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.

In a final appeal to pathos, Stanton employs impassioned diction to draw attention to the systematic oppression of women and the effects of the aforementioned grievances. Without the basic rights to vote, to financially support oneself, and to make decisions regarding their marriage, women are “aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived”—an emotionally charged phrase Stanton employs to arouse sympathy in her audience and readers.

The noun “disfranchisement” [sic] or “disenfranchisement” means the state of being deprived of the right to vote. Stanton saw the disenfranchisement of women as one of the major hurdles of the women’s rights movement.

The adjective “abject” means cast down to the lowest, most spiritless state or condition. In this final grievance, Stanton claims that under men’s control, women lose their own identity and fall into despondency and hopelessness.

The verb “usurped” means to seize illegally; the noun “prerogative” refers to an exclusive right. In the Hebrew bible, the word “Jehovah” is one of the seven names for the God of Israel. This phrase suggests that men have commandeered God’s position by controlling women’s rights. Stanton claims to the contrary that “her conscience” belongs to the true, real God, not to the men who have falsely usurped the authority of God.

Today, this grievance is known as a “double standard,” a term used to describe how one group of people is treated differently than another. More particularly, this term is used to describe how a set of ethical values is more rigorously applied to women than to men.

The adjective “Apostolic” means relating to the twelve biblical apostles. Here Stanton discusses the spiritual authority these apostles held and passed onto other religious leaders in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox churches.

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.

The noun “chastisement” means the act of scolding or censuring someone. Under the laws of coverture, a woman is legally bound and subservient to her husband, who acts as her “master.” He rules her every move and can “deprive her of her liberty.” The woman cannot raise her voice or live freely; she must remain docile and passive.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In an exact reiteration of the Declaration of Independence, Stanton appeals to her audience’s sense of logos or reason by providing “facts” in the following section. By submitting her facts to the “candid world,” Stanton suggests that her audience is impartial and unbiased, having never witnessed such an unprecedented moment in the history of women’s rights.

The word “despotism” refers to a political system wherein one individual has absolute authority over others. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson uses the word to characterize King George III’s tyrannical rule. Here, the word takes on an entirely different meaning. Stanton views the patriarchal system of society as a form of despotism that has absolute authority over women—total “tyranny over her.”

Used in both declarations, the noun “prudence” means caution or the quality of having good sense in practical affairs. In both documents, the word is used to claim that governments should not be changed for inconsequential reasons; instead they should be changed only when faced with “a long train of abuses and usurpations.” Through diction, Jefferson was able to demonstrate that Revolution was viable. Stanton does the same, claiming that it is prudent and reasonable for women to resist oppression any further.

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.

The mirroring structure Stanton employs continues throughout the course of this entire paragraph, again nearly a word-for-word reproduction of Jefferson’s founding text. However, Stanton subverts the original by adding modifications and implementing slight but significant subsitutons. Now, the meaning of her words take on an added layer of complexity. For example, in the opening line—originally “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal”—Stanton adds the word “women.” Through this augmentation, Stanton demonstrates the failure of the Declaration of Independence to include women and thus integrates them into her own declaration. In addition, the original wording about “colonies,” “the present King of Great Britain,” or “these States,” is replaced with the phrases “women under this government,” “mankind,” and “on the part of man toward woman.” Stanton reroutes the original document to fit her purposes and in doing so highlights the failures of the nation to include women at its founding.

In the opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson delineates the purpose of his document. Here, Stanton reproduces the same structure but establishes her differing purpose: to lay out women’s grievances and provide a call to action. By placing her thesis early on in the document, as the Founding Fathers did in theirs, Stanton creates a structure that allows her to easily list her grievances in a logical manner.

The ending clauses of this introductory paragraph nearly exactly mirrors the Declaration of Independence, which states that “the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to the separation.” By alluding to one of the nation’s most important founding doctrines and creating a parallel between these two documents nearly word-for-word, Stanton asserts her declaration’s validity as a critical revolutionary document for women’s rights. The audience of women at the convention would immediately recognize the parallel Stanton draws and identify her words as ones of utmost importance.

Stanton was a rebellious intellectual, passionate suffragist, and practiced orator who understood the power of language to appeal to her audience. In a brilliant rhetorical move, Stanton establishes her credibility and appeals to the ethos of her audience by mirroring the structure and diction of the “Declaration of Sentiments” to those of the United States Declaration of Independence. Adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence announced the impetus for the American Revolution. By mirroring the document that delineated all the grievances of British rule and established autonomy for the thirteen colonies, Stanton makes a strong claim about women’s rights: that women—like the thirteen colonies almost seventy-five years prior—have long suffered grievances at the hands of an oppressive force, namely American patriarchal society and strict doctrines of marriage. Straightaway, Stanton asserts her authority, mirroring the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence by stating “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary…” However, the phrasing and meaning of the declaration diverge when Stanton lays out her thesis, claiming that one “portion” of society has been usurped by another.