Seneca Falls Convention, July 19-20, 1848.
The photo above is a cartoon representation of the men booeing the feminist speaker in the middle at the first women's rights convention.
The Seneca Falls convention was the first women's rights movement in United States history which was organized in 1848 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Elizabeth and Mary Ann McClintock, and Lucretia Mott. After considering the literature of temperance, abolition, and peace movements, the women selected the Declaration of Independence as a model for the Declaration of Sentiments they prepared for the convention.
On July 19-20, 1848, the convention was held at the Wesleyan Methodist chapel in
Seneca Falls, New York. The attendence was about 300 people at the convention, which was chaired by Mott's husband James. Stanton, Mott, and the McClintocks spoke at the assembly. Then, Stanton read the Declaration of Sentiments, which began, "When in the course of human events," and carried on to declare that "men and women are created equal." The 18 complaints that followed included the right to wages, lack of the vote, and equal custody of children. After the assembly passed the declaration, they adopted 12 resolutions. The ninth resolution called for the right to vote, barely passed. By the end of the convention,a total of 100 people signed the Declaration of Sentiments-- 68 women and 32 men.
After the convention, the women were faced by criticism from the press. One editorial said the meeting was, "the most shocking and unnatural incident ever recorded in the history of womanity." The negative press caused many of the people to withdraw their names.
Two weeks later, a second convention was held in Rochester, New York. After 18 months, as the news of the Seneca Falls convention began to spread, preparations in other states began, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Indiana. With a program and leadership established, the women's movement in the U.S. officially began.
The Seneca Falls convention was the first women's rights movement in United States history which was organized in 1848 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Elizabeth and Mary Ann McClintock, and Lucretia Mott. After considering the literature of temperance, abolition, and peace movements, the women selected the Declaration of Independence as a model for the Declaration of Sentiments they prepared for the convention.
On July 19-20, 1848, the convention was held at the Wesleyan Methodist chapel in
Seneca Falls, New York. The attendence was about 300 people at the convention, which was chaired by Mott's husband James. Stanton, Mott, and the McClintocks spoke at the assembly. Then, Stanton read the Declaration of Sentiments, which began, "When in the course of human events," and carried on to declare that "men and women are created equal." The 18 complaints that followed included the right to wages, lack of the vote, and equal custody of children. After the assembly passed the declaration, they adopted 12 resolutions. The ninth resolution called for the right to vote, barely passed. By the end of the convention,a total of 100 people signed the Declaration of Sentiments-- 68 women and 32 men.
After the convention, the women were faced by criticism from the press. One editorial said the meeting was, "the most shocking and unnatural incident ever recorded in the history of womanity." The negative press caused many of the people to withdraw their names.
Two weeks later, a second convention was held in Rochester, New York. After 18 months, as the news of the Seneca Falls convention began to spread, preparations in other states began, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Indiana. With a program and leadership established, the women's movement in the U.S. officially began.