Seneca Falls Project
In 1848 a group of American women met at Seneca Falls New York to address questions about the place of women in American society. They began by issuing a Declaration of Sentiments which read in part as follows:
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but to one which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Echoing Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, the women adopted his philosophical introduction, but then, rather than listing complaints against King George, they listed complaints against man and his offenses against woman.
Women wanted the right to vote, the right to own property, the right to decide things for themselves, the right to be free from the domination of fathers and husbands; in short, they wanted all the promises of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that Jefferson had declared for men.
This project asked you to examine the roles of women in early American history. You might want to begin with the idea of republican motherhood that emerged in the colonial era. In addition, you might examine the contributions of famous women in early American history such as Molly Pitcher, Dolly Madison, Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and numerous others.
Consider these questions:
Take the list of complaints in the Seneca Falls declaration and find out what lies behind one or more of them. Were their claims exaggerated, or justified? Why do you suppose they used Jefferson 's Declaration at their starting point? How well did they achieve their goals by the time of the Civil War? How did the Civil war affect the lives of women?
Back to Projects Home