Declaration of Sentiments
(1848)
Seneca Falls
Convention
New York
Main Points

Women should be treated as equally as men.


Men have created a social and political tyranny
over women by not recognizing their civil
liberties.


“We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men and
women are created equal; that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
“ He has endeavored, in every way that he could, to destroy her
confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to
make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life.”
Women should be given equal rights to
property and wages as citizens of the United
States of America.

“He has made her, in the eye of the law, civilly dead. He has taken
from her all rights in property, even to the wages she earns .”
Historical Significance and the
intended Audience



The public release of the Declaration of Sentiments triggered talk
among many women. It became interesting to women, as well as
men, that equal rights and women’s suffrage was a big issue.
However, this document would serve as the basis for the nineteenth
amendment to the U.S. Constitution which granted women the right
to vote in 1920.
The Declaration also caused strong criticism and anger. A quote
from a newspaper reporter stated that “it was the most shocking
and unnatural event ever recorded in the history of womanity”
(Oneida Whig, 1848).
The intended audience was the United States as a whole and
especially those in government positions
Questions



Why do you think that there were men
who agreed with and signed the
Declaration of Sentiments?
Why did Mott and Stanton believe that
women were just as important as men?
Did the Sentiments have as great of an
impact on Mott and Stanton’s society as
they had hoped for?