Elizabeth Cady StantonAuthor: Caroline SchaefferGrade Level: Fourth/Fifth
Related Topics: Women's Rights (Suffrage), Discrimination
Menue: Background:
References:
Objectives: Time
Allotment:
Resources:
Procedures:
Assessment:
Background:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born on November 12, 1815 in Johnstown,
New York. She had four sisters. The Cady's also had three boys who
died before Elizabeth was born. Her father was Judge Cady, and
Elizabeth loved going in and sitting in the corner of his office,
while his clients talked about their problems. She often got angry,
especially when women came in, because her father never seemed to be
able to help them. When Elizabeth was eleven years old, her only
living brother, who was nine years older than she, died. Her father
was very distraught, so Elizabeth, wanting to comfort him, went over
to sit on his lap. Her father just sighed and said, "I wish you were
a boy." She knew that she could never be a boy, so she decided to
become just as good as a boy. She got the preacher next door to give
her Greek lessons, she learned to jump her horse over four foot
fences, she was put into the highest math and language class at
Johnstown Academy, and finally she won a prize for Greek when she was
sixteen years old. Instead of being pleased, her father was sad that
she had not been born a boy. She was disappointed, but didn't let it
keep her down long. She spent two years at Emma Willard's Female
Seminary in Troy, and even though she learned much, she was glad when
the time was over.
Elizabeth had many friends who were abolitionists, and she enjoyed spending time with them. While at the house of Gerritt Smith in 1839, she met Henry Stanton, a strong abolitionist, who hoped to go into politics. They fell in love and were soon engaged, but her fathers opposition broke up the engagement for a time. They continued to write, and in the spring of 1840, Henry told her that he had been elected as a delegate to the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. If they got married now, she could go to London and have Henry at the same time. If not, it would be another eight months until he got back. They decided to elope. During the ceremony she told the minister that they would be equal partners and she would not promise to "obey" him.
Immediately after Elizabeth's marriage to Henry, they sailed to
London. While there, Elizabeth grew fond of Lucretia Mott, a delegate
from Philadelphia. Lucretia was a Quaker and was used to other
Quakers treating her as an equal to men. She was twenty-two- years
older that Elizabeth and lectured on abolition. Most often her
lectures were to women, but sometimes they were to combined
audiences.
When Elizabeth and the others arrived in England they were told that
the women would not be able to sit with the men as regular delegates.
Although Elizabeth was not a delegate, she was very angry. She
decided to speak her mind at the boarding house, along with Lucretia
Mott and the other American women. Most of the American delegates,
both men and women, protested women not being able to sit with the
regular delegates, but it didn't do any good. One man was so furious,
he went and sat behind the curtain with the women.
Henry was not happy with this outward display of Elizabeth's, and
later when the vote came, he voted against women being seated with
the regular delegates. He felt it would undermine the effectiveness
of the group as a whole. He was also not in favor of Elizabeth's view
on women voting.
Elizabeth was a wonderful mother and housekeeper, despite her views
on women rights. She raised seven children while following her
husband from Boston to upstate New York with his political career.
Every time a new child was born, she would raise a colored flag in
front of their house. She did not begin to complain until she could
not find a reliable babysitter or housekeeper. She eventually began
to get fed up with the drudgery and the condition of her life and the
limitations that were placed on her.
She felt confined and restricted by the worlds views toward women. At
the time of the American Revolution, only white males who were over
twenty-one and who owned property were allowed to vote. As the years
progressed, attitudes about women became more and more restrictive.
They were only allowed certain privileges, and had certain roles they
were supposed to carry out. One such role included staying home to
take care of their children, their husband, and their house. This was
supposedly God ordained, and the clergymen were some of the most
violent opposers to the rights and freedoms of women.
The start of Elizabeth's meetings to fight for womens'' rights came
in the summer of 1848. She was invited to meet in Waterloo, New York
with four other women, all of whom were Quakers and involved with the
antislavery cause or the temperance movement.
