwent several, often very extensive, structural changes. In the early 1990s, all of the later materials were removed, leaving what little was left of the original materials. Here’s a link to an image at the NPS site of what is there now:
http://www.nps.gov/ner/customc.....apel-1.jpg
Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about the Women’s Interfaith Institute. But, if you ever end up with water damaged documents that you want to save, freeze them as soon as possible. This slows a lot of the damage, including molding, giving you some time to arrange treatment.
Thanks for the info Digger. So I wonder what was actually lost? A couple of articles say different things, but several say the book collection was lost… I’m surprised this didn’t make bigger news especially falling so close to women’s day.
Anna Belle- You are absoluteky the best. I’ve been putting together a pre-pared submission of essays and articles for our local paper for Women’s History Month. I live 10 miles from Waterloo, NY and 15 miles from Seneca Falls, NY. Our local paper, The Finger Lakes Times, which ran a front page story about black Americans with local connections throughout Black History Month, has had only one front page story connected to Women’s History Month. That story was about the 2009 inductees to the Women’s Hall of Fame, which is also located in Seneca Falls, NY. There have been small, disjointed articles elsewhere in the paper, somewhat connected to Women’s History Month, though not specifically, and certainly not highlighted or made prominent like the month long front page Black History Month stories were. The Editor of our local paper is a woman, a strong minded and opinionated woman. You would think that after the experience of this past year, our local connection to women’s history would be a perfect story of interest. Alas, it is not so…Sadly, even here, in a place where woman’s history is consecrated, our local paper, along with most of the MSM outlets, supported and promoted the historic male candidate over the historic female candidate and continues to do so to this day. So, I have been quickly gathering information to submit to the Editor of our local paper for publication before the month is over. Thank you so much, all of you who have written so much this past year and have helped to educate and energize all of us. It made putting this information together so much easier for me. I have entitled my submission, “In Our Own Back Yard: Our Prominent Place in the Celebration of Women’s History Month”. I am highlighting the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention on Women’s Rights and the primary women involved, especially those with local connections. This is the first time I’ve done anything like this and I’m a little nervous. Wish me luck.
Best of luck, RealChange, and thank you for carrying this forward. It’s such important work, and it’s nice to know I’m having an impact.
I am saddened to learn that even the local media is not aware of women and their important historical connection, but not surprised. Women, even among other women, often get paid attention to last. I don’t know why that is, but it is…
Also, thank you Digger, for educating us on what’s happening locally with that fire. I was really upset to learn that Weslyan Chapel had been hit, so I’m grateful to learn it wasn’t. But still, the loss of those books and documents will hurt.
Thank you so much for commenting about all of this stuff. It’s nice to see someone else knows so much.
Well, there is still one hell of a long ways to go… this from MSN/Lifestyle:
“A Barbie World
No wonder Barbie looks so great at 50—the ultimate blonde bombshell has 25 hair and makeup pros on call……………
Barbie always has what the high heel has — a kind of hyperfemininity,” says Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of the museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City………
For all her trendiness, Barbie is still a toy for little girls ”
Really? Hyperfemininity? Try hyperbullsh*t, that little girls have only a standard of physical attractiveness to aspire to by playing with this pathetic cultural ju-ju. She ought to be burnt in effigy and I doubt the folks that were at Seneca Falls would object.
Womens Interfaith Institute: http://www.womensinterfaithinstitute.org/
I’m not local to the fire, so I can’t give much more info.
This story reminds me of a story told by David Brinkley at some past national party convention. There was a report or something from the “Women’s Caucus” iirc. Brinkley said something like, “Now they have a caucus to do this. Last convention, they got started in the women’s restroom.”
Anna Belle,
I saw the bust that is featured on the front of your story in July 2008. I’m not sure you can tell from the photo, but one of the slabs is left unmolded. That is meant to be the bust of the first female president. So close….so much work to be done!!!!
Great piece!
Unmolded slab, huh. Let’s put a pantsuit on it.
thank you Anna Belle for this wonderful post. and you put the references in. an extra thank you.
This international women’s weekend I watched with my daughter the pbs movies: elizabeth cady stenton & susan b anthony, not for ourselves alone, one woman one vote, and the iron jawed angels.
if you imagine that elizabeth cady stenton kept her maiden name, married a reformer abolishionist like herself , realized at the anot slavery conference in england how serious the suppression of women is. they organized that seneca falls convention and had not given a single public speech before, they needed a friendly husband to open the convention. only then slowly they warmed up and were able to speak. and from all the sentiments they voted on the last, the 11th regarding the vote, it took frederick douglas eloquence to convince the attendents, that without the vote their resolutions would lead nowhere.
another take away for me was, that our two founders compared womens situation then to slavery and found it as not so different than that of the slaves. no birth control, no household machines, no throw away diapers, they were not in custody of their children, they could not open a bank account ( and in some states to this day women can only open accounts with the permission of their husbands) or keep their money in case that they had work outside, they were not supposed to speak in public.
and as i learned from these movies, the sad story: when elizabeth cady stenton and susan b anthony campaigned for the inclusion of equal rights to women into the 15th amendment, frederick douglas and other african americans did not support the inclusion of sex. they wanted the whole victory for themselves. asking the women to wait. and we don’t have the ERA not to this day. recognition of our rights depends on the wind blowing different in various administrations.
we need to tell this story in our schools, newspapers. friends, churches, libraries after all it is women’s history month.
if you intend to watch the movies with your girls, my daughter (8 years) liked “iron jawed angels”, the best. the others were too black and white for her. it also helps that patrick demsey plays the liberal suffragette friendly washington post writer in the movie.
there are brief moments of violence. at the end of the march 1913 and the force feeding, and when lucy burns is tied up over night in handcuffs. but the movie makers don’t dwell on violence and show the violence as brief as possible.
I saw similarities in the friendship between susan anthony and elizabeth cady stenton, and alice paul and lucy burns.
also watching susan b anthony and elizabeth cady stenton keeping the fight through the various state ratifications. somehow the first women’s movement brought up that women in politics would take up the missary, alcoholism caused women. (there was a whole movement the temperance movement. some suffragists worked for both, since the drunkards would beat their wifes, drink away their money). sure enough the alcohol industry poured money into the fight against the womens vote.
similarly the second womens movement’s fight for choice for abortions brought on the pro lifers against the ERA. therefore, Alice Paul’s stand to keep the ERA pure and simple, equal rights. and not attach birth control to it.
and now the third movement for equal representation.
I hear voices claiming that women’s representation would benefit peace and all other progressive movements. first for this claim it is easy to find supportive and not supportive examples. but we for sure wake up some influential lobby or other against us. fighting for equal representation is good enough by itself.
Marille,
Well, if we’re fighting amongst ourselves, we’re not fighting FOR ourselves!
My wife and I had a great time on our visit to Seneca Falls. My wife had not had a great interest in women’s history, but found the presentations by the park rangers and the exhibit at the visitors’ center to be quite compelling.
I can recommend a very good biography of Martha Wright. It has a great title–”A Very Dangerous Woman”.
I also cordially invite your readers to visit my website to learn more about another great suffrage leader, Carrie Chapman Catt.
http://natelevin.tripod.com
another great piece Anna Belle. What inspiring history we American women have!! Thanks so much for educating those of us who never knew any of it…..
Awesome, Nate. Thanks for the link of Catt. She’ll feature next week’s edition of this series.
Thanks, Cynthia! I’ve been pushing this info in my own 5 feet sphere for a long time now. I feel like I’ve found my footing and my purpose with this topic online. That’s a great feeling to have.
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