"He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice...."See in text(Text of Stanton's Declaration)
Through a list of sixteen facts, Stanton appeals to the audience’s sense of pathos. The audience of women would likely have identified with each grievance on a personal level. They would have understood how women are acquiesced through an oppressive system of patriarchy, strict marriage laws, and disenfranchisement. In addition, the poignant diction Stanton employs in words like “oppressed” and “dead” would have inspired recognition in her audience.
So begins the list of “sentiments”—or grievances—in Stanton’s declaration. In the Declaration of Independence, the pronoun “he” explicitly referred to the tyrannical King George III. However, here the pronoun “he” is a form of collective synecdoche, a type of figurative speech in which the part represents the whole. “He” implicitly stands in for “American men.” Each point of sentiments begins with this pronoun to demonstrate the direct injustices perpetrated by men on women.
"it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it..."See in text(Text of Stanton's Declaration)
In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson writes that “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish [a destructive form of government].” Here, Stanton writes that “it is the right of those who suffer from [a destructive form of government] to refuse allegiance to it.” While the former encourages Americans to completely abolish ties to the monarchy, the latter encourages women to stand up against the system of oppression. Although the wording changes only slightly, the meaning behind those words change vastly.
