Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Hello, my name is Elizabeth Cady Stanton. I’ve been a believer in feminism and women’s rights since I was a young girl. My father’s devastation over my brother’s death made me determined to prove I was just as valuable and intelligent as any boy. I was shocked after hearing Father, who was a successful lawyer, tell abused women that they had no legal alternative but to tolerate the mistreatment by their husbands. I was only a child, but I still was able to see how twisted it was that women were denied equal rights. My cousin, Gerrit Smith, an abolitionist, exposed me to the world of reform. Through him, I met the abolitionist leader Henry B. Stanton, who I quickly fell in love with and married. On our honeymoon, we attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. I was outraged that women delegates were not allowed to speak or vote at the convention. My anger was shared by my dear friend Lucretia Mott, and we agreed to hold our own women’s rights convention when we returned home. In the meanwhile, my husband and I moved to Seneca Falls, New York, where I raised our five children. Lucretia and I weren’t able to put our plan into action until 1848. I organized America’s first women’s rights convention in my own town of Seneca Falls. I wrote a Declaration of Sentiments, modeled after the Declaration of Independence. I rightly argued that women were created equal to men. Although there was opposition, even from my husband and father, I talked the convention into approving a resolution calling for women’s suffrage. Equality is still far away, and it is sure to be a struggle, but I am dedicated to this cause.