The Rights and Treatment of Women

By Katie

Today, women have the same rights as men. But, it wasn’t always that way. In the 1800’s, women did not have many of the same rights as men. Sure they could speak out against slavery and the way slaves were treated, but their husbands could discipline them whenever they wanted. Women could try to convince lawmakers to outlaw slavery, but women could not vote or hold office. Working to raise money for the movement was perfectly acceptable for women, yet their husbands and fathers controlled their money and property.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott would not take this. They met at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, in 1840. When they got there, they were furious to find that women could not speak at the meeting and they had to sit in the balcony, behind a curtain. When they met, the both agreed that something must be done to stop the injustice and suffering of women. When Lucy Stone graduated from Oberlin College, the faculty asked her to write a speech. The problem with this was a man would have to give the speech because the school didn’t allow women to speak in public.
After she graduated, she spoke out about women’s rights. She refused to pay property taxes because women could not vote. Stone’s sister-in-law, Elizabeth Blackwell was a very smart woman who wanted to be a doctor. A helpful doctor even tutored her. Because she was a woman, she was rejected by 29 medical schools before one finally accepted her. Even though she was the country’s first female doctor and graduated at the top of her class, no hospitals or doctors would agree to work with her.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott decided to hold a convention in Seneca Falls, New York for women’s rights. The convention’s organizers modeled the Declaration of Sentiments, which was their proposal for women’s rights, after the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration on Sentiments listed men’s acts of tyranny over women. While at the convention, Stanton proposed that women demand the right to vote. Many people thought this was too big a step, except for Frederick Douglass. He agreed that women should have the right to vote, because he thought black men should have the right to vote. And if black men had the right to vote, then black women should have the right to vote also, which meant all women should have the right to vote. Douglass’s speech inspired the convention voted narrowly to approve this last resolution. Susan B Anthony gave the speeches that Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote. Women gained many rights because of what went on at this convention.
I think this was a successful reform because women now have many more rights than they had in the early 1800s. According to http://www.history.com/topics/the-fight-for-womens-suffrage the 19th Amendment was made to the Constitution on August 26, 1920. All American women declared they deserve all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, like men.