The struggle for freedom and equality is an age old story and not unique to one specific group of people. Indeed, if you believe in God, then you acknowledge the Israelite's struggle for freedom from the Egyptians. Throughout time, history books recount these struggles, sometimes in a short blurb, sometimes devoting whole chapters to them. The basis for these struggles began as a fight against slavery, oppression, tyranny and injustice.
The short history of the United States has had several such struggles, itself. Indeed, the creation of our own country was born on a fight against the oppression of King George and the injustice at the hands of his appointed governors. It would be less then a 100 years since the Declaration of Independence was signed, that another struggle, another movement would begin. This struggle, like the last would be an excuse for war, which pitted brother against brother and would divide the nation. Depending on which history book one reads, the Civil War was either about the abolishing of slavery or independence from a government that chose to overtax its’ southern citizens. Eventually slavery would be outlawed, but another struggle was forming.
Even after the Fourteenth Amendment had been ratified, there was still a group of citizens that were viewed as property, limited in their opportunities and what decisions they were able to make. They still lacked the right to vote; were subject to spousal abuse and rape with no recourse; had no control over their reproductive rights and were at the mercy of a government, churches and husbands who believed they were lesser beings.
You may say that we know this story well, no need to recount it again. Perhaps this argument is true. However, when it comes to women’s rights, history books seem to provide only short blurbs on the past, and focus only on the suffrage movement, rarely does generalized history show that the issues our fore- "mothers" are the same issues we face today. Education, healthcare, abortion, reproductive rights, equality in the job place were discussed. So, should we not be reminded, for fear of forgetting, the struggles of the past; that we learn from the individual battles fought and find strength to fight our own battles. Or perhaps there’s a growing apathy due to all we’ve achieved over the past century that we take these rights for granted and risk of having them slip away.
- The first visible public demand for equality came in 1848, at the first Woman’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, who had met as abolitionists working against slavery, convened a two-day meeting of 300 women and men to call for justice for women in a society where they were systematically barred from the rights and privileges of citizens. A Declaration of Sentiments and eleven other resolutions were adopted with ease, but the proposal for woman suffrage was passed only after impassioned speeches by Stanton and former slave Frederick Douglass, who called the vote the right by which all others could be secured. However, the country was far from ready to take the issue of women’s rights seriously, and the call for justice was the object of much ridicule.
Not many realize that this organized convention came about due to the treatment of women at the International Anti-Slavery Convention, London England in 1840. Though women were allowed to speak, most notably Lucretia Mott, they were not allowed to be seated with the men, instead, having to be seated out of the view of men.
- Mott spoke at the International Anti-Slavery Convention in London, England in June 1840. In spite of her status as one of six women delegates, Mott was not formally seated at the meeting because she was a woman. This led to the protest of other Americans advocates attending the convention, including William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her activist husband Henry B. Stanton attended the convention while on their honeymoon. Stanton became angry when she couldn't see Mott as she spoke, as women in the audience were required to sit in a roped-off section hidden from the view of the men in attendance. Mott and Stanton became well acquainted at the convention, and Stanton later recalled: "We resolved to hold a convention as soon as we returned home, and form a society to advocate the rights of women." However, it was not until 1848 that Mott and Stanton organized the Women's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, New York
It would be 72 years after the first convention was held, that women legally held the right to vote. But voting wasn't the only issue facing women. Abortion, privacy, birth control, equality in pay and employment, the ability to express our own sexuality, and the desire to be treated as a person rather then someone subservient or something to be objectified will continue till present day. Over the years with the growth of this country, the growth of rights for women also. We've won the right for privacy when it comes to birth control and reproductive rights and indeed, the right to access that birth control. We've demanded to be treated as equals and saw for the first time, the first woman in Congress. Today, the 110th Congress now holds a record number of women holding seats, and for the first time, we've seen a woman Speaker of the House. The year 2008 may produce it's first female Presidential contendor selected by a major political party, and perhaps, 2009 will seat our first female President.
There's a lot of the story to recount to remind us how we got here, so stay with us as we walk in their footsteps. Next week: Lucretia Mott.
Ref 1: History Behind the Equal Rights Amendment
Ref 2: Lucretia Mott
Walking in their footsteps (WITF), is a weekly series of diaries to recount the struggle for women's rights and those individuals, both men and women, who've stood up and fought. If you'd like to add your own diary to the Waling in their footsteps series, please email me at Denise@sc.rr.com
A legacy for my daughter