The History of Woman Suffrage Volume I Part 99

_Resolved_, That it is the duty of woman, whatever her complexion, to a.s.sume, as soon as possible, her true position of equality in the social circle, the Church, and the State.

_Resolved_, That we tender our grateful acknowledgment to the Trustees of the Unitarian Church, who have kindly opened their doors for the use of this Convention.

_Resolved_, That we, the friends who are interested in this cause, gratefully accept the kind offer from the Trustees of the use of Protection Hall, to hold our meetings whenever we wish.

SIGNATURES TO THE DECLARATION ADOPTED AT SENECA FALLS.

Firmly relying upon the final triumph of the Right and the True, we do this day affix our signatures to this Declaration:

Lucretia Mott, Hannah Plant, Harriet Cady Eaton, Lucy Jones, Margaret Pryor, Sarah Whitney, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mary H. Hallowell, Eunice Newton Foote, Elizabeth Conklin, Mary Ann McClintock, Sally Pitcher, Margaret Schooley, Mary Conklin, Martha C. Wright, Susan Quinn, Jane C. Hunt, Mary S. Mirror, Amy Post, Phebe King, Catharine F. Stebbins, Julia Ann Drake, Mary Ann Frink, Charlotte Woodward, Lydia Mount, Martha Underhill, Delia Matthews, Dorothy Matthews, Catharine C. Paine, Eunice Barker, Elizabeth W. McClintock, Sarah K. Woods, Malvina Seymour, Lydia Gild, Phebe Mosher, Sarah Hoffman, Catherine Shaw, Elizabeth Leslie, Deborah Scott, Martha Ridley, Sarah Hallowell, Rachel D. Bonnel, Mary McClintock, Betsy Tewksbury, Mary Gilbert, Rhoda Palmer, Sophronie Taylor, Margaret Jenkins Cynthia Davis, Cynthia Fuller, Mary Martin, Eliza Martin, P. A. Culvert, Maria E. Wilbur, Susan R. Doty, Elizabeth D. Smith, Rebecca Race, Caroline Barker, Sarah A. Mosher, Ann Porter, Mary E. Vail, Experience Gibbs, Lucy Spalding, Antoinette F. Segur, Lavinia Latham, Hannah J. Latham, Sarah Smith, Sarah Sisson.

The following are the names of the gentlemen present in favor of the movement:

Richard P. Hunt, Charles L. Hoskins, Samuel D. Tilman, Thomas McClintock, Justin Williams, Saron Phillips, Elisha Foote, Jacob Chamberlain, Frederick Dougla.s.s, Jonathan Metcalf, Henry W. Seymour, Nathan J. Milliken, Henry Seymour, S. E. Woodworth, David Spalding, Edward F. Underhill, William G. Barker, George W. Pryor, Elias J. Doty, Joel Bunker, John Jones, Isaac Van Ta.s.sel, William S. Dell, Thomas Dell, James Mott, E. W. Cap.r.o.n, William Burroughs, Stephen Shear, Robert Smalldridge Henry Hatley, Jacob Matthews, Azaliah Schooley.

Many persons signed the Declaration at Rochester, among them Daniel Anthony, Lucy Read Anthony, Mary S. Anthony, the officers of the Convention, and others.

CHAPTER VI.

OHIO.

_Salem Convention_, _April 19, 20, 1850_.

LETTER FROM ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.

SENECA FALLS, N. Y., _April 7_.

DEAR MARIANA:--How rejoiced I am to hear that the women of Ohio have called a Convention preparatory to the remodeling of their State Const.i.tution. The remodeling of a Const.i.tution, in the nineteenth century, speaks of progress, of greater freedom, and of more enlarged views of human rights and duties. It is fitting that, at such a time, woman, who has so long been the victim of ignorance and injustice, should at length throw off the trammels of a false education, stand upright, and with dignity and earnestness manifest a deep and serious interest in the laws which are to govern her and her country. It needs no argument to teach woman that she is interested in the laws which govern her. Suffering has taught her this already. It is important now that a change is proposed, that she speak, and loudly too. Having decided to pet.i.tion for a redress of grievances, the question is, _for what shall you first pet.i.tion?_ For the exercise of your right to the elective franchise--nothing short of this. The grant to you of this right will secure all others; and the granting of every other right, whilst this is denied, is a mockery. For instance: What is the right to property without the right to protect it? The enjoyment of that right to-day is no security that it will be continued to-morrow, so long as it is granted to us as a favor, and not claimed by us as a right. Woman must exercise her right to the elective franchise, and have her own representatives in our National councils, for two good reasons:

