Antebellum Era Dbq

The United States of America experienced several reform movements from 1825 to 1850. The reformers sought to improve religion, rehabilitation of criminals and mental patients, education, slavery, and women’s rights. Each demonstrated democratic ideals to the extent that the reformers sought to incorporate the values of liberty and equality into their reform movements to improve the quality of life but did so at the expense and dismay of others.

Prior to this time period woman were expected to follow rule of man and had little to no rights, unlike men. The Seneca Falls convention was an event that changed this. Declaration of Sentiments proclaimed, “He has created a false public sentiment, by giving to the world a different code of morals for men and women,” (Seneca Falls 305) Somewhere along the way of creating America the roles of a gender were created and misinterpreted. This is saying that women are equal to men and can do everything men cannot and that it is not morally wrong for this to occur. Support for women’s rights came from important funding documents such as the Declaration of Independence. Declaration of Sentiments expressed, “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;” (Seneca Falls 304) This quote explains that the Declaration of Independence is in support of women’s rights. No man should be greater than women and vice versa. The reform grows in size and significance because as soon as one person speaks up others feel as though they can as well. Many events were significant to the reform impulse but slaver and women’s rights are two that stand

Declaration of Rights and Sentiments was a historical resolution passed in the First Women’s Convention that took place in Seneca Falls, New York. The main goal of the convention was to give equal and fair chances to the women in the society along with men. In US and in other parts of the world there was a huge inequality between men and women. The woman was denied of social status like man. There was no voice for woman in the society. In order to reduce the inequality the Convention passed much resolution in favor of woman.

During this time many slaves were freed from their bondages. Some slave were able to buy there way to freedom (E), but others relied on the action of white people for their liberation (D). The Declaration of independence stated that all men are created; people fought and died for these republican ideals. People then, after they established a nation based upon those ideals, would had to face the contradiction of slavery, so in some areas they called for a end to slavery. For example, the Vermont constitution outlawed slavery in

The Antebellum Era is defined as the time before the the Civil War. Many important things happened in America during this time period. Including the rise of abolitionist as well as people who supported slavery. In the North the economy started booming and also in the South cotton became huge. Many things happened during this period that helped shape our nation to what it is today. During the Antebellum period a movement was started because of religious reasons mostly This movement was called the Temperance Movement.

During the Antebellum period, between 1800 and 1850, the United States went through a number of significant changes. America went through the industrial revolution brining along technological advancements that are still used today. American citizens also started to separate into two groups: for slavery, and against it. And there was the rise of the great market economy. Throughout this period of U.S. history, changes occur that shape the world that Americans live in to this very day.

In 1780, George Mason, who was the author of the Virgina bill of rights and a plantation owner of 118 slaves, wrote: “All men are by nature equally free and independent” (Rawls, pg. 187). He was not thinking about the slaves though. He was thinking about white Americans, that they are equal to the British and should have the same rights as them. When other Virgina legislators saw this, they added “Slaves, not being constituent members of our society, could never pretend to any benefit from such maxim” (Rawls, pg. 187). A month later, the Declaration of Independence

Of all the issues that were in the middle of reformation mid 1800’s, antislavery, education, intemperance, prison reform, and world peace, women’s rights was the most radical idea proposed. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was a rally held by Elizabeth Cady Stanton with the common goal to eventually achieve equal rights among all citizens. Frederick Douglass, who became an acclaimed activist in the African American Equal Rights movement, accompanied the movement. Moreover, The Declaration of Sentiments was a document that reflected the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, reiterating the sentiment from the Bible that “all men [and women] are created equal.” Concurrent to the publication of this document, for the first time, women insisted that they were men’s equals in every way. The Declaration of Sentiments was pivotal in Women’s history, although it was not given credit until the late 20th century. However, immediately after the Declaration of Sentiments was published, women and activist groups were inspired to take action towards rights for all underprivileged American citizens. The convention took place in a small town in upstate New York, which was home to four of the five people who organized the gathering. (DuBois, 1999, p. 45) This was the first time female equality was discussed in a public place. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was one of the most important events in women’s rights history.

