Declaration of Sentiments
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The Declaration of Sentiments is a document signed in 1848 by sixty-eight women and thirty-two men, delegates to the first women's rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York, now known to historians as the 1848 Women's Rights Convention. The principal author of the Declaration of Sentiments was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The Sentiments followed the form of the United States Declaration of Independence. According to the North Star, it included a list of grievances followed by the rights of women and was the most important document that would push forward the women's rights movement. At the time when traditional roles were still very much in place, the Declaration caused a lot of controversy. Many people respected the courage and abilities behind the drafting of the document, but were unwilling to abandon conventional mindsets. An article in the Oneida Whig published soon after the convention described the document as "the most shocking and unnatural event ever recorded in the history of womanity". Many newspapers insisted that the Declaration was drafted at the expense of women's more appropriate duties.
First paragraph of the declaration
- When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course.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; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Signatories
Famous signatories of the document include:
References
- "The Rights of Women." ''The North Star" 28 July 1848.
- "Bolting Among the Ladies." Oneida Whig 1 August 1848.
- Tanner, John. "Women out of their Latitude." Mechanics' Mutual Protection 1848.
See also
- Legal rights of women
- National Women's Hall of Fame - established at the site of the convention
- Feminism
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