Women's Rights In The 19th Century

Each generation has its minority that is vocally fighting for change. For example, today it seems that everywhere you turn there is another news story about the struggle for gay and lesbian rights, whether it's about tax equality, military service, or the right to marry. 150 years ago, it was an even larger portion of the population's turn: women. Throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, women fought for equal rights under the law and most importantly the right to vote. In both North America and Europe in the 19th century, women and men were expected to fill separate spheres of society. Men were expected to live a public life, whether it was working in a factory or socializing with like-minded men in public places, like clubs, meetings,
Though exceptions to the rule did exist, women in general were entirely shut out of the public sphere of 19th-century society unless they were accompanying their husbands or fathers. Beginning in the 19th century, women's acceptance of these traditional roles began to dissipate. Eschewing the contemporary adage that women protesting, attending political speeches, or otherwise rabble-rousing was considered gauche and unladylike, women began taking on serious roles in the abolition and temperance movements in both the United States and in Europe. Indeed, the temperance movement was largely driven by lower and middle class women, who were upset with the amount of time and money men often spent in bars on
This document, which adopted some terminology and turns of phrase of the U.S. Constitution, laid out the injustices of the current role of women in society, including their inability to own property, their subjugation to men, and their lack of political access, among others.

The declaration was highly controversial even among women's rights advocates - many felt the harsh criticisms of male-dominated society and its ardent calls for reform of the existing order were too radical and might discourage other women from getting behind the movement. Despite these fears, Seneca Falls and the Declaration of Sentiments was a watershed moment for the women's rights movement in the United States.

Two years later, many of these same women organized the first National Women's Rights Convention in Massachusetts. This brought together many of the leading figures of the 19th-century women's rights movements, including Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, and the architect of the Declaration of Sentiments, Elizabeth Cady