Elizabeth was upset by the way women were treated in general, and at
this meeting discussed a few of her grievances. A husband was legally
allowed to beat his wife, but she was not allowed to divorce him.
When a woman got married, all of her property, including her
children, automatically became her husbands property. While at the
meeting these women decided to hold a Woman's Rights Convention five
days later, on July 19 and 20. They drew up a declaration of woman's
rights and modeled it after the Declaration of Independence. The list
of their grievances included such things as: A married woman was
treated as if she were civilly dead. She had no right to property,
even to the wages she earned. The divorce laws ignored the happiness
of women. Only men had the power to divorce. A single woman who owned
property was taxed, but, since she couldn't vote, this was taxation
without representation. If a woman wanted to work, she had little
choice of what she could do, and she wouldn't get much pay. Women
were denied an equal education. Last of all, Elizabeth wanted women
to have the right to vote. This last demand was a radical one, even
for the other women at the meeting. They tried to talk her out of it,
but she would not back down on her conviction.
Many people attended the meeting in Seneca Falls, and on the second
day, when they had a vote on each item in the declaration, the only
one that was opposed, was the one for women to vote. After Frederick
Douglas, an ex-abolitionist, spoke to them about it, they even agreed
on that one. Sixty eight women and thirty two men signed a petition
in support of the declaration.
It took a long time for Elizabeth to become a leader in the women's
rights movement, but once she did, she never backed down, even with
opposition pouring in from all sides. People were outraged at these
women and the views they were taking. Women were seen as secondary
and inferior, without the ability to think logically, especially in
the political arena. The fact that they would even consider they had
the right to vote, let alone demand equal rights, was outrageous.
Elizabeth met Susan B. Anthony in 1851 and they became close friends
and partners in the fight for womens' rights. Elizabeth, with her
dynamic personality and strong speaking ability, was the brains, the
public figure in this partnership. Susan was a natural administrator
and always encouraged Elizabeth to write more speeches. Susan was
single and had more time to devote to traveling and public speaking.
She would often help take care of Elizabeth's children while she
worked on her ideas and wrote speeches for Susan to deliver.
Elizabeth would also go to conventions and deliver speeches whenever
she was able to. This was sometimes difficult during her early years
because of family responsibilities. "I forged the thunderbolts and
she fires them," is a famous quote written by Elizabeth about their
friendship.
Elizabeth was president of the National American Women's Suffrage
Association from 1869 until 1892. During the Civil War she spent much
time circulating and signing petitions for emancipation. She finally
concluded that the only way to gain womens' suffrage would be to gain
a constitutional amendment that would state that the sex of a person
would not be a deterrent in voting. Even with this view she continued
speaking all over the country about every other issue related to
women, but she always brought it back to voting.
Even though Elizabeth was not alive to see womens' suffrage come
about, she was the stone that got things rolling, and she made sure
there were other people around to keep things going. Every time she
or Susan or others gave a speech they were recruiting younger women
into their membership. These women were less broad minded and they
wanted to vote.
In one of Elizabeth's later speeches, "The Solitude of Self," given
in 1892, she stated that every individual, male or female, stands
alone. One must be responsible for one's own actions, accept
consequences, create a moral life, and take a stand or not.
References:
"You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton?" by Jean Fritz. Copyright
1995. G.P. Putnam's Sons; 200 Madison Ave, NY, NY 10016.
World Wide Web page: The colorful and political life and career of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton: An interview with Elizabeth Griffith. WWICS:
News/Meeting Report. Available:
http://wwics.si.edu/WHATSNEW/NEWS/GRIFFITH.HTM
Resources needed: Information on E. Stanton, guest speaker
Assessment:
1. Participation in group discussions and service project.
2. Completion of questionaire and participation in compiling the
information.
3. Story written describing what life would be like if no one had
fought for women's rights.
4. Paper describing the contributions of Elizabeth Stanton.
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