Elizabeth Cady Stanton

By Kelly Keating Sydney Smith and Morgan O’Donnell

“The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to

tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when

we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into

our souls.”-Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Would you rather work for a male CEO or a

female CEO of a company?

Would you be more scared of a male or

female coming up to your car at night?

Would you rather have a male or female

president?

“Because man and woman are the complement of one another,

we need woman's thought in national affairs to make a safe

and stable government.”-Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Is the opinion of men or women more important?

Do you think women should be able to vote?

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all

men and women are created equal.”

-Elizabeth Cady Stanton

BIOGRAPHY Born November 12, 1815, in Johnstown, NY Margaret Livingston and Daniel Cady Her father was a successful lawyer.

Knowledge of the law began at home. Always trying to prove she was as good as a

son; studied the classics, rode horseback, went to college.

Went to Emma Willard’s all female seminary in Troy, NY. Disapproved her single-sex education.

BIOGRAPHY 1839, Cady stayed at cousin Gerrit Smith’s house in

Peterboro, NY. Introduced Cady to the “prominent abolitionist.”

Met Henry B. Stanton in an abortionist orator. Father objected, but Stanton and Cady were married

in May of 1840. On Honeymoon, attended the World Anti-Slavery

Convention in London. Met Lucretia Mott, a Quaker abolitionist and women’s right advocate. Shared anger that women delegates were not allowed to speak and vote at the convention.

Decided to start a women’s rights organization. (Did not follow through with their plans until eight years later.)

BIOGRAPHY Between 1842 and 1859 she bore seven children. 1847 family moved to Seneca Falls, NY. 1848, July 19-20, held first women’s rights

convention. Met Susan B. Anthony in 1851. Went on to work with

her for nearly 50 years in the cause for women’s rights.

1869, founded the National Woman Suffrage Association. Was president of the organization for 20 years.

On her 80th birthday in 1895, honored by the declaration of “Stanton Day” in New York City.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton died in her sleep on October 26, 1902 at the age of 86.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a large part of the

Woman Suffrage Movement and the

changes in marriage laws.

Women Suffrage Movement Most positions of power in colonial

America we only available to property-owning men.

Women were also unable to vote. Most anger arose when the Fifteenth

Amendment was passed.

Fifteenth Amendment Gave African American men the right to

vote. Stanton believed this just expanded

male suffrage. Stanton led the Notional Women

Suffrage Association in retaliation of the fifteenth amendment and to gather support for women receiving the right to vote.

Nineteenth Amendment 1919, congress approved the amendment

that guaranteed women the right to vote. With 35 out of the 36 needed states to

ratify the amendment, Tennessee’s legislature was last ratify to the amendment. Their legislature approved ratification by one vote.

The Nineteenth Amendment was added to the constitution on August 26, 1920.

Marriage LawsStanton believed: Individualism should be guaranteed

within marriage. Right to property and wages should be

inalienable. Right to leave an abusive or destructive

marriage assured. The right to decide with whom and when

to bear children should be inviolate.

Major Contributions

• First Women’s Rights Convention

• Wrote speeches • National Woman

Suffrage Association• Declaration of the

Rights of Women• Woman’s Bible• History of Woman

Suffrage

First Women’s Rights Convention

• Seneca Falls, NY 1848• Women activists from

all over the nation met here, including Lucretia Mott

• Stanton was the first to call for women suffrage

• Wrote the Declaration of Rights of Women

Declaration of the Rights of Women

• Written in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention

• Presented at Centennial Celebration in 1876 (uninvited)

• Used declaration of independence as a guide– Listed men’s grievances

against women– Outlined inalienable

rights

NWSA• Formed it with Susan B.

Anthony in 1869• Served as president for nearly

20 years, Anthony was vice president

• Published a journal for it called The Revolution

• Thought woman suffrage was more important than African American suffrage– Split with American Woman

Suffrage Association over this– Later rejoined AWSA to form

NAWSA

Woman’s Bible

• Written with her daughter, Harriet Stanton Blanch

• Published in 1895, second volume in 1898

• Feminist analysis of the Bible – explained how the Bible was degrading to women

• Many people, even NAWSA members, disagreed with Stanton’s views of women’s roles in religion

History of Woman Suffrage

• Coauthored with Susan B. Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage

• Worked on three volumes throughout the 1880s

• Outlined the history of the women’s rights movement

Beliefs• Thought women’s suffrage

took precedence over suffrage for black men

• Petitioned to end slavery during Civil War – National Women’s Loyal League

• First to call for women suffrage – radical idea at the time

• Advocated for divorce at Women’s State Temperance Society

Radical Activism• Ran for Senate in 1866 when

women were still unable to vote

• Supported interracial marriage

• Believed Christianity was demeaning to women

• Wanted women to have equal education rights as men

• Social reform, not just suffrage– Caused her to grow apart from

Anthony and the Suffrage movement

EFFECTS of contributions

• Did not live to see women’s suffrage in the US, but her contributions to the movement lived on after her and drove the National American Woman Suffrage Association to pass the nineteenth amendment.

• She also was effective in winning the property rights for married women.

• In addition to suffrage, she advocated coeducation, girl's sports, job training, equal wages, labor unions, birth control, cooperative nurseries and kitchens