Elizabeth Cady Stanton Quotes
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. "Declaration of Sentiments." Seneca Falls Convention, 19 July 1848, Seneca Falls, NY.
Jefferson’s original was: We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable that all …
This wording was used a few years later by the French in their Revolution,
The preamble to this declaration of womens’ rights cleverly beginy s with the words of the Declaration of Independence with the single change that “all men” is replaced with “all men and women.” The message was clear. If the founders had a moral right and duty to revolt for these objectives women would be justified and duty bound to make similar efforts. That message terrified many men of the era.
This remarkable statement was written in about 1840 and there was probably then few people of either gender who would think such a thing possible.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-1800s. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, the first convention to be called for the sole purpose of discussing women's rights, and was the primary author of its Declaration of Sentiments. Her demand for women's right to vote generated a controversy at the convention but quickly became a central tenet of the women's movement. She was also active in other social reform activities, especially abolitionism.
