An Analysis of the Meanings of Seneca Falls, 1848-1998

While being born in the modern times, no woman knows what it was like to have a status less than a man’s. It is hard to envision what struggles many women had to go through in order to get the rights to be considered equal. In the essay The Meanings of Seneca Falls, 1848-1998, Gerda Lerner recalls the events surrounding the great women’s movement. Among the several women that stand out in the movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton stands out because of her accomplishments. Upon being denied seating and voting rights at the World Antislavery Convention of 1840, she was outraged and humiliated, and wanted change. Because of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s great perseverance, the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was a success as well as a great influence on the future of women’s rights.

The convention had several attendees with notable assiduousness to the cause. The founders were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, a highly acclaimed speaker and abolitionist. She was even founder of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society and its long-term president! Martha Wright, Jane Hunt, and Mary Ann McClintock were all women who worked in anti-slavery fairs that also wanted women’s rights (203). Among other attendees, Frederick Douglass was also present! With the notable group assembled, a road to change was starting to form.

The women had very limited rights compared to men of the time. Women had no voice when it came to the law, they were deprived rights of citizenship, and deprived of their property and wages. They were also discriminated when the matters had to do with payment for work and divorce and were declared civilly dead up on marriage (204)! Finally, women were kept out of professions, and were to be kept as a dependent of the man. Half the population had their rights withheld because of the role that they were born into. The Seneca Falls Convention sought out to have these rights changed so that women could have the freedom that they deserved.

The outcome of the meeting had a great effect. The movement started at Seneca Falls requested the concepts by demanding legal, property, civil rights, and changes in gender-role definition and the woman’s rights to her own body (205). At the time, it was known that “all men are created equal”. When the definition is taken literally, the rights of women are demeaned. However, the women believed that as citizens and members of society, they