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Declaration of Sentiments | Primary Source Essentials

What were the claims the Declaration of Sentiments made on equality and self-government for women? In this rapid-fire episode of BRI’s Primary Source Essentials, learn why Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton called for the Seneca Falls Convention. Discover the main points discussed in the Declaration of Sentiments and how this document helped pave the way for the Women's Suffrage Movement.

0:00 Welcome to Primary Source Essentials. In this episode, we will briefly discuss the Declaration of Sentiments and the claims it made on equality for women. The mid 1800s saw the rise of numerous antebellum reform movements arising from the second Great Awakening women participated in and provided leadership in abolitionism, prison reform, temperance and public schooling.

0:25 In 1840, several leading female abolitionists attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. They were not seated on the floor of the convention because of their sex and were angry and frustrated. Out of this women’s rights movement developed. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia mott call the convention at Seneca Falls in New York to address the economic educational,

0:49 legal and political inequalities women faced. The delegates agreed to a declaration of sentiments expressing their grievances modeled upon the language and the ideals of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Sentiments asserted that all men and women are created equal

1:10 and endowed with the same right to self-government by consent. It then listed the grievances women had because of a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, with the object to establish an absolute tyranny over her. Their grievances and injuries included being denied

1:30 equal educational and professional opportunities, property rights, and most especially, the right to vote. So the Declaration of Sentiments asserted that women had an equal claim as men on equality and self-government. The women’s suffrage movement began a decades long struggle for the right to vote

1:51 that was successfully achieved first in several Western states and then nationally with the 19th Amendment in 1920. Thanks for watching and make sure to check out the other videos in Primary Source Essentials.

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