In 1848 a group of women met at the Seneca Falls Convention in New York and began to formulate a demand for the enfranchisement of American women (Women’s Suffrage, 2011). Elizabeth Cady Stanton composed the Declaration of Sentiments, modeled after the Declaration of Independence, stating that “a man should not withhold a woman's rights, take her property or refuse to allow her to vote” (Kelly, 2011, para.3 ). The convention participants spent two days arguing and refining the content of the Declaration of Sentiments, then voted on its contents; the document received support from about one third of the delegates in attendance. The Seneca Falls Convention was not a resounding success, but it “represented an important first step in the evolving campaign for women’s rights” (Tindall & Shi, 2010, p.374, para.1).

Women’s rights were first addressed at the Seneca Falls convention of 1848 in which the Declaration of Sentiments formulated. The document laid out various rights, for example: a woman’s voting right. At that time nothing changed for women and the declaration was met with criticism from men. This was the foundation of Women’s Movement, but it proved to be a long road. (Kelly, "Womens Suffrage and the Seneca Falls Convention")

The women 's suffrage movement, the time when women fought for their rights, began in the year 1848 and continued on all the way through the 1860s. Although women in the new republic had important roles in the family, the house, and other obligations, they were excluded from most rights. These rights included political and legal rights. Due to their gender, they have been held back because they did not have as much opportunities as the men did. The new republic made alterations in the roles of women by disparaging them in society. During this era, men received a higher status than women. Because women were forced to follow laws without being allowed to state their opinions, they tried to resist laws, fight for their freedom and strive to gain equality with men. This leads to feminism, the belief in political, social, and economic equality between men and women. It is the feminist efforts that have successfully tried to give rights that men had, to women who have been denied those rights. Upon the deprivation of those rights, the Seneca Falls convention and the Declaration of Sentiments helped women gain the privileges and opportunities to accomplish the task of equality that they have been striving for.

(Goldfield, 338) Since the cult of domesticity was making women inferior to men, women decided to do as the slaves did and fight for their own freedom. The women’s rights movement began in the mid-1800s. Female and male abolitionist found it necessary that women should be able to have the same rights as men. Just because biologically they are different, it does not mean they do not deserve the same rights. Women were denied the right to vote, property and a right to an education or job. (Goldfield, 338) At first the women’s movement was slow. Many women were afraid to speak out in fear of being shunned by their community. This was a brand new scary task that Women for the first time were going to deal with. A women speaking out against the norms of society was seen as a terrible thing to do. When you have many women speaking out for the same thing a change must be done. When the first national convention for women’s rights was called in Seneca Falls, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were able to successfully use the Declaration of Independence as a model for their own Declaration of Sentiments. (Goldfield, 339) In their Declaration they branded that “male patriarchy as the source of women’s oppression” (Goldfield, 339) Stanton and Mott called for full women’s rights and to become independent citizens. Although the fight for women’s rights was always an important issue, most abolitionists deemed it less important

Throughout history society has segregated and oppressed women in many ways and forms. Certainly women have come a long way, since the ratification of the 19th Amendment, on August 18, 1920, which granted women the right to vote. This was accomplished thanks to strong – willed women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, who promoted the women’s rights movement, and established the Seneca Falls Convention in New York. Females and males attended this convention, including the famous abolitionist, Fredrick Douglas (19th Amendment). Although we have made progress woman today still suffer from inequality and unjust treatment. For instance, women have lower wages than men, and unfair employment opportunities. Therefore, to believe that

The Seneca Falls Convention, which was held on July 19-20, 1848 in the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York, was referred to as the first women’s right convention. It was the milestone in the entire movement of women’ rights, which has positive lofty significance for all the women in the world, because through this convention an organized women’s right movement was initiated in the United States. Many historians associated the Seneca Convention as part of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s biography, owing to the fact that she was the event’s main organizer. In fact, it was only recently when the Seneca Convention was recognized by historians as a significant event in history (Lerner, 3). Consequently, it was through this recognition that the convention was acknowledged as a result of women’s increased awareness of their rights during that period. This historical event paved the way for women to express their sentiments against disfranchisement, which means the deprivation of the civil rights including vote, education, working and owning private property. In the Declaration of Sentiments, they asserted “that women should have equality in every area of life: politics, the family, education, jobs, religion, and morals” (Wellman, 1).

All throughout the centuries, there have been many distinctive differences between men and women between the roles in society and their behaviors. Today, gender roles have been shifted and are making a durable impact on society. However, the issue regarding women’s rights are not just one but many. During this class, we have analyzed many different essays, books,