The Road to Seneca Falls: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the First Woman's Rights ConventionFeminists from 1848 to the present have rightly viewed the Seneca Falls convention as the birth of the women's rights movement in the United States and beyond. In The Road To Seneca Falls, Judith Wellman offers the first well documented, full-length account of this historic meeting in its contemporary context. The convention succeeded by uniting powerful elements of the antislavery movement, radical Quakers, and the campaign for legal reform under a common cause. Wellman shows that these three strands converged not only in Seneca Falls, but also in the life of women's rights pioneer Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It is this convergence, she argues, that foments one of the greatest rebellions of modern times. Rather than working heavy-handedly downward from their official "Declaration of Sentiments," Wellman works upward from richly detailed documentary evidence to construct a complex tapestry of causes that lay behind the convention, bringing the struggle to life. Her approach results in a satisfying combination of social, community, and reform history with individual and collective biographical elements. The Road to Seneca Falls challenges all of us to reflect on what it means to be an American trying to implement the belief that "all men and women are created equal," both then and now. A fascinating story in its own right, it is also a seminal piece of scholarship for anyone interested in history, politics, or gender. |
Contents
Prologue | 1 |
Growing Up 181535 | 17 |
Antislavery | 36 |
Seneca Falls and Waterloo | 65 |
Quaker Traditions in a Changing World | 91 |
Abolitionist Ferment | 121 |
Women and Legal Reform in New York State | 135 |
Adversity and Transcendence June 1847June 1848 | 157 |
Declaring Womans Rights July 1848 | 183 |
The Road from Seneca Falls 18481982 | 209 |
Other editions - View all
The Road to Seneca Falls: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the First Woman's ... Judith Wellman Limited preview - 2010 |
The Road to Seneca Falls: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the First Woman's ... Judith Wellman No preview available - 2004 |
The Road to Seneca Falls: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the First Woman's ... Judith Wellman No preview available - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
Abby Kelley abolitionism abolitionist African American Albany American Anti-Slavery Society American Women Amy Post Angelina Grimké Ansel Bascom Anthony antislavery argued August Bayard Boston Chamberlain Church Daniel Cady daughter debate Declaration of Sentiments early Eighty Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth M'Clintock Falls and Waterloo February Frederick Douglass Gage Garrison Papers Genesee Yearly Meeting Gerrit Smith History of Woman Hunt husband Isaac Post Johnstown July June Liberator Liberty Party Lucretia Mott Margaret married woman's property Martha Wright Mary Ann M'Clintock Methodist mill movement National noted November October organized petitions Philadelphia political Quaker reform religious reported Rochester Seneca County Seneca County Courier Seneca Falls convention Seneca Falls Democrat SFHS signers sister slavery Smith Papers Stanton Papers Susan Syracuse temperance Theodore Thomas M'Clintock tion University Press upstate New York village vote Weld Wesleyan William Lloyd Garrison Woman Suffrage woman's rights convention wrote