1st. Men can not represent us. They are so thoroughly educated into the belief that woman's nature is altogether different from their own, that they have no idea that she can be governed by the same laws of mind as themselves. So far from viewing us like themselves, they seem, from their legislation, to consider us their moral and intellectual antipodes; for whatever law they find good for themselves, they forthwith pa.s.s its opposite for us, and express the most profound astonishment if we manifest the least dissatisfaction. For example: our forefathers, _full of righteous indignation_, pitched King George, his authority, and his tea-chests, all into the sea, and because, forsooth, they were forced to pay taxes without being represented in the British Government. "Taxation without representation," was the text for many a hot debate in the forests of the New World, and for many an eloquent oration in the Parliament of the Old. Yet, in forming our new Government, they have taken from us the very rights which they fought and bled and, died to secure to themselves. They not only tax us, but in many cases they strip us of all we inherit, the wages we earn, the children of our love; and for such grievances we have no redress in any court of justice this side of Heaven. They tax our property to build colleges, then pa.s.s a special law prohibiting any woman to enter there. A married woman has no legal existence; she has no more absolute rights than a slave on a Southern plantation. She takes the name of her master, holds nothing, owns nothing, can bring no action in her own name; and the principle on which she and the slave is educated is the game. The slave is taught what is considered best for him to know--which is nothing; the woman is taught what is best for her to know--which is little more than nothing, man being the umpire in both cases. A woman can not follow out the impulses of her own mind in her sphere, any more than the slave can in his sphere.

Civilly, socially, and religiously, she is what man chooses her to be, nothing more or less, and such is the slave. It is impossible for us to convince man that we think and feel exactly as he does; that we have the same sense of right and justice, the same love of freedom and independence. Some men regard us as devils, and some as angels; hence, one cla.s.s would shut us up in a certain sphere for fear of the evil we might do, and the other for fear of the evil that _might be done to us_; thus, except for the sentiment of the thing, for all the good that it does us, we might as well be thought the one as the other. But we ourselves have to do with what we are and what we _shall_ be.

2d. Men can not legislate for us. Our statute books and all past experience teach us this fact. His laws, where we are concerned, have been, without one exception, unjust, cruel, and aggressive. Having denied our ident.i.ty with himself, he has no data to go upon in judging of our wants and interests. If we are alike in our mental structure, then there is no reason why we should not have a voice in making the laws which govern us; but if we are not alike, most certainly we must make laws for ourselves, for who else can understand what we need and desire? If it be admitted in this Government that all men and women are free and equal, then must we claim a place in our Senate Chamber and House of Representatives. But if, after all, it be found that even here we have cla.s.ses and caste, not "Lords and Commons," but lords and women, then must we claim a lower House, where our Representatives can watch the pa.s.sage of all bills affecting our own welfare, or the good of our country. Had the women of this country had a voice in the Government, think you our national escutcheon would have been stained with the guilt of aggressive warfare upon such weak, defenceless nations as the Seminoles and Mexicans? Think you we should cherish and defend, in the heart of our nation, such a wholesale system of piracy, cruelty, licentiousness, and ignorance as is our slavery? Think you that relic of barbarism, the gallows, by which the wretched murderer is sent with blood upon his soul, uncalled for, into the presence of his G.o.d, would be sustained by law? Verily, no, or I mistake woman's heart, her instinctive love of justice, and mercy, and truth!

