Stanton, Truth, and Dubois

Elizabeth Cady Stanton: "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions"

The first line of Stanton's Declaration harkens to the opening clause of the America's Declaration of Independence from the British Empire. This is a very powerful way to open her discussion at the Seneca Falls Convention. Hoping to ascertain civil and political rights for women, Stanton begins her Declaration with a strong sense of pride and principle. This time however, it is not for the rights of a new nation but rather, for the rights of women. Stanton declares, "the history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her" (EFR 58). After making such a claim, she immediately lists the facts of the grievances that woman had been suffering including leaving her without political representation, and forcing a different code of morals on women than on men. She then strategically lays out many resolutions to bring about the betterment of women. Such statements include that a "woman is man's equal," and that "it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise." It is also important to note that this is more than just a declaration of what Stanton believes the world should adhere to, but it is also a call to arms. He urges both women AND men to join the cause and help her to fight for the rights of women's equality.

Sojourner Truth: Two Speeches

At the core of her body of work, Sojourner Truth was using a very different perspective than the other women's rights leaders we have thus far read. She was born a slave in New York and strongly fought for the abolition of slavery and civil rights for African Americans. She also dedicated much of her efforts to the advancement of women. She thought that black men and women and white women should be granted the same rights as their white male counterparts. In her first speech, delivered in May of 1851, she asserts that women are just as strong and able as men are. I particularly like her metaphor of a pint and a quart for the size of a woman and a man's brain. She begs the question if a woman has a brain the size of a pint, who is to say that it is not full to the brim? She also uses biblical anecdotes to further her claims that women are no less than men. One of her messages which I thought was particularly powerful was when she stated: "If woman upset the world, do give her a chance to set it right side up again" (EFR 64). This statement is particularly important because at the time the argument that Eve was made from Adam and thus she was secondary and the fact that it was Eve who was tempted and ate the apple were two major Biblical arguments which continuously were used to denigrate women.

Sixteen years later, Truth gave another riveting speech calling for equality of women. She begins by identifying the importance of her being black and the unique voice it gives her. She wants black women to be able to share their voice and fight not only for the promotion of their race, but also of their sex. She goes on to say, "There ought to be equal rights [for women] now more than ever, since colored people have got their freedom" (66). She insists that if women don't get the right to vote in particular, men will continue to subjugate them and things will be no better than before the era of civil rights advancements.

Ellen Dubois: "Feminism: Old Wave and New Wave"

Dubois begins her paper by offering her definition of the often used, and often misused, term "feminism." To her, feminism is a political concept which is comprised of three parts. The first is trying to explain how and why there is oppression of women. The second element is a vision of a society in which stereotypes based on sex are destroyed. The final part of her definition is the tenet that the presence of the oppression of women is a detriment to the advancement of society. I think by beginning with this definition, Dubois eloquently outlines the ways in which she thinks feminism needs to be engaged with society. She offers a brief survey of the history of feminism in the United States where she points out the first wave's connection to the abolitionist movement and the second wave's connection with the civil rights and peace movements. She also points out that each of the upsurges of feminist movements throughout the nation were started when women "who had attempted to function politically in the major reform movements of their days... had found that because they were women they would be unable to do very much at all." It is an interesting thought to see that these movements for early women's rights have a clear connection to other movements and it is when women are trying to help others and cannot that they again fight for their own rights. She delves deep into the history of the first wave of feminism and describes its often times tumultuous relationship with the abolitionist movement. One thing which shocked me when reading Dubois is what she said happened when British abolitionists were "offended by the thought of women functioning politically as the equals of men." For Mott and Stanton, this was a hard blow and it ultimately helped lead them to organize the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. She discusses the betrayal of the 14th Amendment which defined the rights of citizenship and extended it to all races, but it excluded any mention of sex. I loved the way Dubois ended her paper, so that is how i will draw my post to a close: "So, like the feminists of the 19th Century, we have gone the separatist route and formed a movement of our own. We work in women's liberation because we are not permitted to function fully in other movements for social chance and because, if we don't demand our own liberation, no one else will." Unfortunately, her hopes of having the second wave of feminism be our last was not the case. The feminist movement has continued to struggle, and still struggles to this day, to ensure total equality for women.