Blog #5

The document The Declaration of Sentiments was written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1848 was written in support of women's writes in the United States. The title is borrowed from the famous Declaration of Independence, it is in my opinion used as a social critique of the document. Thomas Jefferson wrote his declaration in 1776 but his sentiments were much older than that. His words were partially borrowed from the philosopher John Locke, who first said that men were created equal, and deserved certain inalienable rights. Several generations later America had won its was for independence and was a free country, but there were still a few inconsistencies with their governing. America was indeed a free country by many standards but for all of the talk of righteousness and equality, women were still not allowed to vote, in fact not too much had changed for them, they were seen still as caretakers for the family, meant to clean and raise children, they were almost second class citizens. This document by some accounts was the first big step towards women's suffrage in the U.S. It came at a pivotal time in the history of the nation, it had been many years since America had won its freedom but it still seemed to overlook many of its own ideas. There was still slavery and women were not yet allowed to vote. This movement reminded that in order to stand behind lofty ideas of freedom and rights, America had to walk the walk instead of just talking the talk.


This document obviously marks a very important step in the slow and arduous fight for universal suffrage, it was not until the 20th century that women even had the right to vote and even longer still until it was guaranteed for African Americans. We as a nation have to remember the past as it was and remember the truths that we stand behind, instead of just using them as a crutch. Our nation is founded on the idea that everyone is equal, and yet it took much more than a century for us to actually adopt many of those inalienable freedoms. In this time of acceptance we must remember that we are in fact a free nation of reason and must seek everyday to uphold those reasons past petty things like ignorance, it is our responsibilities as citizens of the free world to uphold those freedoms in hopes that some day, everyone will enjoy those inalienable rights that we as humans are entitled to.