Who questions woman's right to vote? We can show our credentials to the right of self-government; we get ours just where man got his; they are all Heaven-descended, G.o.d-given. It is our duty to a.s.sert and rea.s.sert this right, to agitate, discuss, and pet.i.tion, until our political equality be fully recognized. Depend upon it, this is the point to attack, the stronghold of the fortress--_the one_ woman will find the most difficult to take, _the one_ man will most reluctantly give up; therefore let us encamp right under its shadow; there spend all our time, strength, and _moral_ ammunition, year after year, with perseverance, courage, and decision. Let no sallies of wit or ridicule at our expense; no soft nonsense of woman's beauty, delicacy, and refinement; no promise of gold and silver, bank stock, road stock, or landed estate, seduce us from our position until that one stronghold totters to the ground. This done, the rest they will surrender _at discretion_. Then comes equality in Church and State, in the family circle, and in all our social relations.

The cause of woman is onward. For our encouragement, let us take a review of what has occurred during the last few years. Not two years since the women of New York held several Conventions. Their meetings were well attended by both men and women, and the question of woman's true position was fully and freely discussed. The proceedings of those meetings and the Declaration of Sentiments were all published and scattered far and near. Before that time, the newspapers said but little on that subject. Immediately after, there was scarcely a newspaper in the Union that did not notice these Conventions, and generally in a tone of ridicule. Now you seldom take up a paper that has not something about woman; but the tone is changing--ridicule is giving way to reason. Our papers begin to see that this is no subject for mirth, but one for serious consideration. Our literature is also a.s.suming a different tone. The heroine of our fas.h.i.+onable novel is now a being of spirit, of energy, of will, with a conscience, with high moral principle, great decision, and self-reliance.

Contrast Jane Eyre with any of Bulwer's, Scott's, or Shakespeare's heroines, and how they all sink into the shade compared with that n.o.ble creation of a woman's genius! The January number of _The Westminster Review_ contains an article on "Woman," so liberal and radical, that I sometimes think it must have crept in there by mistake. Our fas.h.i.+onable lecturers, too, are now, instead of the time-worn subjects of "Catholicism," "The Crusades," "St. Bernard,"

and "Thomas a Becket," choosing Woman for their theme. True, they do not treat this new subject with much skill or philosophy; but enough for us that the great minds of our day are taking this direction. Mr.

Dana, of Boston, lectured on this subject in Philadelphia. Lucretia Mott followed him, and ably pointed out his sophistry and errors. She spoke to a large and fas.h.i.+onable audience, and gave general satisfaction. Dana was too sickly and sentimental for that meridian.

The women of Ma.s.sachusetts, ever first in all moral movements, have sent, but a few weeks since, to their Legislature, a pet.i.tion demanding their right to vote and hold office in their State. Woman seems to be preparing herself for a higher and holier destiny. That same love of liberty which burned in the hearts of our sires, is now being kindled anew in the daughters of this proud Republic. From the present state of public sentiment, we have every reason to look hopefully into the future. I see a brighter, happier day yet to come; but woman must say how soon the dawn shall be, and whether the light shall first s.h.i.+ne in the East or the West. By her own efforts the change must come. She must carve out her future destiny with her own right hand. If she have not the energy to secure for herself her true position, neither would she have the force or stability to maintain it, if placed there by another. Farewell!

Yours sincerely, E. C. STANTON.

LETTER FROM LUCRETIA MOTT.

DEAR FRIENDS:--The call for this Convention, so numerously signed, is indeed gratifying, and gives hope of a large attendance. The letter of invitation was duly received, and I need scarcely say how gladly I would be present if in my power. Engagements in another direction, as well as the difficulty to travel at this season of the year, will prevent my availing myself of so great a privilege. You will not, however, be at a loss for speakers in your midst, for among the signers to the call are the names of many whose hearts "believe unto righteousness"; out of their abundance, therefore, the mouth will make "confession unto salvation."

The wrongs of woman have too long slumbered. They now begin to cry for redress. Let them be clearly pointed oat in your Convention; and then, not _ask_ as _favor_, but _demand_ as _right_, that every civil and ecclesiastical obstacle be removed out of the way.

Rights are not dependent upon equality of mind; nor do we admit inferiority, leaving that question to be settled by future developments, when a fair opportunity shall be given for the equal cultivation of the intellect, and the stronger powers of the mind shall be called into action.

