Stanton, Elizabeth Cady

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[[Image:ElizabethCadyStanton.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her daughter Harriot.]]
 
[[Image:ElizabethCadyStanton.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her daughter Harriot.]]
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'''Elizabeth Cady Stanton''' (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an activist and a leader of the early [[women's rights]] movement. Her Declaration of Sentiments, presented at the [[Seneca Falls Convention|first women's rights convention]] held in 1848 in the village of Seneca Falls, [[New York]] is often credited with initiating the organized woman's rights and woman's suffrage movement in the [[United States]].
  
'''Elizabeth Cady Stanton''' (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an activist and a leader of the early [[women's rights|woman's]] movement.  Her Declaration of Sentiments, presented at the [[Seneca Falls Convention|first women's rights convention]] held in 1848 in the village of Seneca Falls, [[New York]] is often credited with initiating the organized woman's rights and woman's suffrage movement in the [[United States]].
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With her husband, [[Henry Stanton]] and cousin, Gerrit Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an active [[abolitionist]] before she made women's issues her primary focus. Until their disagreement over ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the [[United States Constitution]], Stanton enjoyed a strong friendship with [[abolitionist]] and former slave [[Frederick Douglass]], and many other prominent leaders of the abolitionist movement.  
 
 
Along with her husband, [[Henry Stanton]] and cousin, Gerrit Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an active [[abolitionist]] before she settled on women's issues as her primary focus. Until their disagreement over ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the [[United States Constitution]], Stanton enjoyed a strong friendship with abolitionist and former slave [[Frederick Douglass]], and many other prominent leaders of the abolitionist movement.
 
 
 
Elizabeth was an outspoken supporter of the 19th century temperance movement. While perhaps best known for their work on behalf of women's suffrage, she and [[Susan B. Anthony]] were instrumental in founding the Woman's State Temperance Society (1852-53). During her presidency of the organization, Stanton scandalized many supporters by suggesting that drunkenness be made sufficient cause for divorce.
 
Often a strong critic of [[religion]] in general and [[Christianity]] in particular, Stanton distanced herself from the [[Woman's Christian Temperance Union]] and, in later years, from her Christian-oriented peers in the women's rights movement.  
 
  
Unlike many of those involved in the women's rights movement, Stanton addressed a number of issues pertaining to women beyond voting rights. Her concerns included, for instance, women's parental and custody rights, property rights, employment and income rights, divorce laws, the economic health of the family, and abortion.
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Elizabeth was an outspoken supporter of the nineteenth century [[temperance]] movement. While best known for their work on behalf of women's suffrage, she and [[Susan B. Anthony]] were instrumental in founding the Woman's State Temperance Society (1852-1853). During her presidency of the organization, Stanton scandalized many supporters by suggesting that drunkenness be made sufficient cause for divorce.
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Often a strong critic of [[religion]], particularly [[Christianity]], Stanton distanced herself from the [[Woman's Christian Temperance Union]] and her Christian peers in the women's rights movement.
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Stanton addressed many women's issues beyond voting rights including women's parental and custody rights, property rights, employment and income rights, divorce laws, the economic health of the family and abortion.
  
 
==Childhood and Family Background==
 
==Childhood and Family Background==
Elizabeth Cady, the eighth of eleven children, was born in Johnstown, New York, to Daniel Cady and Margaret Livingston Cady. Five of her siblings died in early childhood or infancy. A sixth, her brother Eleazar, died at age 20 just prior to his graduation from Union College in Schenectady, New York. Only Elizabeth and her four sisters lived to old age. Later in life, Elizabeth named her two daughters after two of her sisters, Margaret and Harriet.<ref>Griffith, pp227-228; Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More''</ref>
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Elizabeth Cady, the eighth of eleven children, was born in Johnstown, New York, to Daniel Cady and Margaret Livingston Cady. Five of her siblings died in early childhood or infancy. A sixth, her brother Eleazar, died at age 20 just prior to his graduation from Union College in Schenectady, New York. Only Elizabeth and her four sisters lived to old age. Later in life, Elizabeth named her two daughters after two of her sisters, Margaret and Harriet.<ref>Elisabeth Griffith. ''In Her Own Right: The Life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.'' (NY: Oxford University Press, 1985), 227-228</ref><ref>Elizabeth Cady Stanton. ''Eighty Years & More: Reminiscences 1815-1897.'' (Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 1993) </ref>
  
Daniel Cady was a prominent attorney who served one term in the [[Congress of the United States]] (Federalist; 1814-1817) and later became a judge. Judge Cady introduced his daughter to the law. He and her brother-in-law, Edward Bayard (also a lawyer), planted the earliest seeds which grew into her legal and social activism. Even as a young girl, she enjoyed perusing her father's law library and debating legal issues with his law clerks. It was partly this early exposure to law that caused Stanton to realize how severely the law favored men over women, particularly married women. Her realization that married women had virtually no property rights, income or employment rights, or even custody rights over their own children, set her to work on changing these inequities.<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More'', pp 31-32, 48</ref>  
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Daniel Cady was a prominent attorney who served one term in the [[Congress of the United States]] (Federalist; 1814-1817) and later became a judge. Judge Cady introduced his daughter to the law. He and her brother-in-law, Edward Bayard (also a lawyer), planted the earliest seeds which grew into her legal and social activism. Even as a young girl, she enjoyed perusing her father's law library and debating legal issues with his law clerks. This early exposure to law caused Stanton to realize how severely the law favored men over women, particularly married women. Her realization that married women had virtually no property rights, income or employment rights, or custody rights over their own children, set her to work on changing these inequities.<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More'', 31-32, 48</ref>  
  
 
Stanton's mother, Margaret, a descendant of early Dutch settlers, was the daughter of Colonel James Livingston, an officer in the Continental Army during the [[American Revolutionary War|American Revolution]]. He fought at the Battle of Saratoga and the Battle of Quebec (1775), and assisted in the capture of [[Benedict Arnold]] at West Point, New York.  
 
Stanton's mother, Margaret, a descendant of early Dutch settlers, was the daughter of Colonel James Livingston, an officer in the Continental Army during the [[American Revolutionary War|American Revolution]]. He fought at the Battle of Saratoga and the Battle of Quebec (1775), and assisted in the capture of [[Benedict Arnold]] at West Point, New York.  
  
Margaret Cady was a commanding woman, almost six feet tall, whom Stanton routinely described as "queenly."<ref>Griffith, pp.10-11</ref> Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch, Elizabeth's daughter, remembered her grandmother as being fun, affectionate, and lively. <ref>Blatch, pp. 18-20</ref> Stanton did not share that view. Emotionally devastated by the loss of so many children, Margaret Livingston Cady fell into a depression, which kept her from being fully involved in the lives of her surviving children and left a maternal void in Stanton's childhood.  
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Margaret Cady was a commanding woman, almost six feet tall, whom Stanton routinely described as "queenly."<ref>Griffith, 10-11</ref> Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch, Elizabeth's daughter, remembered her grandmother as being fun, affectionate, and lively. <ref>Harriot Stanton Blatch and Alma Lutz. ''Challenging Years: the Memoirs of Harriot Stanton Blatch.'' (NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1940), 18-20</ref> Stanton did not share that view. Emotionally devastated by the loss of so many children, Margaret fell into a depression that prevented her full involvement in the lives of her children. This left a maternal void in Stanton's childhood.  
  
Judge Cady coped with the loss by immersing himself in his work so many of the childrearing responsibilities fell to Stanton's elder sister Tryphena and Tryphena's husband, Edward Bayard. Tryphena was eleven years older than Elizabeth.  
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Judge Cady coped with the loss by immersing himself in his work. Many of the childrearing responsibilities fell to Stanton's elder sister Tryphena and Tryphena's husband, Edward Bayard. Tryphena was eleven years older than Elizabeth.  
  
Edward was a Union College classmate of Eleazar Cady's and son of James A. Bayard, Sr., a U.S. Senator from Wilmington, [[Delaware]]. At the time of his engagement and marriage to Tryphena, Edward worked as an apprentice in Daniel Cady's law office<ref>Griffith, p.7</ref> and was instrumental in nurturing Stanton's growing understanding of women and the law.
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Edward was a Union College classmate of Eleazar Cady's and son of James A. Bayard, Sr., a U.S. Senator from Wilmington, [[Delaware]]. At the time of his engagement and marriage to Tryphena, Edward worked as an apprentice in Daniel Cady's law office.<ref>Griffith, 7</ref>  
  
Like many men of his day, Judge Cady was a slave holder in Johnstown. Peter Teabout, a slave in the Cady household and later a freeman in Johnstown, who took care of Elizabeth and her sister Margaret, is remembered with particular fondness by Stanton in her memoir, ''Eighty Years & More''. It was not only her closeness to Peter, but also her exposure to the abolition movement as a young woman during a visit to her cousin, Gerrit Smith, in Peterboro, New York that led to her abolitionist sentiments.
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Like many men of his day, Judge Cady was a slave holder. Peter Teabout, a slave in the Cady household and later a freeman, who took care of Elizabeth and her sister Margaret, is remembered with particular fondness by Stanton in her memoir, ''Eighty Years & More.'' It was not only her closeness to Peter, but also her exposure to the abolition movement as a young woman during a visit to her cousin, Gerrit Smith, in Peterboro, New York that led to her abolitionist sentiments.
  
 
== Education and Intellectual Development ==
 
== Education and Intellectual Development ==
Unlike many women of her era, Stanton was formally educated. She attended Johnstown Academy, where she studied Latin, Greek and mathematics until the age of 16. At the Academy, she enjoyed being in co-ed classes where she could compete intellectually and academically with boys her age and older. She did this very successfully, winning several academic awards and honors while a student in Johnstown.  
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Unlike many women of her era, Stanton was formally educated. She attended Johnstown Academy, where she studied Latin, Greek and mathematics until the age of 16. At the Academy, she enjoyed being in co-ed classes. She competed intellectually and academically with boys her age and older. She did this very successfully, winning several academic awards and honors while a student in Johnstown.  
  
