Historical Context in Declaration of Sentiments

Similarly to the Declaration of Independence, the final paragraph of Stanton’s declaration is a call to action. Stanton encourages women to fight for change and hopes that these conventions, or similar conventions, continue to grow. Although the Seneca Falls Convention was radical for declaring that women should have the right to vote and caused many supporters to back away from women’s rights, the convention did in fact serve as the impetus for change. Two weeks later, another successful women’s rights assembly took place at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester. Since these two historic events in 1848, women’s rights conventions have been held annually across the country. Although Stanton would never live to see it, her revolutionary words and efforts provided the groundwork for the 1920 adoption of the 19th amendment, which ratified women’s suffrage and made it illegal to deny any citizen the right to vote based on sex.

Although the majority of American colleges were male-only, Oberlin College, which was founded in 1833, was the first college to admit both men and women. At Oberlin, women were allowed to study in the Female and Teacher Departments. Four years after its founding, Oberlin permitted women to enter the Collegiate Department, and in 1841, women were able to receive Bachelor of Arts degrees.

The adjective “scanty” refers to an insufficient quantity; the word “remuneration” means to pay the equivalent for an expense. Through the process of coverture and the monopolization of women’s rights, men prevented women from working and making their own living. Instead, women were completely dependent on men, without the proper means or resources to sustain themselves financially.

During the 19th century, divorce was an especially controversial and taboo topic. Divorces were often difficult to attain due to strict rules that restricted couples from doing so. Sometimes, they were granted under the catch-all “omnibus” rule that allowed divorce on the grounds of abuse or adultery. However, even then, evidence was required to prove wrongdoing to the court. Divorce continued to carry a heavy stigma well into 20th century.

In 1848, fragments of English common law continued to subsist in American law. One of the major tenets of this antiquated law system was known as “coverture,” a legal doctrine by which a married woman was considered to be under her husband’s protection. A woman’s legal status were “covered”—also called “feme covert” in legal jargon—meaning that her rights and financial independence were subsumed by her husband’s. In William Blackstone’s 1765 Commentaries on the Laws of England, the author describes how the “legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband; under whose wing, protection, and cover, she performs everything.” In the 1845 novel Essays on Human Rights and their Political Guaranties, Elisha P. Hurlbut further demonstrates the dehumanizing effects of this law, writing that “in the eye of the law” a married woman “exists not at all.” Like Stanton says here, married women are “civilly dead”; they are placed, as Hurlbut writes, in a “legal tomb.”

This point speaks to New York’s 1846 constitution, which defined eligible voters strictly as “males.” White men were granted universal suffrage and some black men who owned sufficient property could vote. After the Civil War in 1870 and the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, it was illegal to prohibit citizens of color from voting. However, it wasn’t until 1920 with the passing of the 19th Amendment that the United States provided both men and women equal voting rights.

The first point of grievance Stanton mentions is that women do not have the ability to vote. Stanton saw suffrage or “elective franchise” as perhaps the most important right women needed in order to gain autonomy in society. Without enfranchisement and the right to vote, women were essentially voiceless in the public sphere. Ironically, on the second day of the convention, when the “Declaration of Sentiments” was adopted, the convention also considered twelve resolutions. Eleven passed unanimously, but the last one—women’s “sacred right to the elective franchise”—aroused much debate because it was so controversial at the time. Eventually when Frederick Douglass joined Stanton’s side, all resolutions passed, including the resolution for enfranchisement.