Grimke Sisters

Throughout the series of documents in Kathryn Kisk Sklar’s Women’s Rights Emerges within the Antislavery Movement 1830- 1870, the Grimke sisters argued for the natural rights of women and slaves. They believed that all humans are moral beings, and are entitled to moral nature and rights. Throughout the documents Sarah and Angelina Grimke were not radical, but looked to better humanity in America. Their humanistic values urged the sisters to challenge the domestic roles and values that women in the 1800’s were faced with in their homes, marriages, and society. They used the abolition movement to encourage women to act and speak their opinions in order to obtain equality from men.
The sisters used the abolition movement to argue their opposition to slavery, by pleading for equal rights in America. In document 32, Sarah compares women to slaves. She believes that all human beings have natural rights, therefore it is wrong for both minority parties to be discriminated against, and have their rights taken away from them. She compared women to their husbands as slaves are to their masters. This powerful connection explains that women have no more rights than slaves. Neither is not allowed to have property, both are forced to follow laws they did not vote for, and neither can not act upon their master or husband no matter what the case is.1 The sisters are not radical, because they intend to challenge the rights women have in society by using the same Lockean philosophy men used to justify their rights a century earlier. The concept focused on their humanist ideas for America, in which she asserts the injustices against slavery and women, and looks to change the position both groups serve in society.
Additionally, their stance for abolition is not only derived from the lack of their own rights, but also the church. Following the Quaker religion, the sisters believed that people needed to stand up for not only their own salvation, but also others. Angelina proclaims