In her memoir, Stanton credits the Cadys' neighbor, Rev. Simon Hosack with strongly encouraging her intellectual development and academic abilities at a time when she felt they were undervalued by her father. Writing of her brother Eleazar's death in 1826, Stanton remembers trying to comfort her father. She told him that she would try to be all her brother had been. He exclaimed, "Oh, my daughter, I wish you were a boy!" Her father's response devastated Stanton. Stanton took this to mean that her father valued boys above girls. Stanton tearfully took her disappointment to Hosack, whose firm belief in her abilities counteracted her father's disparagement. Hosack went on to teach Stanton Greek, encouraged her to read widely, and ultimately bequeathed her his own Greek lexicon along with other books. His confirmation of her intellectual abilities did much to buttress Stanton's belief in her own wide-ranging abilities and prowess.<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More'', pp21-24</ref>
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In her memoir, Stanton credits the Cadys' neighbor, Rev. Simon Hosack with strongly encouraging her intellectual development and academic abilities at a time when she felt they were undervalued by her father. Writing of her brother Eleazar's death in 1826, Stanton remembers trying to comfort her father. She told him that she would try to be all her brother had been. He exclaimed, "Oh, my daughter, I wish you were a boy!" Her father's response devastated Stanton. Stanton concluded that her father valued boys above girls. Stanton confided her disappointment to Hosack. His firm belief in her abilities counteracted her father's disparagement. Hosack taught Stanton Greek, encouraged her to read widely, and ultimately bequeathed his Greek lexicon and other books to her. His belief in her intellectual abilities buttressed Stanton's belief in her own wide-ranging abilities and prowess.<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More'', 21-24</ref>
  
Upon graduation from Johnstown Academy, Stanton received one of her first tastes of sexual discrimination. Stanton watched with dismay as the young men graduating with her, many of whom she had surpassed academically, went on to Union College. In 1830, Union College only admitted men. Stanton's only option was to enroll in the Troy Female Seminary in Troy, New York. (The school was renamed the Emma Willard School in honor of its founder in 1895. Stanton was a key speaker at this event.)
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Upon graduation from Johnstown Academy, Stanton experienced her first tastes of sexual discrimination. Stanton watched with dismay as the young men graduating with her, many of whom she had surpassed academically, went on to Union College. In 1830, Union College only admitted men. Stanton's only option was to enroll in the Troy Female Seminary in Troy, New York.  
  
Early on in her student days in Troy, Stanton remembers being strongly influenced by [[Charles Grandison Finney]], an evangelical preacher and revivalist.  His influence, combined with the [[Calvinistic]] [[Presbyterianism]] of her childhood, caused her great stress. After hearing Finney speak, Stanton became terrified of her own possible damnation, "Fear of judgment seized my soul. Visions of the lost haunted my dreams. Mental anguish prostrated my health. Dethronement of my reason was apprehended by my friends."<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More'', p.43</ref> Stanton credits her father and brother-in-law, Edward Bayard, with removing her from the situation, After taking her on a rejuvenating trip to [[Niagra Falls]], they finally restored her reason and sense of balance.<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More'', p.43</ref> She never returned to organized Christianity. After this experience she maintained that logic and a humane sense of ethics were the best guides to thought and behavior.
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Early in her days at Troy, Stanton encountered [[Charles Grandison Finney]], an evangelical preacher and revivalist. After hearing Finney speak, Stanton became terrified of her own possible damnation, "Fear of judgment seized my soul. Visions of the lost haunted my dreams. Mental anguish prostrated my health. Dethronement of my reason was apprehended by my friends."<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More,'' 43</ref> Stanton credits her father and brother-in-law, Edward Bayard, with removing her from the situation. After taking her on a rejuvenating trip to [[Niagara Falls]], they finally restored her reason and sense of balance.<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More,'' 43</ref> She never returned to organized [[Christianity]]. After this experience she maintained that logic and a humane sense of [[ethics]] were the best guides to thought and behavior.
  
 
== Marriage and Family ==
 
== Marriage and Family ==
As a young woman, Elizabeth Cady met Henry Brewster Stanton through her early involvement in the temperance movement and the abolition movements. Henry Stanton was an acquaintance of Elizabeth Cady's cousin, [[Gerrit Smith]], an abolitionist and member of the [[Secret Six|"Secret Six"]] that supported [[John Brown (abolitionist)#Raid on Harpers Ferry|John Brown's raid]] at [[Harpers Ferry, West Virginia|Harpers Ferry]], [[West Virginia]]. Stanton was a journalist, an antislavery orator, and, after his marriage to Elizabeth Cady, an attorney. Despite Daniel Cady's reservations, the couple were married in 1840 and had six children, carefully planned<ref>Baker, p. 107-108</ref> between 1842 and 1856. The Stantons' seventh and last child, Robert, was an unplanned [[menopausal]] baby born in 1859 when Elizabeth Cady Stanton was forty-four.
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As a young woman, Elizabeth Cady met Henry Brewster Stanton through her early involvement in the temperance and abolition movements. Henry was an acquaintance of Elizabeth Cady's cousin, [[Gerrit Smith]], an abolitionist and member of the "Secret Six" that supported [[John Brown (abolitionist)#Raid on Harpers Ferry|John Brown]] at Harpers Ferry, [[West Virginia]]. Henry was a journalist, and an antislavery orator. Despite Daniel Cady's reservations, the couple married in 1840.
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Soon after returning to the United States from their European honeymoon, the Stantons moved into the Cady household in Johnstown, New York. Henry studied law under his father-in-law until 1843, when the Stantons moved to [[Boston, Massachusetts]]. There, Henry joined a law firm.  
  
Soon after returning to the United States from their European honeymoon, the Stantons moved into the Cady household in Johnstown, New York. Henry Stanton studied law under his father-in-law until 1843, when the Stantons moved to [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], where Henry joined a law firm. While living in Boston, Elizabeth thoroughly enjoyed the social, political, and intellectual stimulation that came with a constant round of abolitionist gatherings and meetings. Here she enjoyed the company of such people as Frederick Douglass, [[William Lloyd Garrison]], [[Louisa May Alcott]], [[Robert Lowell]], and [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], among others.<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More'', p 127</ref>  
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While living in Boston, Elizabeth thoroughly enjoyed the social, political and intellectual stimulation that came with a constant round of abolitionist gatherings and meetings. She enjoyed the company of Frederick Douglass, [[William Lloyd Garrison]], [[Louisa May Alcott]], [[Robert Lowell]] and [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], among others.<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More,'' 127</ref>  
  
Throughout her marriage and eventual widowhood, Stanton took her husband's surname as part of her own, signing herself Elizabeth Cady Stanton or E. Cady Stanton, but she refused to be addressed as Mrs. Henry B. Stanton.  Asserting that women were individual persons, she stated that, "(t)he custom of calling women Mrs. John This and Mrs. Tom That and colored men Sambo and Zip Coon, is founded on the principle that white men are lords of all." {{fact}}
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Throughout her marriage and eventual widowhood, Stanton used her husband's surname as part of her own. She signed her name Elizabeth Cady Stanton or E. Cady Stanton. But she refused to be addressed as Mrs. Henry B. Stanton, finding this title to be patronizing.  
  
The Stanton marriage was not entirely without tension and disagreement. Because of employment, travel, and financial considerations, husband and wife lived more often apart than together. Friends of the couple found them very similar in temperament and ambition, but quite dissimilar in their views on certain issues including women's rights. In 1842, abolitionist reformer [[Sarah Grimke]] counseled Elizabeth in a letter: "Henry greatly needs a humble, holy companion and thou needest the same." However, both Stantons appeared to consider their marriage an overall success and the marriage lasted for forty-seven years, ending with Henry's death in 1887.<ref>Baker, pp. 99-113</ref>.
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The Stanton marriage had its tension and disagreement. Because of employment, travel, and finances, husband and wife lived apart often. The couple were very similar in temperament and ambition, but differed in their views on certain issues, including women's rights. In 1842, abolitionist reformer [[Sarah Grimke]] counseled Elizabeth in a letter: "Henry greatly needs a humble, holy companion and thou needest the same." In spite of the challenges, the marriage lasted forty-seven years, until Henry's death in 1887.<ref>Jean H. Baker. ''Sisters: The Lives of America's Suffragists.'' (New York: Hill and Wang, 2005), 99-113</ref>.
  
In 1847, concerned about the effect of [[New England]] winters on Henry Stanton's fragile health, the Stantons moved from Boston to [[Seneca Falls]], New York, into a house that had been purchased for them by Elizabeth's father. Stanton, age thirty-one at the time, had great diffculty adjusting to her new role as rural housewife. While she loved motherhood and assumed primary responsibility for rearing the children, she found herself increasingly unsatisfied by the lack of intellectual companionship and stimulation in Seneca Falls.<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More'', pp146-148</ref> The couple's last four children, two daughters and two sons, were born there, with Stanton asserting that her children were conceived under a program she called "voluntary motherhood".<ref>Baker, p. 107-108</ref>  She was remembered by her daughter Margaret as "cheerful, sunny and indulgent". {{fact}}   
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In 1847, the Stantons moved from Boston to Seneca Falls, New York. Henry's health was fragile and the New England winters had been hard on him. Elizabeth's father purchased their new home for them. Elizabeth, at age 31, loved motherhood and assumed primary responsibility for rearing the children. But she had great difficulty adjusting to her new role as rural housewife. She was increasingly unsatisfied by the lack of intellectual companionship and stimulation in Seneca Falls.<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More,'' 146-148</ref>  
  
As an antidote to the boredom and loneliness she experienced in Seneca Falls, Stanton became increasingly involved in the community and, by 1848, had established ties to similarly minded women in the area. By this time, she was firmly committed to the nascent women's rights movement and ready to engage in organized actvism.<ref>Griffith, p48</ref>
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The Stantons had six carefully planned children, <ref>Baker, 107-108</ref> between 1842 and 1856. The couple's last four children, two daughters and two sons, were born in Seneca Falls. Stanton asserted that her children were conceived under a program she called "voluntary motherhood."<ref>Baker, 107-108</ref> Even though she firmly believed in achieving rights for women, her choice to be a mother was a deliberate one. The Stantons' seventh and last child, Robert, was an unplanned baby born in 1859. Elizabeth was age 44.
  
