Lisa Ly

8 October 2017
History 7A
Professor Sachtjen
DI #5: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Declaration of Sentiments
For Document Interpretation #5, I chose to analyze and answer the questions from the
text named, Declaration of Sentiments written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the year of 1848.
Within the year of 1848, a lot was happening within the United States. For example, there was
the gold rush in California, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the US-Mexican war,
Wisconsin was admitted as a US state, and the first womens rights convention opens in Seneca
Falls, New York to say the very least. To start off, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an abolitionist
within the early womens rights movement. Stanton as well as Lucretia Mott were the two
women that led the first national womens rights convention within the United States. Together,
they wrote the Declaration of Sentiments. The purpose of the Declaration of Sentiments were to
gain rights for women to be equal as men. The actions of Stanton and Lucretia inspired many
other women out there that they too should have equal rights. Just because the United States
received independence from Great Britain did not mean that women and people of color got their
equality. This seems absurd because today all men and women can vote and hold high jobs and
much more. To imagine living in a time where that is not possible seems insane.
Stanton and Lucretia, the authors of the Declaration of Sentiments, decided to parallel the
Declaration of Independence because it reminds the readers and audience that within the United
States there was a dark era for women and those of color. They both still did not have their rights
even though the Declaration of Independence was written to gain freedom from Great Britain.
Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, declared freedom from Great
Britain and included within his declaration that all men are created equal and have
unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, this was not the
case due to women having to fight for their own rights. Jeffersons Declaration of Independence
made a real impact for the men, so if Stanton and Lucretia were to parallel their Declaration of
Sentiments to the Declaration of Independence, it may prove their point across much more
effectively.
Stanton and Lucretias major demand in writing the Declaration of Sentiments is to
obtain the same rights for women as men have. This is proven when the Declaration of
Sentiments states we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges
which belong to them as citizens of the United States. To further elaborate, because all men and
women are citizens of the United States, they should be granted equal rights. Stanton uses the
word God within the first paragraph of the Declaration of Sentiments. Because she uses the
word God it illustrates that she is a religious person. This also shows that she believes in
higher power, not just the men and the government. Stanton believes in the unalienable rights
that are stated within the Declaration of Independence and feels that because it does not apply to
women, that she should speak up and have a say in what she believes. Because Stanton believes
that the government has failed to provide unalienable rights to women, she led hundreds of
reformers to correct the wrong doing.
Although the Document of Sentiments had many supporters, there were also many people
who rejected the idea of the declaration and wanted to actively right against it. Change at the
time seemed negative. People liked to keep things the way they are, the situation in which they
were in seemed to be the norm. Having women rebel and demand for their own rights seemed
outrageous. A big portion of those who rejected the Declaration of Sentiments were men who
held higher power. They believed tat the system where men had higher roles seemed to be
working well, at least for themselves. Gender roles also played a part to why people rejected the
idea of women having rights. They believed that women should be loyal and caring, taking care
of families and doing house work while men would be out there doing the big work. This gave
the idea that women shouldnt have rights because they dont need rights. This still applies
today, although yes, both women and men can vote, there are still things that are unfair to the
female gender. For example, men are still higher paid than women are in their careers. Hopefully
with time, this will change and there will truly be real equality for both genders to carry out.