Claire Netemeyer APUSH website 2015-16
Women's Suffrage ~ 1820-1860
Key Leaders
Lucretia Mott - member of the Seneca Falls Convention (Boundless)
Margaret Fuller - author of book The Great Lawsuit; Man vs. Woman (Boundless)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton - member of the Seneca Falls Convention and women's suffrage and abolotionist activist (Women who fought...)
Lucy Stone - organizer of the National Women's Rights Convention in 1850 (Women who fought...)
Goals of Reform
The goal of the women's suffrage movement is quite simple - women wanted the right to vote alongside men. Most states had given all men the right to vote by the 1820's and 30's regardless of money and property (history.com). Following the structure of the Cult of Domesticity, women were to be in the private sphere in the home and therefore away from all forms of government (Brinkley) since they were thought to be pure and the public sphere was "corrupt" (history.com). However, during the mid 1800's, many social reform groups surfaced and women were a great part of these groups, beginning to defy and challenge the social norm (history.com).
Seneca Falls Convention
In July 1848, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton invited a group of abolitionist men and women to Seneca Falls, NY to discuss the issue of women's rights (Boundless). After having been turned away from a World Anti-Slavery Convention in London because she was a woman, Stanton and her aboltionist husband Henry Brewster Stanton were eager to talk about the topic (Women who fought...). After 2 days of discussion with about 300 attendees including famous abolitionist Stephen Douglas, 100 of the delegates (68 women and 32 men) signed a Declaration of Sentiments created at the convention stating that, “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" (World History in Context). Outsiders and government officials did not like or respond to this convention specifically, but the convention set a president for future women's rights discussions in the following decades (World History in Context)
*The Declaration of Sentiments represents the EQUALITY part of the COPPERS acronym since women sought to be seen as equals with men and have the right to vote as well
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
en.wikipedia.org
National Women's Rights Convention
On October 23, 1850, over 1000 people filled Brinley Hall in Worcester, MA for the National Women's Rights Convention (Mass Moments). Most speakers were women, including Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and newcomer Susan B. Anthony (Mass Moments). Speakers put into context Bible verses that seem belittling to women, spoke about the founding "mothers" of our country, and Stone proposed that all women should have the right to vote and own property (Mass Moments). After the convention, few newpapers had positive things to say about the women and many criticized and ridiculed them, saying that the goals of the women were "abolish the Bible" and "abolish the constitution and the laws of the land" (Mass Moments).
Successes and Failures
constitutioncenter.org
All in all, women did not get the right to vote until 1920, but some small state-level victories did occur for feminists
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In Indiana, divorces could be granted on the basis on desertion, drunkenness, and cruelty (instead of just for adultery) (Boundless)
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In New York, an act giving women shared ownership of their children (allowing them to have a say in their wills, property inheritance, and wages) was passed (Boundless)
With the start of the Civil War in the 1860's, women's rights movement lost some of its ground covered (history.com). However, post-war discussions about freedom and rights of blacks also prompted discussions about the freedoms and rights of women (history.com).
My opinion? I think that it did not have too many concrete successes for the time but was the start of an extremely important move in the right direction. Of course, women did not actually get the right to vote until over 50 years later but I think that each convention was significant in spreading ideas and setting the stage for future change to come, largely with Susan B. Anthony.
Bibliography
"First National Women's Rights Convention Ends in Worcester." Mass Moments. Mass Humaities, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/women-who-fought-for-the-vote>.
"The Fight for Women’s Suffrage." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/the-fight-for-womens-suffrage>.
"Women Who Fought for the Vote." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/women-who-fought-for-the-vote>.
"Suffrage, Women’S." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Vol. 8. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 214-218. World History in Context. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation. 6th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.
"Women's Rights." Boundless. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/religion-romanticism-and-cultural-reform-1820-1860-14/the-age-of-cultural-reforms-112/women-s-rights-601-8558/>.