== Stanton and the early years of the Women's Rights Movement ==
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As an antidote to the boredom and loneliness she experienced in Seneca Falls, Stanton became increasingly involved in the community. By 1848, she had established ties to like-minded women in the area. Also, she was firmly committed to the nascent women's rights movement and ready to engage in organized activism.<ref>Griffith, 48</ref>
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Prior to living in Seneca Falls, Stanton had become a great admirer and friend of [[Lucretia Mott]], the Quaker minister, feminist, and abolitionist, whom she met at the International Anti-Slavery Convention in [[London, England|London]], [[England]] in the spring of 1840.  The two women became allies when it was voted that women should be denied participation in the proceedings, even if they, like Mott, had come as official delegates of their respective abolitionist societies. After considerable debate, the women were required to sit in a roped-off section hidden from the view of the men in attendance. They were soon joined by [[William Lloyd Garrison]], who arrived after the vote had been taken and, in protest of the outcome, refused his seat, electing instead to sit with the women.<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/archive/wori/convent.htm Women's Rights National Historical Park], ''The First Women's Rights Convention''; footnote at end of webpage; accessed October 20, 2006</ref>
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== Stanton and the Early Years of the Women's Rights Movement ==
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<blockquote>The prejudice against color, of which we hear so much, is no stronger than that against sex. It is produced by the same cause, and manifested very much in the same way." -Elizabeth Cady Stanton.</blockquote>
  
Mott's example and the decision to prohibit women from participating in the convention strengthened Stanton's commitment to women's rights. By 1848, her early life experiences combined with the experience in London and her initially debilitating experience as a housewife in [[Seneca Falls]], galvanized Stanton. She later wrote:
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Over the years, Stanton had become a great admirer and friend of [[Lucretia Mott]], the Quaker minister, feminist, and abolitionist. They had met in spring of 1840 at the International Anti-Slavery Convention in London, [[England]]. The two became allies when the Convention voted to deny women participation in the proceedings, even those, like Mott, who were official delegates of their respective abolitionist societies. After considerable debate, the women were required to sit in a roped-off section hidden from view of the men. They were joined by [[William Lloyd Garrison]], who arrived after the vote had been taken. He refused his seat in protest over the outcome, electing to sit with the women instead. <ref>[http://www.nps.gov/archive/wori/convent.htm Women's Rights National Historical Park], ''The First Women's Rights Convention''; footnote at end of webpage; accessed October 20, 2006</ref>
  
::"The general discontent I felt with woman's portion as wife, housekeeper, physician, and spiritual guide, the chaotic conditions into which everything fell without her constant supervision, and the wearied, anxious look of the majority of women, impressed me with a strong feeling that some active measures should be taken to remedy the wrongs of society in general, and of women in particular. My experience at the World Anti-slavery Convention, all I had read of the legal status of women, and the oppression I saw everywhere, together swept across my soul, intensified now by many personal experiences. It seemed as if all the elements had conspired to impel me to some onward step. I could not see what to do or where to begin — my only thought was a public meeting for protest and discussion."<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More'', p.148</ref>
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The decision to prohibit women from participating in the convention strengthened Stanton's commitment to women's rights. Mott's example of strength and activism also fortified her. By 1848, her early life experiences, the experience in London and her initially oppressive experience as a housewife galvanized Stanton. She wrote:
  
In 1848, acting on these feelings and perceptions, Stanton joined Mott and a handful of other women in Seneca Falls. Together they organized the first [[Seneca Falls Convention|women's rights convention]]. Stanton drafted a [[Declaration of Sentiments]], which she read at the convention. Modeled on the [[US Declaration of Independence|United States Declaration of Independence]], Stanton's declaration proclaimed that men and women are created equal. She proposed, among other things, a then-controversial resolution demanding voting rights for women. The final resolutions, including feminine voting rights, were passed, in no small measure, because of the support of Frederick Douglass, who attended and informally spoke at the convention.  
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<blockquote>"The general discontent I felt with woman's portion as wife, housekeeper, physician, and spiritual guide, the chaotic conditions into which everything fell without her constant supervision, and the wearied, anxious look of the majority of women, impressed me with a strong feeling that some active measures should be taken to remedy the wrongs of society in general, and of women in particular. My experience at the World Anti-slavery Convention, all I had read of the legal status of women, and the oppression I saw everywhere, together swept across my soul, intensified now by many personal experiences. It seemed as if all the elements had conspired to impel me to some onward step. I could not see what to do or where to begin—my only thought was a public meeting for protest and discussion."<ref>Stanton, ''Eighty Years & More,'' 148</ref></blockquote>
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In 1848 Stanton, Mott and a handful of other women in Seneca Falls organized the first women's rights convention. Stanton drafted a [[Declaration of Sentiments]], which she read at the convention. Modeled on the [[US Declaration of Independence|United States Declaration of Independence]], Stanton's declaration proclaimed that men and women are created equal. She proposed, among other things, a then-controversial resolution demanding voting rights for women. The final resolutions, including feminine voting rights, were passed, in no small measure, because of the support of Frederick Douglass, who attended and spoke informally at the convention.  
  
 
[[Image:Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.jpg|thumb|right|Stanton (seated) with Susan B. Anthony]]
 
[[Image:Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.jpg|thumb|right|Stanton (seated) with Susan B. Anthony]]
Soon after the convention, Stanton was invited to speak at a second women's rights convention in [[Rochester, New York]], solidifying her role as activist and reformer. In 1851, Stanton met [[Susan B. Anthony]]. They were introduced on a street in Seneca Falls by [[Amelia Bloomer]], a feminist and mutual acquaintance who had not signed the [[Declaration of Sentiments]] and subsequent resolutions despite her attendance at the Seneca Falls convention.  
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Soon after the convention, Stanton was invited to speak at a second women's rights convention in Rochester, New York, solidifying her role as activist and reformer. In 1851, Stanton met [[Susan B. Anthony]]. They were introduced on a street in Seneca Falls by Amelia Bloomer, a feminist and mutual acquaintance who had not signed the Declaration of Sentiments and subsequent resolutions despite her attendance at the Seneca Falls convention.  
  
Single and having no children, Anthony had the time and energy to do the speaking and traveling Stanton was unable to do. Their skills complemented each other. Stanton, the better orator and writer, scripted many of Anthony's speeches. Anthony was the movement's organizer and tactician. Writing a tribute that appeared in the ''New York Times'' when Stanton died, Anthony described Stanton as having "forged the thunderbolts" that she (Anthony) "fired."<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1112.html ''New York Times'', October 27, 1902; "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Dies at Her Home" (obituary)]</ref> Unlike Anthony's relatively narrow focus on [[suffrage]], Stanton wanted to push for a broader platform of women's rights in general. While their opposing viewpoints led to some discussion and conflict, no disagreement threatened their friendship or working relationship; the two women remained close friends and colleagues until Stanton's death some fifty years after their initial meeting.
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Single and without children, Anthony had time and energy to speak and travel. Stanton could not. Their skills complemented each other. Stanton, the better orator and writer, scripted many of Anthony's speeches. Anthony was the movement's organizer and tactician. Anthony wrote a tribute when Stanton died that appeared in the ''New York Times''. Anthony described Stanton as having "forged the thunderbolts" that she (Anthony) "fired".<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1112.html ''New York Times'', October 27, 1902; "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Dies at Her Home" (obituary)]. Retrieved April 29, 2008.</ref> Unlike Anthony's relatively narrow focus on suffrage, Stanton pushed for a broader platform of women's rights in general. Their opposing viewpoints led to some discussion and conflict. But no disagreement threatened their friendship or working relationship. They remained close friends and colleagues until Stanton's death some fifty years after their initial meeting.
  
While always recognized as movement leaders whose attendance at meetings and whose support was sought, it soon happened that Stanton and Anthony's voices were joined by others who began assuming leadership positions within the movement. These women included, among others, [[Lucy Stone]] and [[Matilda Joslyn Gage]].
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Stanton and Anthony were recognized as movement leaders. Their attendance at meetings and support was sought. Then Stanton and Anthony's voices were joined by others who began assuming leadership within the movement. This included [[Lucy Stone]], [[Matilda Joslyn Gage]] and others.
  
== Stanton and division within the Women's Rights Movement ==
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== Division within the Women's Rights Movement ==
After the [[American Civil War]], both Stanton and Anthony broke with their abolitionist backgrounds and lobbied strongly against ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the US Constitution granting African American men the right to vote.<ref>Griffith, p. 122; Kern p. 111</ref> They believed that so largely expanding the male franchise in the country would only increase the number of voters prepared to deny female franchise. Stanton was angry that the abolitionists, her former partners in working for both African American and women's rights, refused to demand that the language of the amendments be changed to include women. It was at this time that Stanton declared, "I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work for or demand the ballot for the [[Negro]] and not the woman." {{fact}}
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After the [[American Civil War]], Stanton and Anthony broke with their abolitionist backgrounds. The two lobbied strongly against ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the US Constitution granting African American men the right to vote.<ref>Griffith, 122.</ref> <ref>Kathi Kern. ''Mrs. Stanton's Bible.'' (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001), 111</ref> They believed that expanding the male franchise in the country would only increase the number of voters prepared to deny female franchise. Stanton was angry that the abolitionists, her former partners refused to demand that the language of the amendments be changed to include women. Stanton declared, "I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work for or demand the ballot for the Negro and not the woman."
  
Eventually, Stanton's rhetoric took on a potentially racist tone. Arguing on behalf of female suffrage, Stanton posited that women voters of "wealth, education, and refinement" were needed to offset the effect of former slaves and immigrants whose "pauperism, ignorance, and degradation" might negatively effect the American political system.<ref>Griffith, p. 124 (directly quoting ECS)</ref> Another time she declared it to be "a serious question whether we had better stand aside and see '[[Sambo (ethnic slur)|Sambo]]' walk into the kingdom [of civil rights] first."<ref>Kern, p. 111 (directly quoting ECS)</ref> While her frustration was understandable, it has been argued that Stanton's position fragmented the civil rights movement by pitting African American men against women and, in part, established a basis for the literacy requirements that followed the Black male franchise.<ref>Kern, pp 111-112</ref> Whether or not this assessment is accurate, Stanton's position caused a significant rift between herself and many civil rights leaders, particularly Frederick Douglass, who believed that women, empowered by their ties to fathers, husbands, and brothers, at least vicariously had the vote, and that horrifying treatment as slaves entitled now free African American men, who lacked women's indirect empowerment by association to men, to voting rights before women were granted the franchise.<ref>Foner, p.600</ref>
+
Eventually, Stanton's rhetoric took on what was perceived by some as a racist tone. Stanton took the position that women voters of "wealth, education, and refinement" were needed to offset the effect of former slaves and immigrants whose "pauperism, ignorance, and degradation" might negatively effect the American political system.<ref>Griffith, 124 (directly quoting ECS)</ref> She declared it "a serious question whether we had better stand aside and see 'Sambo' walk into the kingdom of civil rights first."<ref>Kern, 111 (directly quoting ECS)</ref> While her frustration was understandable, it has been argued that Stanton's position fragmented the civil rights movement by pitting African American men against women. In addition, her comments may have established a basis for the literacy requirements that followed the Black male franchise. <ref>Kern, 111-112</ref> This position caused a significant rift between Stanton and many civil rights leaders, particularly Frederick Douglass. He believed that women, empowered by their ties to fathers, husbands, and brothers, at least vicariously had the vote. He also believed that the horrifying treatment as slaves entitled the now free African American men to acquire voting rights before women.<ref>Philip S. Foner, (ed.) ''Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings.'' (The Library of Black America) (Chicago, IL, Lawrence Hill Books, 1999), 600</ref>
  
[[Thaddeus Stevens]], a Republican congressman from [[Pennsylvania]] and ardent supporter of abolition and, after the Civil War, Reconstruction, agreed that voting rights should be universal. In 1866, Stanton, Anthony, and several other suffragists drafted a universal suffrage petition demanding that both women and African American men be granted the right to vote. The petition was introduced in the United States Congress by Stevens.<ref>[http://ecssba.rutgers.edu/docs/petuniv.html Suffrage Petition, 1866; The Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Papers Project, Rutgers University]</ref> Despite these efforts, the Fourteenth Amendment was passed, without adjustment, in 1868.
+
[[Thaddeus Stevens]], a Republican congressman from [[Pennsylvania]] and ardent supporter of abolition, agreed following Civil War Reconstruction, that voting rights should be universal. In 1866, Stanton, Anthony, and several other suffragists drafted a universal suffrage petition demanding that both women and African American men be granted the right to vote. The petition was introduced in the United States Congress by Stevens.<ref>[http://ecssba.rutgers.edu/docs/petuniv.html Suffrage Petition, 1866; The Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Papers Project, Rutgers University]Retrieved April 29, 2008. </ref> Despite these efforts, the Fourteenth Amendment was passed in 1868 without revision to include women.
  
