Declaration of Sentiments (1848) Seneca Falls Convention New York

Main Points Women should be treated as equally as men. “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.” Men have created a social and political tyranny over women by not recognizing their civil liberties. “ He has endeavored, in every way that he could, to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life.” Women should be given equal rights to property and wages as citizens of the United States of America. “He has made her, in the eye of the law, civilly dead. He has taken from her all rights in property, even to the wages she earns.”

Historical Significance and the intended Audience The public release of the Declaration of Sentiments triggered talk among many women. It became interesting to women, as well as men, that equal rights and women’s suffrage was a big issue. However, this document would serve as the basis for the nineteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution which granted women the right to vote in 1920. The Declaration also caused strong criticism and anger. A quote from a newspaper reporter stated that “it was the most shocking and unnatural event ever recorded in the history of womanity” (Oneida Whig, 1848). The intended audience was the United States as a whole and especially those in government positions

Questions Why do you think that there were men who agreed with and signed the Declaration of Sentiments? Why did Mott and Stanton believe that women were just as important as men? Did the Sentiments have as great of an impact on Mott and Stanton’s society as they had hoped for?