Women's Rights and Seneca Falls

In looking at the Seneca Falls Declaration of 1848, you'll notice it follows the same language and pattern as the Declaration of Independence. What advantages do you see, if any, in following this model? Have the rights these women were seeking in 1848 been fulfilled today? Are there any that still need to be fulfilled? In what ways does this declaration affirm the principles of the American Revolution (ie. the tenets of Declaration of Impendence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights) and in what ways, if any, does it run counter to these tenets?

Comments

[Mark]

To make such a declaration (Declaration of Sentiments) you would want to see if there has been anything that has been successful. The Declaration of Independence became a success, so the chances of a declaration being drafted by the delegates would be better.

Yes, the rights women were seeking back then have been 'fulfilled' so to speak. Women, despite now having legally equal rights, may not feel 'fulfilled,' since there are still men out there who won't acknowledge women as being equal to men- this may be something that is not fulfilled?

This declaration affirms the principles of American Revolution by women now being able to take action (vote, involvement in politics, etc.) and express their beliefs freely.

[Mohammed Snoussi]

the Seneca Falls Declaration was obviously the women's reaction to the cult of domesticity which considered the home as the women sphere and the public sphere belonged to men. this ideology of seperate sphere denied and implied that thw women were inferior that men,which is not true.
Thwe seneca declaration emphasized that" all men and women are created equal."also,the seneca provided women with some of the rights an the previleges that belong to me such as education,equal job opportunity, and proprety.
today women's right are more than those declared in the seneca declaration are equal to those of the men. however, some irregularity are still going on, the woman earn less than men in some areas eventhough they are doing the same job. this was behind the bill of equal pay signed by the President Obama to protect women from unfair pay practice.

[Frank Prelesnik]

It’s obvious to me that following the structure and patterns of the Declaration of Independence, the attendees of this convention were trying to get elected officials to understand their frustrations from a point of view that they could understand themselves. Even though the Founding Fathers were all dead and gone, they were the sons and grandsons of the Founding Fathers and should have at least seen the similarities. It would have made me stop and think if I was one of them.

For the most part, I do believe that the right these women were seeking today have been fulfilled. There are still some rights that aren’t quite there yet but are coming along. As Albert pointed out, women are still not able to serve in the U.S. Military on front line combat units but 10 years ago, they weren’t even allowed to serve aboard a fighting vessel at sea. There are now female pilots that can fly combat aircraft, though they still can’t fly combat missions. I also believe that we still do hold a different “code of morals” for women and men. I feel those "codes of morals" might never go away because of some of the base differences between men and women.

[Prof. Weir]

Youssef,

Good question.

There are many instances of slaves acting as spies for the North during the Civil War. In fact, one of the slaves belonging to Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, was a spy for the North. Remember, southern whites believed slaves were inferior, so how could they possibly be spies? After all, spying, so southerners believed, was an intellegent act. Also remember blacks were ignored by most southern whites, so to see a slave working in a field near a military camp would not have drawn too much attention from whites.

[Albert]

The Declaration of Sentiment starts off using the Declarations of Independence. It was an articulate strategy for woman to use in terms of equal rights. I think it was a fresh new way to think about how woman are being misrepresented in any means. But I think the main advantage is stated here as “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“ (website). And than it shifts the focus on battered woman by saying “The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her“(website) and than the laws went into affect on the behalf of woman of the United States. This document gave American woman leverage to live freely like the men have done so. The Declaration of Sentiment was an advantage for all the misrepresented woman which changed the course of history for both men and woman.

What a difference the past was compared to today. I think that woman are more competitive than they were before. Woman like Jill Biden holds several degrees. Other woman for example like Condoleezza Rice was Secretary of State which is a very powerful position… Prior to the Declarations of Sentiment, woman in America was a whispering voice that was rarely heard…

Well one which would be needed to be fulfilled is that women can not participate in the military’s special force. Why can they not perform the same duties that a special force man can do if women have the same equal rights?

I think one of the ways it affirms its principles is that it states basically that all men and woman are created equal and that we have certain unalienable rights… Those two parts of many are basic principles in every document. But the declaration also acts like the revolutionary war in which woman are at war with men over women’s freedoms and wins their prize of independence. However, I am not sure how the declaration counters the principle of these tenets already stated.

[Maura...Seneca Falls]

Clearly it was legitimate grievances from the women who were deprived of their rights to vote, owning property, education, and their opinion in the public place. Men just considered themselves SUPERIOR believing that women were just good at keeping up the household and raising virtuous children.

