Question

Why did the women of Seneca Falls choose to echo the language in the Declaration of Independence?

Answer 1

In using the Declaration of Independence as a reference, the women were able to use the law of the land to prove why women should be granted the right to vote.

The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions used the phrases of men and women being created equal and the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. The document goes on to list the oppression experienced by women at the hands of men just as the Founders listed their grievances with the leadership of England. The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions lists these grievances but then follows it with a list of resolutions which the government could enact. The biggest request in the document is the resolution to expand suffrage rights to women. The document was signed by both women and men and delivered to the government.

Answer 2

Many people felt that the women and their sympathizers were ridiculous, and newspapers denounced the women as unfeminine and immoral. Little substantive change resulted from the Declaration in 1848, but from that time through 1920, when the goal of women’s suffrage was attained with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, the Declaration served as a written reminder of the goals of the movement.