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Declaration of Sentiments - The Beginning of the Women's Rights Movement

The “Declaration of Sentiments” came out of the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. Its goal was to show how women were treated unequally and to fight for equal treatment, including the following: voting rights; access to education; equal access to divorce and child custody; employment, including within the ministry; rights to her own property and wages; and for males and females to be judged and upheld to the same moral standards. Elizabeth Cady Stanton used the Declaration of Independence as a guide in writing the “Declaration of Sentiments,” showing the ironic need for women to get rights denied to her by men in the same way that Americans were denied their rights by the king of England. A main point made in the “Declaration of Sentiments” is that women were represented without the right to vote. If a single woman owned property, which was the only way a woman could own her own property, she would be taxed without representation. Stanton is clearly plagiarizing the Declaration of Independence, showing exactly how hypocritical it was for the United States citizens and government to treat women in much of the same ways that the colonies were treated and had fought against England to secure their freedoms.
            It is clear that these sentiments of the unequal treatment of women were accurate. Women were not allowed to vote, run for political office or work outside the home in most cases. They certainly weren’t able to have access to higher education. Women were expected to take care of the family and stay at home. Any wages earned from small jobs were not her own to keep. The man in a woman’s life, whether it be her father or her husband, basically owned her as well as anything she owned. This took many years to start to change in society. Women only gained the right to vote in 1920, a full 50 years after freed black men were given the right to vote by the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Women are still striving towards equality. Many women are still paid less than men for many of the same jobs in the United States. Women are held to higher sexual moral standards than men. Another thing women have had to fight for is the right to be treated equally as a member of the military. Women are still disproportionately the victims of domestic violence and sexual assault by male offenders. When these battles come in front of a judge, often the women are forced to defend themselves in the courtroom against allegations about their mental state or sexual past. It is only this year that a female has been a leading candidate for president of the United States. There are still some men and women in the United States that didn’t vote for the female candidate simply because of her sex.
Works Cited


Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. "Declaration of Sentiments." 1848. To 1877, edited by Michael P. Johnson, 5th ed., Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012, pp. 239-42. 2 vols.

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