By the time the Fifteenth Amendment was making its way through Congress, Stanton's position led to major schism in the women's rights movement itself. Many leaders in the women's rights movement, including Lucy Stone, [[Elizabeth Blackwell]], and [[Julia Ward Howe]] strongly argued against Stanton's "all or nothing" position. By 1869, disagreement over ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment gave birth to two separate women's suffrage organizations. The [[National Woman's Suffrage Association]] (NWSA) founded in May, 1869 by Stanton and Anthony, opposed passage of the Fifteenth Amendment without it being changed to include female suffrage. The [[National American Suffrage Association|American Woman's Suffrage Association]] (AWSA), founded the following November and led by Stone, Blackwell, and Howe, supported the amendment as written.  
+
By the time the Fifteenth Amendment made its way through Congress, Stanton's position led to a major schism in the women's rights movement. Many leaders in the women's rights movement, including Lucy Stone, [[Elizabeth Blackwell]], and [[Julia Ward Howe]] strongly argued against Stanton's "all or nothing" position. By 1869, disagreement over ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment gave birth to two separate women's suffrage organizations. The [[National Woman's Suffrage Association]] (NWSA) founded in May 1869 by Stanton and Anthony, opposed passage of the Fifteenth Amendment unless it was revised to include female suffrage. The [[National American Suffrage Association|American Woman's Suffrage Association]] (AWSA), founded the following November and led by Stone, Blackwell, and Howe, supported the amendment as written.  
  
Believing that men should not be given the right to vote without women also being granted the franchise, [[Sojourner Truth]], a former slave and feminist, affiliated herself with Stanton and Anthony's organization.<ref>James, pp 345-47 & 389; Palmer, pp xxvii; Sklar pp 72-75</ref> They were joined by Matilda Joslyn Gage, who later worked on ''The Women's Bible'' with Stanton. Despite Stanton's position and the efforts of herself and others to expand the Fifteenth Amendment to include voting rights for women, this amendment also passed, as originally written, in 1870. It would be another fifty years before women obtained the right to vote throughout the United States.
+
[[Sojourner Truth]], a former slave and feminist, affiliated herself with Stanton and Anthony's organization. She believed that men should not receive the right to vote unless women were included.<ref>Edward T. James, (ed.) ''Notable American Women a Biographical Dictionary (1607-1950); Volume III (P-Z).'' "STANTON, Elizabeth Cady" (342-347) and "STONE, Lucy" (387-390). (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971), 345-347 & 389 </ref> <ref>Beverly Wilson Palmer, (ed.) ''Selected Letters of Lucretia Coffin Mott.'' (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2002), xxvii </ref><ref>Kathryn Kish Sklar. ''Women's Rights Emerges within the Antislavery Movement 1830-1870: A Brief History with Documents.'' (The Bedford Series in History and Culture), (NY: Bedford/St. Martins 2000), 72-75</ref> They were joined by Matilda Joslyn Gage, who later worked on ''The Woman's Bible'' with Stanton. Despite the efforts of Stanton and her colleagues to expand the Fifteenth Amendment to include voting rights for women, this amendment also passed as originally written, in 1870. It was another 50 years before women obtained the right to vote throughout the United States.
  
 
== Later years ==
 
== Later years ==
After passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870 and its support by the Equal Rights Association and prominent [[suffragists]] such as Stone, Blackwell, and Howe, the gap between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and other leaders of the women's movement widened as Stanton took issue with the fundamental religious leanings of several movement leaders. Unlike many of her colleagues, Stanton believed organized Christianity relegated women to an unacceptable position in society.  
+
After passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, supported by the Equal Rights Association and prominent suffragists such as Stone, Blackwell, and Howe, the gap between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and other leaders of the women's movement widened. Stanton took issue with the fundamental religious leanings of several movement leaders. Unlike many of her colleagues, Stanton believed organized Christianity relegated women to an unacceptable position in society.  
  
She explored this view in ''The Woman's Bible'', which elucidated a feminist understanding of biblical scripture and sought to correct the fundamental sexism Stanton saw as being inherent to organized Christianity.<ref>Stanton, ''The Woman's Bible'', p.7</ref> Likewise, Stanton supported divorce rights, employment rights, and property rights for women, issues in which the more conservative suffragists preferred not to become substantially involved.<ref>James, p.389</ref>  
+
She explored this view in ''The Woman's Bible,'' which elucidated a feminist understanding of biblical scripture. "The Woman's Bible" sought to correct the fundamental sexism Stanton saw as inherent in organized Christianity.<ref>Stanton, ''The Woman's Bible,'' 7</ref> Stanton supported divorce rights, employment rights and property rights for women. The more conservative suffragists preferred to avoid these issues.<ref>James, 389</ref>  
  
Clearly not limited by her perspective on religion, however, Stanton went on to write many of the more important documents and speeches of the women's rights movement and was instrumental in promoting women's suffrage in various states, particularly New York, Missouri, Kansas, where it was included on the ballot in 1867, and Michigan, where it was put to the vote in 1874. In 1868, Stanton made an unsuccessful bid for a U.S. Congressional seat from New York, and she was the primary force behind passage of the "Woman's Property Bill," that was eventually passed by the New York State Legislature.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1112.html ''New York Times'', October 27, 1902; "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Dies at Her Home" (obituary)]</ref> 
+
Stanton's perspective on religion did not limit her. She wrote many of the more important documents and speeches of the women's rights movement. She was instrumental in promoting women's suffrage in New York, Missouri, Kansas and Michigan. It was included on the ballot in Kansas in 1867, and Michigan in 1874.  
  
In a view different from many [[modern]] feminists, Stanton believed that [[abortion]] was infanticide<ref>''The Revolution'', I, No. 5; February 5, 1868</ref> She addressed the issue in various editions of ''The Revolution'' and, in an 1873 letter to Julia Ward Howe recorded in Howe's diary at [[Harvard University]] Library, she wrote: "When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit." She suggested that solutions to abortion would be found, at least in part, in the elevation and enfranchisement of women.
+
In 1868, Stanton made an unsuccessful bid for a U.S. Congressional seat from New York. She was also the primary force behind passage of the "Woman's Property Bill," that was eventually passed by the New York State Legislature.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1112.html ''New York Times'', October 27, 1902; "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Dies at Her Home" (obituary)]</ref> 
 +
 
 +
Unlike many modern feminists, Stanton believed that [[abortion]] was infanticide<ref>''The Revolution'', I, No. 5; February 5, 1868</ref> She addressed the issue in various editions of ''The Revolution''. In an 1873 letter to Julia Ward Howe recorded in Howe's diary at [[Harvard University]] Library, she wrote: "When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit." She suggested that solutions to abortion would be found, at least in part, in the elevation and enfranchisement of women.
  
 
[[Image:ElizabethCadyStanton-Veeder.LOC.jpg|left|thumb|Elizabeth Cady Stanton in her later years.]]
 
[[Image:ElizabethCadyStanton-Veeder.LOC.jpg|left|thumb|Elizabeth Cady Stanton in her later years.]]
As she aged, Stanton was also active internationally, spending a great deal of time in Europe, where her daughter and fellow feminist, [[Harriot Stanton Blatch]], lived. In 1888 she helped prepare for the founding of the [[International Council of Women]].  In 1890, Stanton opposed the merger of the National Woman's Suffrage Association with the more conservative and religiously based American Woman Suffrage Association.  Over her objections, the organizations merged, creating the [[National American Woman Suffrage Association]]. Despite her opposition to the merger, Stanton became its first president, largely because of Susan B. Anthony's intervention. In good measure because of the ''Women's Bible'', she was, however, never popular among the more religiously conservative members of the 'National American'.
+
Stanton was active internationally in her later years. She spent a great deal of time in Europe, where her daughter and fellow feminist, Harriot Stanton Blatch, lived. In 1888 she helped prepare for the founding of the [[International Council of Women]].  
  
On January 17, 1892, Stanton, Anthony, Lucy Stone, and [[Isabella Beecher Hooker]] addressed the issue of suffrage before the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. In contrast to the response common earlier in the century, the suffragists were cordially received and members of the House listened carefully to their prepared statements. Stanton made a strong point when speaking of the value of the individual, noting that value was not based on gender.  As with the ''Declaration of Sentiments'' she had penned some forty-five years earlier, Stanton's statement eloquently expressed not only the need for women's voting rights in particular, but the need for a revamped understanding of women's position in society and even of women in general:
+
Two years later, Stanton opposed the merger of the National Woman's Suffrage Association with the more conservative and religious American Woman Suffrage Association. Over her objections, the organizations merged, creating the [[National American Woman Suffrage Association]]. Despite her opposition to the merger, Stanton became its first president, because of Susan B. Anthony's intervention. As a result of the ''Woman's Bible,'' Stanton was never popular among the religiously conservative members of the 'National American'.
  
