The term first-wave was coined in the 1970s.[by whom?] The women's movement of that time, with its focus on de facto (unofficial) inequalities, acknowledged its predecessors by calling itself second-wave feminism.
Important People, Events and Organization
Women’s Suffrage- First-wave feminists were fighting for women’s right to vote. The women’s suffrage movement was in alignment with the Black Suffrage and the Abolitionist movement, due to the similiar goals of equality.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton- Avid suffragist and abolitionist. She is credited with being one of the first women’s rights activists. Together with Lucretia Mott and several other quaker women, Stanton initiated the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, for which Stanton also drafted the Declaration of Sentiments. Stanton died in 1902, about 18 years before woman legally gained the right to vote.
Lucretia Mott-Mott was a major female leader in the abolitionist movement. She was one of six women delegates chosen to attend the 1840 World’s Anti-Slavery Convention in England. She worked with other abolitionist leaders, such as Frederick Douglass, and was recognized for her women’s rights work through her election as the first president of the Equal Rights Association in May 1866. She worked with Stanton to create the Seneca Falls Convention.
Lucy Stone- Important abolitionist and supporter of the women’s suffrage movement in the U.S. Stone is also recognized for keeping her own last name (Stone) after marriage, something that was unheard of in the 19th century.
Susan B. Anthony- Strong supporter of temperance, women’s suffrage and the abolitionist movement. She believed that women