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Virginia Pratt Professor Stephen Tilson History 2700 23 April 2014 After reading and studying the sources in chapter 24 of Changing Interpretations of America's Past about the beginnings of the fight for women's rights, I have gained even more respect for these women and their tenacity to fight for something they truly believed in that was unpopular by the majority of people at the time. The areas of this fight that I would like to focus on are, the hypocrisy of the men at the time, how these women fought with integrity and the rights women now have that are taken for granted. At an Anti-Slavery Convention in London, England eight years before the Seneca Falls Convention, "A heated debate ensued...as male delegate argued whether female delegates should be seated." (Introduction, pg 286) At the very place where delegates are working on, "obtaining the liberty and equality of all men held in human bondage," women were not allowed to be active participants of the convention, because of their gender. (Introduction, pg 286) The hypocrisy of this act is one of many examples of the blatant double standards of the time. The proof of the hypocrisy was in laws enacted at the time that did not allow women to vote, own property or "allowed to spend their earning without their husbands' consent..." (The Business of Convention, pg 288) Yet these same men were proud to be the founders of what they believed were true freedoms for all humankind. This was definitely a time of true hypocrisy.

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The women who organized the Seneca Falls Convention that started the women's rights movement were women of integrity and pushed forward their cause with dignity. Elizabeth Cady Stanton explained their purpose, which met ridicule from all men was to, "[A]ssert that woman stands by the side of man, his equal, placed here by her God to enjoy with him the beautiful earth, which is her home as it is his, having the same sense of right and wrong..." (Source 2, pg 287) As newspapers degraded and made light of the convention and the rights of women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton sent a letter to the editor of the National Reformer reiterating their position, "We did not meet to discuss fashions, customs or dress, the rights of men or the propriety of the sexes changing positions, but simply our own inalienable rights, our duties, our true sphere." (Source 9, pg 293) These women stood their ground with the dignity and grace that is still admired today. The women of the mid nineteenth century who saw the vision of equal rights for all fought for many rights women take for granted today. The right to own property, to keep her own money, the pursuit of education to its highest level, she can keep custody of her children in the event of separation and/or divorce. (Source 3, pg 290) These are every day freedoms most women take for granted that they have always been there for her to enjoy. However, possibly the biggest freedom won and it was a long fight to win, was the freedom to vote. At the time of the Seneca Falls Convention, "It was thought improper for women to hold opinions on political matters and it was a serious breach of etiquette for a woman to discuss politics in public." (The Business of the Convention, pg 288) So strict was the policy that many women in attendance at the convention thought demanding this right, "...was much too controversial, and would only serve to subject their entire proceeding to ridicule." (The Business of the Convention, pg 288) Women were, "...compelled...to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice."

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(Source 3, pg 290) In contrast, today women talk, write, and read about politics in public as well as in private. They freely and openly endorse candidates as well as run as candidates themselves. Women often focus only on the right to vote and do not realize that the fight went deeper than women being allowed to enter the voting booths. The fight was for freedom of expression as well; the freedom to express a woman's opinion and ideals in public, something women do today with no consideration that less than 200 years ago she did not have this right at all. The small, ridiculed meeting in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848 slowly brought about the unprecedented freedoms women enjoy today. These freedoms came slowly, at the cause of public ridicule for the women who believed in their cause, and worked tirelessly, to make the world we live in today more fair than their world. These women met this fight with integrity and dignity that I hope I possess if ever I need to fight for a cause I believe is right and just.