Seneca Falls was asking for equal rights of women as men such rights listed in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Now women can vote, educate themselves, participate in Congress, politics and voice their opinion.

[Seneca Falls..]

Clearly it was legitimate grievances from the women who were deprived of their rights to vote, owning property, education, and their opinion in the public place. Men just considered themselves SUPERIOR believing that women were just good at keeping up the household and raising virtuous children.

Seneca Falls was asking for equal rights of women as men such rights listed in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Now women can vote, educate themselves, participate in Congress, politics and voice their opinion.

[Yousssef Benhammou]

Professor Weir,I do not know if this is late quetion for the slavery course of last week. I have catched the last minute in History channel talking about slaves spy.How that was possible to happen?

[Dorance Libby]

yes there is an advantage in the declaration and the advantage is that men took all the right that belong to the women. Some of them were the right of being invovle in the politics, law, and voting. Some of the ringht that these women were seeking are being fulfilled today. For example the voting right,the right to take part in political issue and even stand for election in addition women are also given the right to work out of their homes like in the office. For now i do not see any other right that still need to be fulfilled. This declaration affirm the principles of American Revolution by the Declaration of Inpendence and The Bill or Right.

[Naima Alaoui-Ismaili]

The advantages that I see following this model is that by adding women to each of the things that the declaration of independence had then there would be no overlapping of rights between the men and women. The writers of the Seneca fall declaration wanted to show that they have been treated wrongly against by the men and wanted their natural human rights, and by writing in the format of the Declaration of Independent it gave a stronger message and purpose for why they wrote this. They would be protected under the same laws as the men without no if’s ands or buts.

To an extent yes the rights that these women were seeking in 1848 were fulfilled in legal language but there is still a lot of discrimination against women today especially in the work place. Even though a woman and a man can be doing the same job the man is likely to be getting paid a lot more then the woman.

All the tenets of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of rights contradict the principles of the American Revolution. All of the ones above that I stated don’t include women and that’s discrimination. Because technically speaking women weren’t protected under these documents. To some extent some rights for women were there because they were regular citizen rights but the word women wasn’t placed with a certain right like voting or anything like that.

[Teresa Miller]

The language was obviously patterned after the Declaration of Independence. I believe it was chosen wisely - using the document as a model. The rights that women seek were/are the same as what men seek. I am not surprised to see the document prepared in this format. It clearly states the facts and provides a list of legitimate grievances that deserve attention.
Throughout history men have taken advantages of Scripture. They are often twisted to conform to the ideals that benefit the man. Funny, there are very few sermons that explain the behavior and expectations of men and women. We usually stop after women must submit.
Women have been considered second class citizens and suppressed not only during the 1840’s but it continues today. Granted, the progress has been impressive. There are ceilings that are in need of conquering. Equal rights are far from being completely equal. Thankfully, we have courageous women who take a stand and do what is necessary to defend and protect the rights of all.
When you compare the actions taken by the men during the American Revolution era, the men who contributed to the founding of our nation and system of government they did risk a great deal – even their lives were in jeopardy. Declaring independence from Britain was a courageous act and I’m thankful every morning that I wake up in the United States – flaws and all, challenges to face, and mountains to conquer. We all benefit from the contributions made during the revolutionary era.
I believe there are controversies with tenets in the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights because they were originally written to benefit and protect the elite. We do, men and women, hold these truths to be self evident that ALL men are created equal. It was written but there were exceptions. It did not include ALL. Women’s rights were not appropriately addressed in these documents and are a contradiction to Scripture.

[Ingrid Le Blanc]

I really liked the Seneca Falls Declaration. It starts like the Declaration of Independence emphasizing the natural rights. These were the rights that Americans wanted to be granted by England during the Revolution. It adopted the idea Of Thomas Paine in Common Sense that all men are created equal and that dissent is patriotic.

From what I have seen in the past 10 years in the United States, I think that the rights of women have been fulfilled because laws were made to protect them. I am not sure if the domesticity ideology changed in the men's mind.

[Karen]

I think it was a wonderful idea for the Senaca Falls Convention to use the same language as the early American Revolution documents - these women were highlighting the inequality of the implementation of democracy in the U.S. from independence until 1848. It took some time, but eventually the laws were changed. But legal doesn't mean actual.... ask former slaves. While women now have equal rights legally, there are still double standards in society: women generally earn 75% less than men in the same jobs. And the reverse also exists (remnants of the Cult of Domesticity) - for a very long time courts heavily favored women in cases of child care, and women were given FMLA rights before they were given to men.