The United States was born on July 4, 1776. On that date, the U.S. government adopted the Declaration of Independence. This document stated “that all men are created equal.” In 1848, another group of American leaders created another declaration. It said something slightly different: “all men and women are created equal.”
These words came from the Seneca Falls . About 300 people joined the event from July 19–20, 1848, “to discuss … the rights of woman.” They came together at a chapel in Seneca Falls, New York. This convention marked the start of the women’s rights movement in the United States. This fight for women’s rights has now been going on for 175 years.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott helped organize the Seneca Falls Convention. As leaders, they fought to end slavery in the United States. They also worked to support the rights of women. After all, American women were not allowed to vote in 1848. The convention let leaders speak out against this — and other unfair rules.
Stanton gave a speech at the Seneca Falls Convention. She argued that women in the United States should have greater rights. Those included voting rights, the right to an education, and the right to own land. Stanton read from the Declaration of Sentiments. She was the lead author of the document, which called “men and women” equal.
At the Seneca Falls Convention, 100 people signed the Declaration of Sentiments. That included Stanton, Mott, and other women from the women’s movement. In addition, 32 men signed the document. It included a former slave named Frederick Douglass. Douglass wrote about the Declaration of Sentiments for The North Star. He called it the “grand movement” for “the civil, social, political, and religious rights of women.”
The Seneca Falls Convention marked the start of the movement for women’s rights. Yet it did not change any laws. American women still had to wait many years for the right to vote. Not until 1920 did the U.S. government grant women that right. Only one woman who signed the Declaration of Sentiments lived long enough to vote. That was Charlotte Woodward Pierce.
Lisa Tetrault teaches history at Carnegie Mellon University. She said the Seneca Falls Convention was an important moment for women. “At the time, women weren’t supposed to be out in the public speaking their minds,” explained Tetrault. She told News-O-Matic that the convention “spurred people to think about women’s rights.”
Tetrault believes the Declaration of Sentiments was not perfect. “The demands focused on the needs of white women,” she explained. Still, it paved the way for greater across the United States. And the fight for women’s rights goes on today.
“We are still fighting for equal , for example,” said Tetrault. “The Seneca Falls Convention began a long march of progress that is not yet complete.”
Updated July 19, 2023, 5:02 P.M. (ET)
By Shira Haus