::''The isolation of every human soul and the necessity of self-dependence must give each individual the right to choose his own surroundings. The strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities for higher education, for the full development of her faculties, her forces of mind and body; for giving her the most enlarged freedom of thought and action; a complete emancipation from all forms of bondage, of custom, dependence, superstition; from all the crippling influences of fear—is the solitude and personal responsibility of her own individual life. The strongest reason why we ask for woman a voice in the government under which she lives; in the religion she is asked to believe; equality in social life, where she is the chief factor; a place in the trades and professions, where she may earn her bread, is because of her birthright to self-sovereignty; because, as an individual, she must rely on herself. . . .'''<ref>Stanton, Elizabeth, "History of Woman Suffrage"</ref>
+
On January 17, 1892, Stanton, Anthony, Lucy Stone, and [[Isabella Beecher Hooker]] addressed the issue of suffrage before the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. In contrast to prevailing attitude earlier in the century, the suffragists were cordially received. Members of the House listened carefully to their prepared statements. Stanton emphasized the value of the individual, and that value was not based on gender. Stanton eloquently expressed the need for women's voting rights and the importance of a new understanding of women's position in society and the fundamental value of women:<blockquote>
 +
"The isolation of every human soul and the necessity of self-dependence must give each individual the right to choose his own surroundings. The strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities for higher education, for the full development of her faculties, her forces of mind and body; for giving her the most enlarged freedom of thought and action; a complete emancipation from all forms of bondage, of custom, dependence, superstition; from all the crippling influences of fear—is the solitude and personal responsibility of her own individual life. The strongest reason why we ask for woman a voice in the government under which she lives; in the religion she is asked to believe; equality in social life, where she is the chief factor; a place in the trades and professions, where she may earn her bread, is because of her birthright to self-sovereignty; because, as an individual, she must rely on herself…."<ref>Elizabeth Stanton, "History of Woman Suffrage"</ref></blockquote>
  
 
==Death, burial, and remembrance==
 
==Death, burial, and remembrance==
Stanton died at her home in New York City on October 26, 1902 nearly twenty years before women were granted the right to vote in the United States. She was interred in [[Woodlawn Cemetery]] in the [[Bronx]], New York. She was survived by six of her seven children and six grandchildren. Although Elizabeth Cady Stanton had been unable to attend a formal college or university, her daughters did. Margaret Livingston Stanton Lawrence attended [[Vassar College]] (1876) and [[Columbia University]] (1891), and Harriot Stanton Blatch received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Vassar College in 1878 and 1891 respectively.<ref>Griffith, pp 228-229</ref>
+
Stanton died at her home in New York City on October 26, 1902. It would be nearly 20 years before women were finally granted the right to vote in the United States. She was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York.  
  
After Stanton's death, her radical ideas about religion and emphasis on female employment and other women's issues led many suffragists to focus on Anthony rather than Stanton as the founder of the women's suffrage movement. By 1923, in celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention, only Harriot Stanton Blatch paid any tribute to the role her mother had played in instigating the movement. Even as late as 1977, attention was paid to Susan B. Anthony as the founder of the women's rights movement, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton was not mentioned.<ref>Griffith, p.xv</ref> By the 1990's, interest in Stanton was substantially rekindled when [[Ken Burns]], among others, presented the life and contributions of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, once again drawing attention to her central, founding role in shaping the women's rights movement in the United States.<ref>Burns, ''Not for Ourselves Alone'' (video)</ref>
+
She was survived by six of her seven children and six grandchildren. Although Elizabeth Cady Stanton had been unable to attend a formal college or university, her daughters did. Margaret Livingston Stanton Lawrence attended [[Vassar College]] (1876) and [[Columbia University]] (1891). Harriot Stanton Blatch received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Vassar College in 1878 and 1891 respectively.<ref>Griffith, 228-229</ref>
  
== Stanton's writings and publications ==
+
After Stanton's death, her radical ideas led many suffragists to focus on [[Susan B. Anthony]] more than Stanton as founder of the women's suffrage movement. By 1923, at the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention, only Harriot Stanton Blatch paid tribute to the role her mother had played in instigating the movement. Even as recently as 1977, Susan B. Anthony was recognized as the founder of the women's rights movement. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was not mentioned.<ref>Griffith, xv</ref> By the 1990s, interest in Stanton was substantially rekindled when American film maker Ken Burns, among others, presented the life and contributions of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. He drew attention to her central, founding role in shaping the women's rights movement in the United States.<ref>Ken Burns, (director) ''Not for Ourselves Alone - The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony.'' (DVD & VHS tape, PBS Home Video, 1999) </ref>
In 1868, Stanton and Anthony founded the women's rights newsletter ''The Revolution''. Stanton served as co-editor with [[Parker Pillsbury]] and frequently contributed to the paper. Stanton also wrote countless letters and pamphlets, as well as articles and essays for numerous periodicals, including [[Amelia Bloomer]]'s ''Lily'', [[Paulina Wright Davis]]'s ''Una'', and [[Horace Greeley]]'s ''New York Tribune''.
 
  
Starting in 1881, Stanton, Anthony and [[Matilda Joslyn Gage]] published the first of three volumes of the ''[[History of Woman Suffrage]]'', an anthology of writings about the movement in which they were so prominent.  This anthology reached six volumes by various writers in 1922.
+
== Stanton's Writings and Publications ==
 +
In 1868, Stanton and Anthony founded the women's rights newsletter ''The Revolution.'' Stanton served as co-editor with Parker Pillsbury and frequently contributed to the paper. Stanton also wrote countless letters and pamphlets, as well as articles and essays for numerous periodicals, including Amelia Bloomer's ''Lily,'' Paulina Wright Davis's ''Una,'' and [[Horace Greeley]]'s ''New York Tribune.''
  
Her papers are archived at [[Rutgers University]].
+
Starting in 1881, Stanton, Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage published the first of three volumes of the ''History of Woman Suffrage,'' an anthology of writings about the women's movement. This anthology reached six volumes in 1922 and featured a variety of writers.
 +
 
 +
Elizabeth Cady Stanton's papers are archived at [[Rutgers University]].
  
 
Stanton's individual writings include:
 
Stanton's individual writings include:
* ''Eighty Years and More: Reminiscences 1815-1897'' ISBN 1-59102-009-3
+
* ''Eighty Years and More: Reminiscences 1815-1897.'' ISBN 1591020093
* ''The Woman's Bible'' ISBN 1-57392-696-5
+
* ''The Woman's Bible.'' ISBN 1573926965
* [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Solitude_of_Self ''Solitude of Self'' as available on Wikipedia.] In print: ''Solitude of Self''; Paris Press; Ashfield, MA, 2001; ISBN 1-930464-01-0.
+
* [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Solitude_of_Self ''Solitude of Self'' as available on Wikipedia.] In print: ''Solitude of Self''; Paris Press, 2001; ISBN 1930464010.
* [http://www.nps.gov/archive/wori/declaration.htm ''Declaration of Sentiments'']at [http://www.nps.gov/archive/wori/home.htm Women's Rights National Historical Park] in Seneca Falls, NY. (This is the formal archive and historic location where Stanton delivered the Declaration. The site includes a [http://www.nps.gov/archive/wori/particip.htm list of signatories] together with [http://www.nps.gov/archive/wori/biolisting.htm biographies] for several of them. It can also be accessed through the [http://www.nps.gov/| National Park Service]) [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Sentiments ''Declaration of Sentiments'' as available on Wikipedia].
+
* [http://www.nps.gov/archive/wori/declaration.htm ''Declaration of Sentiments'']at [http://www.nps.gov/archive/wori/home.htm Women's Rights National Historical Park] in Seneca Falls, NY. (This is the formal archive and historic location where Stanton delivered the Declaration. The site includes a [http://www.nps.gov/archive/wori/particip.htm list of signatories] and [http://www.nps.gov/archive/wori/biolisting.htm biographies] for several of them. It can also be accessed through the [http://www.nps.gov/| National Park Service]) [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Sentiments ''Declaration of Sentiments'' as available on Wikipedia]. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
 
 
==References==
 
* Baker, Jean H.  ''Sisters:  The Lives of America's Suffragists.'' Hill and Wang, New York, 2005.  ISBN 0-8090-9528-9.
 
*  [[Lois Banner|Banner, Lois W]]. ''Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Radical for Women's Rights.'' Addison-Wesley Publishers, 1997.  ISBN 0-673-39319-4.
 
*  Blatch, Harriot Stanton and Alma Lutz; ''Challenging Years: the Memoirs of Harriot Stanton Blatch''; G.P. Putnam's Sons; New York, NY, 1940.
 
*  [[Ken Burns|Burns, Ken]], director.  ''Not for Ourselves Alone - The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony.'' DVD & VHS tape, PBS Home Video, (1999).
 
*  Dubois, Ellen Carol, editor. ''The Elizabeth Cady Stanton-Susan B. Anthony Reader: Correspondence, Writings, Speeches.''  Northeastern University Press, September 1994.  ISBN 1-55553-149-0.
 
*  Foner, Philip S., editor. ''Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings''. Lawrence Hill Books (The Library of Black America); Chicago, IL, 1999. ISBN 1-55652-352-1.
 
*  Gaylor, Annie Laurie.  ''Women Without Superstition : No Gods - No Masters.'' Publisher: [[Freedom From Religion Foundation|FFRF]]; 1st edition, January 1, 1997. ISBN 1-877733-09-1.
 
*  Gordon, Ann D., editor.  ''The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Volume I: In the School of Anti-Slavery 1840-1866.'' [[Rutgers University Press]]; New Brunswick, NJ, 2001. ISBN 0-8135-2317-6.
 
*  Gordon, Ann D., editor.  ''The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Volume II: Against an Aristocracy of Sex 1866-1873.'' [[Rutgers University Press]]; New Brunswick, NJ, 2000. ISBN 0-8135-2318-4.
 
*  Gordon, Ann D., editor.  ''The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Volume III: National Protection for National Citizens 1873-1880.'' [[Rutgers University Press]]; New Brunswick, NJ, 2003. ISBN 0-8135-2319-2.
 
*  Gordon, Ann D., editor.  ''The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Volume IV: When Clowns Make Laws for Queens 1880-1887.'' [[Rutgers University Press]]; New Brunswick, NJ, 2006. ISBN 0-8135-2320-6.
 
*  Griffith, Elisabeth.  ''In Her Own Right: The Life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.''  Oxford University Press; New York, NY, 1985.  ISBN 0-19-503729-4.  Also by Galaxy Books, ISBN 0-19-503440-6.
 
*  James, Edward T., editor.  ''Notable American Women a Biographical Dictionary (1607-1950); Volume III (P-Z).'' "STANTON, Elizabeth Cady" (pp342-347) and "STONE, Lucy" (pp387-390).  The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; Cambridge, MA, 1971.  ISBN 0-674-62734-2.
 
*  Kern, Kathi.  ''Mrs. Stanton's Bible.''  Cornell University Press; Ithaca, NY, 2001.  ISBN 0-8014-8288-7.
 
*  [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1112.html ''New York Times'' October 27, 1902; "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Dies at Her Home" (obituary)]; accessed November 12, 2006.
 
*  Palmer, Beverly Wilson, editor.  ''Selected Letters of Lucretia Coffin Mott.''  University of Illinois Press; 2002.  ISBN 0-252-02674-8.
 
*  Sigerman, Harriet. ''Elizabeth Cady Stanton: The Right Is Ours.''  Oxford University Press, November 2001.  ISBN 0-19-511969-X.
 
