Seneca Falls
The Declaration of Independence rewritten, with women in it
See it on the timeline →In depth
Married women in the United States could not at this date own property, make contracts or keep their own wages, and no woman had the vote anywhere in the country. The meeting grew out of abolitionism, and the link between the two causes was close until it broke: when the Fifteenth Amendment gave Black men the vote without mentioning women, the movement split bitterly. American women gained the vote in 1920, over seventy years after Seneca Falls, and only one participant lived to cast one. The standing of Haudenosaunee women in their own societies is documented as an influence on several of the organisers.
For children
At a meeting in New York State, women set out a declaration of their own rights, modelled word for word on the Declaration of Independence — but with "all men and women are created equal". The demand for the vote was the most contested point, even among those present.
Sources
- Declaration of Sentiments (1848), Seneca Falls
- DuBois, Feminism and Suffrage (1978)
Connects to
Report a correction
Found something that does not hold? Tell us — sources help, but are not required.
Report a correctionPart of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org ·