The Seneca Falls Convention In The 1800's

Charlotte Brontë once said, “I do not think, sir, you have any right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I have; your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience” ("Find Quotes"). In the early 1800s inspiration to begin a movement that strove for gender equality stemmed from ideas very similar to the idea expressed in the quote, along with influences from the actions of early abolition and temperance leaders. Activists, desiring equal rights for women, and co-equality among men, though still distant aspirations, began to take steps toward a revolution that would permanently advance the lives of women. Ideas as to how this issue should be addressed
were considered, and two prominent and strong-willed activists came to the conclusion that, just like many earlier abolitionists, it would be the most beneficial to hold a national gathering. At these gatherings, activists could discuss and hopefully secure the equal rights that they were so adamant about attaining.
However, that was easier said than done. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were the driving forces behind the convention at Seneca Falls, and they were eager and ready to fight for, and institute, the drastic changes it would take to achieve total equality with their male counterparts, but at the time, those thoughts were viewed, by most white males, as extremely radical and not nearly important enough to be considered. The Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, attempted to inspire significant changes in both the social and political lives of women, giving them the opportunity to advance in society. However, negative backlash from the public prevented the overall success of this
convention. The women responsible for the planning and execution of the Seneca Falls convention were not completely new to the ideas of reform. Elizabeth Cady Stanton held a more prevalent role in her home as she was growing up. After her brother died, she was determined to fill that void in her family. She wanted to be able to do the same things that her brother would have done and excel in activities that were typically known to be men’s jobs (McMillen 5). She was also fortunate enough to obtain an education exceeding what most other women of the time period had. Stanton first realized that she wanted to make a difference in the lives of women after witnessing many poor women struggle to hold together the household, a marriage, and raise children, all of which they had no real control over (Page). Lucretia Coffin Mott was much older than Stanton, but still had a good education and went on to become a school teacher. Growing up as a Quaker, her parents were very active in various reform movements, and she was granted the privilege to organize and speak at public gatherings. As a child, her father was often away, which led her mother to make most of the decisions regarding their home and business. Having such a strong female figure in her life influenced her to have the same type of strength and to help create a voice for other women who were struggling or facing oppression (McMillen 5). Seneca Falls, New York, was a quiet and close-knit agricultural community without much industrial development besides its river powered flour and textile mills, but even those were few and far between.
Though Seneca Falls was small, its location was ideal for the intended purpose of this convention. It was chosen mostly because of the close proximity of people living along the Seneca and Cayuga Canals that linked directly to the Erie Canal, which passed just ten miles northeast of the town. Also, Seneca Falls fell geographically right in between a railroad line and an east-west turnpike which helped to greatly increase accessibility to this small town. Not only was Seneca Falls a rich agricultural center, for many years prior to 1848, it was the home to many anti-slavery and temperance activists and was the location of many previous gatherings that were held to address social and political reform very similar to the reform movement discussed at Seneca Falls (Page). Also, helping to prompt this revolution, were local influences from Quakers and various Iroquois tribes who had already instilled traditions of female equality into their daily lives (Leonard). Because there was such a heavy concentration of these ideas in and around Seneca Falls, that was yet another reason as to why the convention was held there. The leaders of the Seneca Falls convention wanted those ideas to be seen and heard by as many people as possible, so that the public would hopefully understand that
co-equality was attainable and, in the end, would only benefit society in a positive way. With those thoughts in mind, Stanton, Mott, and many others were apt to eliminate white male oppression toward women of low socioeconomic status, however, they chose to overlook the fact that leading up to this point in time, the rights of women had never come into question because social, political, and religious doctrines had solidified a woman's status as subordinate, making it known that they possessed no legal or political opportunities at all, with absolutely no exceptions (McMillen 3-4). In the time period leading up to the Seneca Falls Convention, the “Cult of Domesticity” was a widely practiced public opinion about womanhood that prohibited them from leaving their homes, strictly confining them to female specific jobs, codifying what they were allowed to wear, along with making them societal submissives to men. Before marriage, women were expected to obey their fathers, and after, they were expected to obey their husbands which completely forbade them from leaving this unfair cycle of oppression (Anderson 8-10). Women were known to have only a few jobs inside the home because it was not believed that women were capable to do a man’s job outside of the home on any level. Furthermore, they were permitted to cook, clean, and raise children, but many women were capable of so much more, which is why they were ready to fight for rights that would allow them to broaden their education and experience outside of the home. Even the way that females had to dress limited their ability to be involved in society. The physical signs that defined a public man were wearing pants and having a beard, these showed ultimate masculinity and power over all other people, and because women didn’t have this appearance, they were placed on a societal level no higher than that of a young boy, incapable of representing themselves (Isenberg). Most females in this time period were denied any form of education, banned from reading anything other than religious doctrine, and in the eyes of men, this immediately made females ineligible to participate in any political affairs. Women were not allowed to sign contracts or write wills without their husbands’ permission, they could not enter practically any profession, and most importantly, they were denied the right to vote, only occasionally being allowed to vote via proxy through male relatives (Anderson 8-10). Women felt that they were entitled to have some say in their political lives, which is why they so heavily wanted the right to express their political views through elections, however, they were told that they were not educated enough to make those decisions on their own. The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal and that they are guaranteed certain inalienable rights, like the freedom of speech and assembly, and these activists felt that those rights should be extended to include women as well. Men had the power to institute societal and political rules, and they would gladly continue to enforce those rules as long as it confirmed their status as the dominant gender. Even state constitutions denied women of those rights which is why there was such a drastic push to start at the state level and try and reform them (Isenberg). However, the only way to start the reform process would be to spread the word about the injustices that women were facing, and make many other people aware of the issues being addressed, but that was hard to do because women were not allowed to publicly express their ideas, and were rarely allowed to attend any public gatherings without being told to sit in the back in silence. However, Stanton and Mott were motivated and determined to stand up for what they believed they deserved. They were willing to go against all societal normalities just so they could commence this movement. The church also had a big impact on the development of this concept. The Second Great Awakening was a massive religious revival that promoted joining Protestant churches along with inspiring many reform movements to help better society from what it was before. It was known that women in the early 1800s were supposed to be more religious than men, but women were considered to be a “disabled caste” within the church, and like every other aspect of their lives, they were not viewed as equals to men. Women were not allowed to preach, but they wanted their voice to be heard directly in the church, not through a male representative (Isenberg). If this were to happen it would allow those people vested in dresses to eliminate this discrimination. The ultimate goal of this convention was to create a society of co-equality on the basis of men and women being peers of each other where there was no specific gender ruling or being ruled, and to highlight public speech as the defining factor of status, not just based on physical appearance (Isenberg).