*  Sklar, Kathryn Kish. ''Women's Rights Emerges within the Antislavery Movement 1830-1870: A Brief History with Documents.'' Bedford/St. Martins (The Bedford Series in History and Culture), 2000.  ISBN 0-312-10144-9.
 
*  Stanton, Elizabeth Cady.  ''Eighty Years & More: Reminiscences 1815-1897.'' Northeastern University Press; Boston, 1993. ISBN 1-55553-137-7.
 
*  Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. ''Solitude of Self.'' Paris Press; Ashfield, MA, 2001. ISBN 1-930464-01-0.
 
*  Stanton, Elizabeth Cady.  ''The Woman's Bible.'' Prometheus Books; Great Minds Series; Amherst, NY, 1999. ISBN-13 978-1-57392-696-6 and ISBN-10 1-57392-696-5.
 
*  Stanton, Elizabeth et al., eds., "History of Woman Suffrage", vol. 4, 1902
 
*  Ward, Geoffrey C. and Ken Burns. ''Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.'' Knopf Publishing Group, December 2001.  ISBN 0-375-70969-X. (Companion book to the Ken Burns video of the same name.)
 
  
 
== Notes ==
 
== Notes ==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  
==Other sources and external links==
 
===Video===
 
:*  [[Ken Burns]], director.  ''Not for Ourselves Alone - The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony.'' DVD & VHS tape, PBS Home Video; 1999. (See PBS link below.)
 
  
===External links===
+
==References==
{{wikisource author}}
+
* Baker, Jean H. ''Sisters: The Lives of America's Suffragists.'' New York: Hill and Wang, 2005. ISBN 0809095289.
{{wikiquote}}
+
* [[Lois Banner|Banner, Lois W]]. ''Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Radical for Women's Rights.'' Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishers, 1997. ISBN 0673393194.  
:* {{gutenberg author| id=Elizabeth+Cady+Stanton | name=Elizabeth Cady Stanton}}
+
*  Blatch, Harriot Stanton and Alma Lutz. ''Challenging Years: the Memoirs of Harriot Stanton Blatch.'' NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1940.
:* [http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/stanton/years/years.html ''Eighty Years and More'']
+
* [[Ken Burns|Burns, Ken]], director. ''Not for Ourselves Alone - The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony.'' DVD & VHS tape, PBS Home Video, (1999).
:* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/wmn/wb/index.htm ''The Woman's Bible'']
+
*  Dubois, Ellen C., editor. ''The Elizabeth Cady Stanton-Susan B. Anthony Reader: Correspondence, Writings, Speeches.'' Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 1994 (original 1992). ISBN 1555531490.
:* [http://antislavery.eserver.org/tracts/stantonslavesappeal/ ''The Slave's Appeal''] at the Antislavery Literature Project
+
* Foner, Philip S., ed. ''Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings.'' (The Library of Black America); Chicago, IL, Lawrence Hill Books, 1999. ISBN 1556523521.
:* [http://ecssba.rutgers.edu/ The Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Papers Project, Rutgers University]
+
*  Gaylor, Annie L. ''Women Without Superstition: No Gods - No Masters.'' Madison WI: [[Freedom From Religion Foundation|FFRF]], 1997. ISBN 1877733091.
:* [http://www.nps.gov/wori/home.htm Women's Rights National Historical Park (National Park Service)]
+
* Gordon, Ann D., ed. ''The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Volume I: In the School of Anti-Slavery 1840-1866.'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2001 (original 1997). ISBN 0813523176.
:* [http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1500/context/archive Article on Stanton's family memorabilia]
+
*  Gordon, Ann D., ed. ''The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Volume II: Against an Aristocracy of Sex 1866-1873.'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2000. ISBN 0813523184.
:* [http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ww/people_stanton.html Full text of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's publications at the Harvard University Library Open Collections Program]
+
*  Gordon, Ann D., ed. ''The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Volume III: National Protection for National Citizens 1873-1880.'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2003. ISBN 0813523192.
:* [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1112.html Obituary in The New York Times, October 27, 1902]
+
*  Gordon, Ann D., ed. ''The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Volume IV: When Clowns Make Laws for Queens 1880-1887.'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2006. ISBN 0813523206.
:* [http://www.pbs.org/stantonanthony/ PBS: ''Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony'' (Ken Burns)]
+
*  Griffith, Elisabeth. ''In Her Own Right: The Life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.'' NY: Oxford University Press, 1985. ISBN 0195037294.
 +
* James, Edward T., ed. ''Notable American Women a Biographical Dictionary (1607-1950); Volume III (P-Z).'' "STANTON, Elizabeth Cady" (342-347) and "STONE, Lucy" (387-390). Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971. ISBN 0674627342.
 +
*  Kern, Kathi. ''Mrs. Stanton's Bible.'' Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001. ISBN 0801482887.
 +
* [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1112.html ''New York Times'' October 27, 1902; "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Dies at Her Home" (obituary)]; accessed December 30, 2021.
 +
*  Palmer, Beverly W., ed. ''Selected Letters of Lucretia Coffin Mott.'' Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2002. ISBN 0252026748.
 +
* Sigerman, Harriet. ''Elizabeth Cady Stanton: The Right Is Ours.'' NY: Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 019511969X.
 +
*  Sklar, Kathryn K. ''Women's Rights Emerges within the Antislavery Movement 1830-1870: A Brief History with Documents.'' NY: Bedford/St. Martins (The Bedford Series in History and Culture), 2000. ISBN 0312101449.
 +
*  Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. ''Eighty Years & More: Reminiscences 1815-1897.'' Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 1993. ISBN 1555531377.
 +
*  Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. ''Solitude of Self.'' Ashfield, MA: Paris Press, MA, 2001. ISBN 130464010.
 +
*  Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. ''The Woman's Bible.'' Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books; Great Minds Series, 1999. ISBN 978-1573926966
 +
*  Stanton, Elizabeth et al., eds., "History of Woman Suffrage," vol. 4, 1902.
 +
*  Ward, Geoffrey C. and Ken Burns. ''Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.'' NY: Knopf Publishing Group, 2001. ISBN 037570969X. (Companion book to the Ken Burns PBS Documentary video of the same name.)
 +
 
 +
==External links==
 +
All links retrieved Elizabeth Cady Stanton
  
===See also===
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* [http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/stanton/years/years.html ''Eighty Years and More'']
:* [[USS Elizabeth C. Stanton (AP-69)|USS ''Elizabeth C. Stanton'' (AP-69)]], [[World War II]] troop transport, named for Stanton.
+
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/wmn/wb/index.htm ''The Woman's Bible'']
:* [[History of feminism]]
+
* [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1112.html Obituary in The New York Times, October 27, 1902]
 +
* [http://www.pbs.org/stantonanthony/ PBS: ''Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony'' (Ken Burns)]
  
[[Category:History and biography]]
 
 
[[Category:Biography]]
 
[[Category:Biography]]
  
 
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Latest revision as of 16:16, 13 February 2024

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her daughter Harriot.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an activist and a leader of the early women's rights movement. Her Declaration of Sentiments, presented at the first women's rights convention held in 1848 in the village of Seneca Falls, New York is often credited with initiating the organized woman's rights and woman's suffrage movement in the United States.

With her husband, Henry Stanton and cousin, Gerrit Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an active abolitionist before she made women's issues her primary focus. Until their disagreement over ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, Stanton enjoyed a strong friendship with abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass, and many other prominent leaders of the abolitionist movement.

Elizabeth was an outspoken supporter of the nineteenth century temperance movement. While best known for their work on behalf of women's suffrage, she and Susan B. Anthony were instrumental in founding the Woman's State Temperance Society (1852-1853). During her presidency of the organization, Stanton scandalized many supporters by suggesting that drunkenness be made sufficient cause for divorce. Often a strong critic of religion, particularly Christianity, Stanton distanced herself from the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and her Christian peers in the women's rights movement.

Stanton addressed many women's issues beyond voting rights including women's parental and custody rights, property rights, employment and income rights, divorce laws, the economic health of the family and abortion.

Childhood and Family Background

Elizabeth Cady, the eighth of eleven children, was born in Johnstown, New York, to Daniel Cady and Margaret Livingston Cady. Five of her siblings died in early childhood or infancy. A sixth, her brother Eleazar, died at age 20 just prior to his graduation from Union College in Schenectady, New York. Only Elizabeth and her four sisters lived to old age. Later in life, Elizabeth named her two daughters after two of her sisters, Margaret and Harriet.[1][2]

Daniel Cady was a prominent attorney who served one term in the Congress of the United States (Federalist; 1814-1817) and later became a judge. Judge Cady introduced his daughter to the law. He and her brother-in-law, Edward Bayard (also a lawyer), planted the earliest seeds which grew into her legal and social activism. Even as a young girl, she enjoyed perusing her father's law library and debating legal issues with his law clerks. This early exposure to law caused Stanton to realize how severely the law favored men over women, particularly married women. Her realization that married women had virtually no property rights, income or employment rights, or custody rights over their own children, set her to work on changing these inequities.[3]

Stanton's mother, Margaret, a descendant of early Dutch settlers, was the daughter of Colonel James Livingston, an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He fought at the Battle of Saratoga and the Battle of Quebec (1775), and assisted in the capture of Benedict Arnold at West Point, New York.

Margaret Cady was a commanding woman, almost six feet tall, whom Stanton routinely described as "queenly."[4] Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch, Elizabeth's daughter, remembered her grandmother as being fun, affectionate, and lively. [5] Stanton did not share that view. Emotionally devastated by the loss of so many children, Margaret fell into a depression that prevented her full involvement in the lives of her children. This left a maternal void in Stanton's childhood.

Judge Cady coped with the loss by immersing himself in his work. Many of the childrearing responsibilities fell to Stanton's elder sister Tryphena and Tryphena's husband, Edward Bayard. Tryphena was eleven years older than Elizabeth.

Edward was a Union College classmate of Eleazar Cady's and son of James A. Bayard, Sr., a U.S. Senator from Wilmington, Delaware. At the time of his engagement and marriage to Tryphena, Edward worked as an apprentice in Daniel Cady's law office.[6]

Like many men of his day, Judge Cady was a slave holder. Peter Teabout, a slave in the Cady household and later a freeman, who took care of Elizabeth and her sister Margaret, is remembered with particular fondness by Stanton in her memoir, Eighty Years & More. It was not only her closeness to Peter, but also her exposure to the abolition movement as a young woman during a visit to her cousin, Gerrit Smith, in Peterboro, New York that led to her abolitionist sentiments.

Education and Intellectual Development

Unlike many women of her era, Stanton was formally educated. She attended Johnstown Academy, where she studied Latin, Greek and mathematics until the age of 16. At the Academy, she enjoyed being in co-ed classes. She competed intellectually and academically with boys her age and older. She did this very successfully, winning several academic awards and honors while a student in Johnstown.

