Evaluation On Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Declaration Of Sentiments And Resolutions, Seneca Falls
In 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton hosted the first women's rights convention in her home where she delivered her speech entitled "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Seneca Falls." Stanton declares in her speech that men and women were created equal and that both were born with certain natural rights. She models her speech after the United States Declaration of Independence, which makes her declaration attractive, interesting and effective.
Stanton's main claim in her argument is simply that men and women are equal and should share the same rights. She goes deeper into this argument and criticizes men for denying women the rights that they are entitled to, such as: laws affecting women's rights to hold property, the right to vote, and equal terms in divorce (including custody of children). Stanton also addresses issues including the church excluding women from the ministry and a woman's right to enroll in a university and attain a professional career.
The support that Stanton gives for all of her claims is that these claims are simply facts. She has encountered all of these experiences in her own life, as have all the other women of the society. For instance, Stanton writes that a woman should have the right to vote. It would be quite obvious to a woman that she did not hold this right by making a trip to the town's voting place only to find herself kicked out. The same situation would occur if she should go to the local university and attempt to sign up for a couple of classes, or try to participate in the ministry at her church.
Like the original Declaration of Independence, Stanton used her speech to promote a revolution of her own, to get her audience organized and to give them power. Stanton was able to sum up her argument in only three pages because she didn't have to extensively discuss each claim due to the fact that her audience knew, lived, accepted and believed in all of the claims she made. Also, her audience was...
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