Seneca Falls Convention

July 19th-20th, 1848

Seneca Falls, New York.

The First Women's Rights Convention in the United States

“All men and women are created equal” -Stanton, Declaration of Sentiments

Women were not allowed to participate in the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, the exclusion angered Stanton and Mott. Thus, Mott and Elizabeth vowed to call a woman’s rights convention when they returned home.

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Elizabeth and Mott called for a women’s rights convention taking place in Seneca Falls, New York.
Mott contributed as a speaker, while Elizabeth released the Declaration of Sentiments; the document was modeled on the “Declaration of Independence.”
It listed how women were treated unfairly and encouraged women to organize and fight for their rights. The people at the convention voted on a series of resolutions, or statements, demanding the right to go to a college education and the right to own property while married.
The declaration asked for social and legal changes to increase women’s place in society.
It also listed 18 grievances, including the inability to control women's wages and property, or the difficulty in gaining custody in divorce to the lack of the right to vote. For example:

Women were not allowed to vote and were excluded from every level of government.

Men controlled the majority of profitable employments, preventing women from access to respectable, well-paid jobs in law, medicine, and the ministry.

Single, property-owning women had to pay taxes to a government that did not consider them citizens.

Women had to obey the nation’s laws though they had no voice in making them.

A different code of morals dictated male and female behavior, with higher standards demanded of women.

Women could not attend college as men were doing, all colleges being closed to them.

Wives could not claim wages they earned or property they brought into a marriage. All their possessions belonged to their husbands.

Wives had to obey their husbands in all instances, creating a situation of near enslavement.

In rare cases of divorce, fathers gained custody of their children.

Men robbed women of their self-confidence and self-respect.

About 300 people attended, including men and women, 32 men and 68 women signed the convention.

Frederick Douglass's Support.

Frederick Douglass played an important role at the Seneca Falls Convention, though the event was fighting for women's rights. Douglass was one of the few men who attended and publicly supported the movement.

Douglass was one of the 32 men that signed the convention. He then wrote about the convention in The North Star, which promoted the Seneca Falls Convention and the ideas it suggested.
It largely helped the women’s rights movement reach wider audiences, especially within abolitionists.

One of the most controversial parts of the Declaration of Sentiments was the statement that women should have the right to vote. Many people, including women, thought it was too radical. However, Douglass stood up and supported it during the debates.

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