In her memoir, Stanton credits the Cadys' neighbor, Rev. Simon Hosack with strongly encouraging her intellectual development and academic abilities at a time when she felt they were undervalued by her father. Writing of her brother Eleazar's death in 1826, Stanton remembers trying to comfort her father. She told him that she would try to be all her brother had been. He exclaimed, "Oh, my daughter, I wish you were a boy!" Her father's response devastated Stanton. Stanton concluded that her father valued boys above girls. Stanton confided her disappointment to Hosack. His firm belief in her abilities counteracted her father's disparagement. Hosack taught Stanton Greek, encouraged her to read widely, and ultimately bequeathed his Greek lexicon and other books to her. His belief in her intellectual abilities buttressed Stanton's belief in her own wide-ranging abilities and prowess.[7]

Upon graduation from Johnstown Academy, Stanton experienced her first tastes of sexual discrimination. Stanton watched with dismay as the young men graduating with her, many of whom she had surpassed academically, went on to Union College. In 1830, Union College only admitted men. Stanton's only option was to enroll in the Troy Female Seminary in Troy, New York.

Early in her days at Troy, Stanton encountered Charles Grandison Finney, an evangelical preacher and revivalist. After hearing Finney speak, Stanton became terrified of her own possible damnation, "Fear of judgment seized my soul. Visions of the lost haunted my dreams. Mental anguish prostrated my health. Dethronement of my reason was apprehended by my friends."[8] Stanton credits her father and brother-in-law, Edward Bayard, with removing her from the situation. After taking her on a rejuvenating trip to Niagara Falls, they finally restored her reason and sense of balance.[9] She never returned to organized Christianity. After this experience she maintained that logic and a humane sense of ethics were the best guides to thought and behavior.

Marriage and Family

As a young woman, Elizabeth Cady met Henry Brewster Stanton through her early involvement in the temperance and abolition movements. Henry was an acquaintance of Elizabeth Cady's cousin, Gerrit Smith, an abolitionist and member of the "Secret Six" that supported John Brown at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Henry was a journalist, and an antislavery orator. Despite Daniel Cady's reservations, the couple married in 1840.

Soon after returning to the United States from their European honeymoon, the Stantons moved into the Cady household in Johnstown, New York. Henry studied law under his father-in-law until 1843, when the Stantons moved to Boston, Massachusetts. There, Henry joined a law firm.

While living in Boston, Elizabeth thoroughly enjoyed the social, political and intellectual stimulation that came with a constant round of abolitionist gatherings and meetings. She enjoyed the company of Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Louisa May Alcott, Robert Lowell and Ralph Waldo Emerson, among others.[10]

Throughout her marriage and eventual widowhood, Stanton used her husband's surname as part of her own. She signed her name Elizabeth Cady Stanton or E. Cady Stanton. But she refused to be addressed as Mrs. Henry B. Stanton, finding this title to be patronizing.

The Stanton marriage had its tension and disagreement. Because of employment, travel, and finances, husband and wife lived apart often. The couple were very similar in temperament and ambition, but differed in their views on certain issues, including women's rights. In 1842, abolitionist reformer Sarah Grimke counseled Elizabeth in a letter: "Henry greatly needs a humble, holy companion and thou needest the same." In spite of the challenges, the marriage lasted forty-seven years, until Henry's death in 1887.[11].

In 1847, the Stantons moved from Boston to Seneca Falls, New York. Henry's health was fragile and the New England winters had been hard on him. Elizabeth's father purchased their new home for them. Elizabeth, at age 31, loved motherhood and assumed primary responsibility for rearing the children. But she had great difficulty adjusting to her new role as rural housewife. She was increasingly unsatisfied by the lack of intellectual companionship and stimulation in Seneca Falls.[12]

The Stantons had six carefully planned children, [13] between 1842 and 1856. The couple's last four children, two daughters and two sons, were born in Seneca Falls. Stanton asserted that her children were conceived under a program she called "voluntary motherhood."[14] Even though she firmly believed in achieving rights for women, her choice to be a mother was a deliberate one. The Stantons' seventh and last child, Robert, was an unplanned baby born in 1859. Elizabeth was age 44.

As an antidote to the boredom and loneliness she experienced in Seneca Falls, Stanton became increasingly involved in the community. By 1848, she had established ties to like-minded women in the area. Also, she was firmly committed to the nascent women's rights movement and ready to engage in organized activism.[15]

Stanton and the Early Years of the Women's Rights Movement

The prejudice against color, of which we hear so much, is no stronger than that against sex. It is produced by the same cause, and manifested very much in the same way." -Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Over the years, Stanton had become a great admirer and friend of Lucretia Mott, the Quaker minister, feminist, and abolitionist. They had met in spring of 1840 at the International Anti-Slavery Convention in London, England. The two became allies when the Convention voted to deny women participation in the proceedings, even those, like Mott, who were official delegates of their respective abolitionist societies. After considerable debate, the women were required to sit in a roped-off section hidden from view of the men. They were joined by William Lloyd Garrison, who arrived after the vote had been taken. He refused his seat in protest over the outcome, electing to sit with the women instead. [16]

The decision to prohibit women from participating in the convention strengthened Stanton's commitment to women's rights. Mott's example of strength and activism also fortified her. By 1848, her early life experiences, the experience in London and her initially oppressive experience as a housewife galvanized Stanton. She wrote:

"The general discontent I felt with woman's portion as wife, housekeeper, physician, and spiritual guide, the chaotic conditions into which everything fell without her constant supervision, and the wearied, anxious look of the majority of women, impressed me with a strong feeling that some active measures should be taken to remedy the wrongs of society in general, and of women in particular. My experience at the World Anti-slavery Convention, all I had read of the legal status of women, and the oppression I saw everywhere, together swept across my soul, intensified now by many personal experiences. It seemed as if all the elements had conspired to impel me to some onward step. I could not see what to do or where to begin—my only thought was a public meeting for protest and discussion."[17]

In 1848 Stanton, Mott and a handful of other women in Seneca Falls organized the first women's rights convention. Stanton drafted a Declaration of Sentiments, which she read at the convention. Modeled on the United States Declaration of Independence, Stanton's declaration proclaimed that men and women are created equal. She proposed, among other things, a then-controversial resolution demanding voting rights for women. The final resolutions, including feminine voting rights, were passed, in no small measure, because of the support of Frederick Douglass, who attended and spoke informally at the convention.

Stanton (seated) with Susan B. Anthony

Soon after the convention, Stanton was invited to speak at a second women's rights convention in Rochester, New York, solidifying her role as activist and reformer. In 1851, Stanton met Susan B. Anthony. They were introduced on a street in Seneca Falls by Amelia Bloomer, a feminist and mutual acquaintance who had not signed the Declaration of Sentiments and subsequent resolutions despite her attendance at the Seneca Falls convention.

Single and without children, Anthony had time and energy to speak and travel. Stanton could not. Their skills complemented each other. Stanton, the better orator and writer, scripted many of Anthony's speeches. Anthony was the movement's organizer and tactician. Anthony wrote a tribute when Stanton died that appeared in the New York Times. Anthony described Stanton as having "forged the thunderbolts" that she (Anthony) "fired".[18] Unlike Anthony's relatively narrow focus on suffrage, Stanton pushed for a broader platform of women's rights in general. Their opposing viewpoints led to some discussion and conflict. But no disagreement threatened their friendship or working relationship. They remained close friends and colleagues until Stanton's death some fifty years after their initial meeting.

Stanton and Anthony were recognized as movement leaders. Their attendance at meetings and support was sought. Then Stanton and Anthony's voices were joined by others who began assuming leadership within the movement. This included Lucy Stone, Matilda Joslyn Gage and others.

Division within the Women's Rights Movement

After the American Civil War, Stanton and Anthony broke with their abolitionist backgrounds. The two lobbied strongly against ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the US Constitution granting African American men the right to vote.[19] [20] They believed that expanding the male franchise in the country would only increase the number of voters prepared to deny female franchise. Stanton was angry that the abolitionists, her former partners refused to demand that the language of the amendments be changed to include women. Stanton declared, "I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work for or demand the ballot for the Negro and not the woman."

Eventually, Stanton's rhetoric took on what was perceived by some as a racist tone. Stanton took the position that women voters of "wealth, education, and refinement" were needed to offset the effect of former slaves and immigrants whose "pauperism, ignorance, and degradation" might negatively effect the American political system.[21] She declared it "a serious question whether we had better stand aside and see 'Sambo' walk into the kingdom of civil rights first."[22] While her frustration was understandable, it has been argued that Stanton's position fragmented the civil rights movement by pitting African American men against women. In addition, her comments may have established a basis for the literacy requirements that followed the Black male franchise. [23] This position caused a significant rift between Stanton and many civil rights leaders, particularly Frederick Douglass. He believed that women, empowered by their ties to fathers, husbands, and brothers, at least vicariously had the vote. He also believed that the horrifying treatment as slaves entitled the now free African American men to acquire voting rights before women.[24]

Thaddeus Stevens, a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania and ardent supporter of abolition, agreed following Civil War Reconstruction, that voting rights should be universal. In 1866, Stanton, Anthony, and several other suffragists drafted a universal suffrage petition demanding that both women and African American men be granted the right to vote. The petition was introduced in the United States Congress by Stevens.[25] Despite these efforts, the Fourteenth Amendment was passed in 1868 without revision to include women.

By the time the Fifteenth Amendment made its way through Congress, Stanton's position led to a major schism in the women's rights movement. Many leaders in the women's rights movement, including Lucy Stone, Elizabeth Blackwell, and Julia Ward Howe strongly argued against Stanton's "all or nothing" position. By 1869, disagreement over ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment gave birth to two separate women's suffrage organizations. The National Woman's Suffrage Association (NWSA) founded in May 1869 by Stanton and Anthony, opposed passage of the Fifteenth Amendment unless it was revised to include female suffrage. The American Woman's Suffrage Association (AWSA), founded the following November and led by Stone, Blackwell, and Howe, supported the amendment as written.

Sojourner Truth, a former slave and feminist, affiliated herself with Stanton and Anthony's organization. She believed that men should not receive the right to vote unless women were included.[26] [27][28] They were joined by Matilda Joslyn Gage, who later worked on The Woman's Bible with Stanton. Despite the efforts of Stanton and her colleagues to expand the Fifteenth Amendment to include voting rights for women, this amendment also passed as originally written, in 1870. It was another 50 years before women obtained the right to vote throughout the United States.

