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The first cause to bring large numbers of women together was the movement to abolish slavery. Black and white women abolitionists began speaking out for their right to participate in public life.
However, many abolitionist organizations didn’t accept female members.
In 1833, Lucretia Mott helped form the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. Similar groups sprang up in other cities. Through their antislavery work, women learned how to organize a campaign, print pamphlets, lead meetings, write petitions, and speak in public. When Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton went to the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840, they weren’t allowed to participate. So the two committed themselves to fight for women’s rights.
◀ In July of 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and a few others organized a convention to discuss women’s rights. It was held in Seneca Falls, New York. At the convention, Stanton presented a document she had written called the Declaration of Sentiments. It was modeled on the Declaration of Independence, but where that document proclaimed that all men are created equal, Stanton wrote: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal.” The Seneca Falls convention provoked much response—both negative and positive. The women were condemned and mocked. According to one newspaper editorial, the convention was “the most shocking and unnatural incident ever recorded in the history of womanity.” However, many women began to organize themselves to fight for their rights.
At Seneca Falls, Stanton proposed 12 resolutions for women’s rights. They included the right to vote, to get an education, to own property, and to testify in court. Eleven resolutions were passed unanimously by the men and women at the convention. But the one calling for the vote was controversial. Even Lucretia Mott thought it was too bold. But the famous black abolitionist Frederick Douglass (right) spoke forcefully in favor of the resolution, and it passed by a narrow margin. ▶
◀ It took tremendous courage for women to speak out. Those who did were often attacked by community and religious leaders—and sometimes by the men and women in their own families. Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s father disowned her, although he later put her back in his will.
Slowly, attitudes began to change. In 1860, the New York legislature passed a women’s rights bill, allowing women to own property, sign contracts, keep earnings and inheritances, and share in the custody of children after a divorce. Other states followed New York’s lead. However, none of them granted women the right to vote.
▲ After the Civil War, Susan B. Anthony (above right), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (left), and Frederick Douglass began working together to promote suffrage for women and African Americans. But the Republican Party let them know that only one group would be allowed the vote. The 15th Amendment was proposed to give the vote to black men. The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), Stanton and Anthony’s organization, opposed its passage. They concentrated on fighting for an amendment that would give women the vote.
Some suffragists disagreed with the NWSA’s stand. Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe helped to form the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). This organization supported the 15th Amendment and decided to concentrate on fighting for women’s suffrage state by state. ▶
▲ Lucy Stone
▲ Julia Ward Howe
◀ The debates over black and female suffrage caused some African-American women to distrust white suffragists. They began to form separate women’s organizations.