If, in accordance with your call, you ascertain "the bearing which the circ.u.mscribed sphere of woman has on the great political and social evils that curse and desolate the land," you will not have come together in vain.

May you, indeed, "gain strength" by your contest with "difficulty!"

May the whole armor of "Right, Truth, and Reason" be yours; Then will the influence of the Convention be felt in the a.s.sembled wisdom of _men_ which is to follow; and the good results, as well as your example, will ultimately rouse other States to action in this most important cause.

I herewith forward to you a "Discourse on Woman," which, though brought out by local circ.u.mstances, may yet contain principles of universal application.

Wis.h.i.+ng you every success in your n.o.ble effort,

I am yours, for woman's redemption and consequent elevation, LUCRETIA MOTT.

PHILADELPHIA, _4th mo., 13, 1850_.

LETTER FROM LUCY STONE.

_For the Woman's Rights Convention:_

DEAR FRIENDS:--The friends of human freedom in Ma.s.sachusetts rejoice that a Woman's Rights Convention is to be held in Ohio. We hail it as a sign of progress, and deem it especially fitting that such a Convention should be held _now_, when a State Const.i.tution is to be formed.

It is easier, when the old is destroyed, to build the _new_ right, than to right it _after_ it is built.

The statute books of every State in the Union are disgraced by an article which limits the right to the elective franchise to "male citizens of twenty-one years of age and upwards," thus excluding one-half the population of the country from all political influence, subjecting woman to laws in the making of which she has neither vote nor voice. The lowest drunkard may come up from wallowing in the gutter, and, covered with filth, _reel_ up to the ballot-box and deposit his vote, and his right to do so is not questioned. The meanest foreigner who comes to our sh.o.r.es, who can not speak his mother-tongue correctly, has secured for him the right of suffrage.

The negro, crushed and degraded, as if he were not a brother man, made the lowest of the law, even he, in some of the States, can vote; but woman, in every State, is politically plunged in a degradation lower than _his_ lowest depths.

Woman is taxed under laws made by those who profess to believe that taxation and representation are inseparable, while, in the use and imposition of the taxes, as in representation, she is absolutely without influence. Should she hint that the profession and practice do not agree, she is gravely told that "Women should not talk politics."

In most of the States the married woman loses, by her marriage, the control of her person and the right of property, and, if she is a mother, the right to her children also: while she secures what the town paupers have--the right to be maintained. The legal disabilities under which women labor have no end: I will not attempt to enumerate them. Let the earnest women who speak in your Convention enter into the detail of this thing, nor stop to "patch fig-leaves for the naked truth," but "before all Israel and the sun," expose the atrocities of the laws relative to women, until the ears of those who hear shall tingle. So that the men who meet in Convention to form the new Const.i.tution for Ohio, shall, for very shame's sake, make haste to put away the last remnant of the barbarism which your statute book (in common with other States) retains in its inequality and injustice to woman. We know too well the stern reform spirit of those who have called this Woman's Eights Convention, to doubt for a moment that what can be done by you to secure equal rights for all, will be done.

Ma.s.sachusetts _ought_ to have taken the lead in the work you are now doing, but if she chooses to linger, let her young sisters of the West set her a worthy example; and if the "Pilgrim spirit is not dead,"

_we'll pledge Ma.s.sachusetts to follow her_.

Yours, for Justice and Equal Rights, LUCY STONE.

SOUTHAMPTON, _April 10, 1850_.

LETTER FROM SARAH PUGH

"Lawrencian Villa is extremely beautiful; the grounds full of shrubbery and flowers; the splendid dairy, the green-houses and conservatories--four or five of them appropriated to fruit, flowers, and rare plants in large numbers--the whole presenting great taste and skill. Mrs. Lawrence's improvements are not completed; she is extending her shrubbery and walks. She is undoubtedly one of the most skillful cultivators and florists in the country (a country abounding with them), and carries off more prizes at the horticultural exhibitions than almost any one else. I am told Mr. Lawrence is an eminent surgeon in London, and that the whole of the country place is under Mrs. Lawrence's management."--_Colman's Letters from Europe_.