Later years

After passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, supported by the Equal Rights Association and prominent suffragists such as Stone, Blackwell, and Howe, the gap between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and other leaders of the women's movement widened. Stanton took issue with the fundamental religious leanings of several movement leaders. Unlike many of her colleagues, Stanton believed organized Christianity relegated women to an unacceptable position in society.

She explored this view in The Woman's Bible, which elucidated a feminist understanding of biblical scripture. "The Woman's Bible" sought to correct the fundamental sexism Stanton saw as inherent in organized Christianity.[29] Stanton supported divorce rights, employment rights and property rights for women. The more conservative suffragists preferred to avoid these issues.[30]

Stanton's perspective on religion did not limit her. She wrote many of the more important documents and speeches of the women's rights movement. She was instrumental in promoting women's suffrage in New York, Missouri, Kansas and Michigan. It was included on the ballot in Kansas in 1867, and Michigan in 1874.

In 1868, Stanton made an unsuccessful bid for a U.S. Congressional seat from New York. She was also the primary force behind passage of the "Woman's Property Bill," that was eventually passed by the New York State Legislature.[31]

Unlike many modern feminists, Stanton believed that abortion was infanticide[32] She addressed the issue in various editions of The Revolution. In an 1873 letter to Julia Ward Howe recorded in Howe's diary at Harvard University Library, she wrote: "When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit." She suggested that solutions to abortion would be found, at least in part, in the elevation and enfranchisement of women.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton in her later years.

Stanton was active internationally in her later years. She spent a great deal of time in Europe, where her daughter and fellow feminist, Harriot Stanton Blatch, lived. In 1888 she helped prepare for the founding of the International Council of Women.

Two years later, Stanton opposed the merger of the National Woman's Suffrage Association with the more conservative and religious American Woman Suffrage Association. Over her objections, the organizations merged, creating the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Despite her opposition to the merger, Stanton became its first president, because of Susan B. Anthony's intervention. As a result of the Woman's Bible, Stanton was never popular among the religiously conservative members of the 'National American'.

On January 17, 1892, Stanton, Anthony, Lucy Stone, and Isabella Beecher Hooker addressed the issue of suffrage before the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. In contrast to prevailing attitude earlier in the century, the suffragists were cordially received. Members of the House listened carefully to their prepared statements. Stanton emphasized the value of the individual, and that value was not based on gender. Stanton eloquently expressed the need for women's voting rights and the importance of a new understanding of women's position in society and the fundamental value of women:

"The isolation of every human soul and the necessity of self-dependence must give each individual the right to choose his own surroundings. The strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities for higher education, for the full development of her faculties, her forces of mind and body; for giving her the most enlarged freedom of thought and action; a complete emancipation from all forms of bondage, of custom, dependence, superstition; from all the crippling influences of fear—is the solitude and personal responsibility of her own individual life. The strongest reason why we ask for woman a voice in the government under which she lives; in the religion she is asked to believe; equality in social life, where she is the chief factor; a place in the trades and professions, where she may earn her bread, is because of her birthright to self-sovereignty; because, as an individual, she must rely on herself…."[33]

Death, burial, and remembrance

Stanton died at her home in New York City on October 26, 1902. It would be nearly 20 years before women were finally granted the right to vote in the United States. She was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York.

She was survived by six of her seven children and six grandchildren. Although Elizabeth Cady Stanton had been unable to attend a formal college or university, her daughters did. Margaret Livingston Stanton Lawrence attended Vassar College (1876) and Columbia University (1891). Harriot Stanton Blatch received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Vassar College in 1878 and 1891 respectively.[34]

After Stanton's death, her radical ideas led many suffragists to focus on Susan B. Anthony more than Stanton as founder of the women's suffrage movement. By 1923, at the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention, only Harriot Stanton Blatch paid tribute to the role her mother had played in instigating the movement. Even as recently as 1977, Susan B. Anthony was recognized as the founder of the women's rights movement. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was not mentioned.[35] By the 1990s, interest in Stanton was substantially rekindled when American film maker Ken Burns, among others, presented the life and contributions of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. He drew attention to her central, founding role in shaping the women's rights movement in the United States.[36]

Stanton's Writings and Publications

In 1868, Stanton and Anthony founded the women's rights newsletter The Revolution. Stanton served as co-editor with Parker Pillsbury and frequently contributed to the paper. Stanton also wrote countless letters and pamphlets, as well as articles and essays for numerous periodicals, including Amelia Bloomer's Lily, Paulina Wright Davis's Una, and Horace Greeley's New York Tribune.

Starting in 1881, Stanton, Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage published the first of three volumes of the History of Woman Suffrage, an anthology of writings about the women's movement. This anthology reached six volumes in 1922 and featured a variety of writers.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton's papers are archived at Rutgers University.

Stanton's individual writings include:

Notes

  1. Elisabeth Griffith. In Her Own Right: The Life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. (NY: Oxford University Press, 1985), 227-228
  2. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Eighty Years & More: Reminiscences 1815-1897. (Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 1993)
  3. Stanton, Eighty Years & More, 31-32, 48
  4. Griffith, 10-11
  5. Harriot Stanton Blatch and Alma Lutz. Challenging Years: the Memoirs of Harriot Stanton Blatch. (NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1940), 18-20
  6. Griffith, 7
  7. Stanton, Eighty Years & More, 21-24
  8. Stanton, Eighty Years & More, 43
  9. Stanton, Eighty Years & More, 43
  10. Stanton, Eighty Years & More, 127
  11. Jean H. Baker. Sisters: The Lives of America's Suffragists. (New York: Hill and Wang, 2005), 99-113
  12. Stanton, Eighty Years & More, 146-148
  13. Baker, 107-108
  14. Baker, 107-108
  15. Griffith, 48
  16. Women's Rights National Historical Park, The First Women's Rights Convention; footnote at end of webpage; accessed October 20, 2006
  17. Stanton, Eighty Years & More, 148
  18. New York Times, October 27, 1902; "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Dies at Her Home" (obituary). Retrieved April 29, 2008.
  19. Griffith, 122.
  20. Kathi Kern. Mrs. Stanton's Bible. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001), 111
  21. Griffith, 124 (directly quoting ECS)
  22. Kern, 111 (directly quoting ECS)
  23. Kern, 111-112
  24. Philip S. Foner, (ed.) Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings. (The Library of Black America) (Chicago, IL, Lawrence Hill Books, 1999), 600
  25. Suffrage Petition, 1866; The Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Papers Project, Rutgers UniversityRetrieved April 29, 2008.
  26. Edward T. James, (ed.) Notable American Women a Biographical Dictionary (1607-1950); Volume III (P-Z). "STANTON, Elizabeth Cady" (342-347) and "STONE, Lucy" (387-390). (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971), 345-347 & 389
  27. Beverly Wilson Palmer, (ed.) Selected Letters of Lucretia Coffin Mott. (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2002), xxvii
  28. Kathryn Kish Sklar. Women's Rights Emerges within the Antislavery Movement 1830-1870: A Brief History with Documents. (The Bedford Series in History and Culture), (NY: Bedford/St. Martins 2000), 72-75
  29. Stanton, The Woman's Bible, 7
  30. James, 389
  31. New York Times, October 27, 1902; "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Dies at Her Home" (obituary)
  32. The Revolution, I, No. 5; February 5, 1868
  33. Elizabeth Stanton, "History of Woman Suffrage"
  34. Griffith, 228-229
  35. Griffith, xv
  36. Ken Burns, (director) Not for Ourselves Alone - The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony. (DVD & VHS tape, PBS Home Video, 1999)


References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Baker, Jean H. Sisters: The Lives of America's Suffragists. New York: Hill and Wang, 2005. ISBN 0809095289.
  • Banner, Lois W. Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Radical for Women's Rights. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishers, 1997. ISBN 0673393194.
  • Blatch, Harriot Stanton and Alma Lutz. Challenging Years: the Memoirs of Harriot Stanton Blatch. NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1940.
  • Burns, Ken, director. Not for Ourselves Alone - The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony. DVD & VHS tape, PBS Home Video, (1999).
  • Dubois, Ellen C., editor. The Elizabeth Cady Stanton-Susan B. Anthony Reader: Correspondence, Writings, Speeches. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 1994 (original 1992). ISBN 1555531490.
  • Foner, Philip S., ed. Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings. (The Library of Black America); Chicago, IL, Lawrence Hill Books, 1999. ISBN 1556523521.
  • Gaylor, Annie L. Women Without Superstition: No Gods - No Masters. Madison WI: FFRF, 1997. ISBN 1877733091.
  • Gordon, Ann D., ed. The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Volume I: In the School of Anti-Slavery 1840-1866. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2001 (original 1997). ISBN 0813523176.
  • Gordon, Ann D., ed. The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Volume II: Against an Aristocracy of Sex 1866-1873. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2000. ISBN 0813523184.
  • Gordon, Ann D., ed. The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Volume III: National Protection for National Citizens 1873-1880. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2003. ISBN 0813523192.
  • Gordon, Ann D., ed. The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Volume IV: When Clowns Make Laws for Queens 1880-1887. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2006. ISBN 0813523206.
  • Griffith, Elisabeth. In Her Own Right: The Life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. NY: Oxford University Press, 1985. ISBN 0195037294.
  • James, Edward T., ed. Notable American Women a Biographical Dictionary (1607-1950); Volume III (P-Z). "STANTON, Elizabeth Cady" (342-347) and "STONE, Lucy" (387-390). Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971. ISBN 0674627342.
  • Kern, Kathi. Mrs. Stanton's Bible. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001. ISBN 0801482887.
  • New York Times October 27, 1902; "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Dies at Her Home" (obituary); accessed December 30, 2021.
  • Palmer, Beverly W., ed. Selected Letters of Lucretia Coffin Mott. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2002. ISBN 0252026748.
  • Sigerman, Harriet. Elizabeth Cady Stanton: The Right Is Ours. NY: Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 019511969X.
  • Sklar, Kathryn K. Women's Rights Emerges within the Antislavery Movement 1830-1870: A Brief History with Documents. NY: Bedford/St. Martins (The Bedford Series in History and Culture), 2000. ISBN 0312101449.
  • Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. Eighty Years & More: Reminiscences 1815-1897. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 1993. ISBN 1555531377.
  • Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. Solitude of Self. Ashfield, MA: Paris Press, MA, 2001. ISBN 130464010.
  • Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. The Woman's Bible. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books; Great Minds Series, 1999. ISBN 978-1573926966
  • Stanton, Elizabeth et al., eds., "History of Woman Suffrage," vol. 4, 1902.
  • Ward, Geoffrey C. and Ken Burns. Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. NY: Knopf Publishing Group, 2001. ISBN 037570969X. (Companion book to the Ken Burns PBS Documentary video of the same name.)

External links

All links retrieved Elizabeth Cady Stanton

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