Home > Facts > US History Facts > Seneca Falls Convention Facts

Seneca Falls Convention Facts

Seneca Falls Convention Facts
The Seneca Falls Convention was an important event in the women's rights movement in the U.S. because it was the very first national women's rights convention to take place. It was held on July 19th to the 20th, in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, and soon spawned several more women's right conventions. The Seneca Falls Convention was organized by local female Quakers and a non-Quaker Elizabeth Cady Stanton (an abolitionist, social activist, suffragist, and leader in women's rights). The event was planned following a visit by Lucretia Mott, a women's rights speaker. The Seneca Falls Convention had six sessions, and resulted in 100 signatures to the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions - a list of resolutions about women's rights, including the right to vote.
Interesting Seneca Falls Convention Facts:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton met Lucretia Mott in 1840 in London, where the idea of the Seneca Falls Convention was born. They were both attending a World Anti-Slavery Convention and were not allowed to speak or act as delegates. This inspired their idea to hold a national convention to further women's rights.
In 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Martha Coffin Wright, Mary Ann McClintock, and Jane Hunt met to discuss their plans for the convention.
The first day of the Seneca Falls Convention was intended only for women who were specifically invited, and the second day was to allow for the general public's attendance.
The first day of the convention did not go as planned. A male Yale professor climbed in through an open window and opened the doors to the public.
The six sessions included a legal lecture, a humorous session, and many discussions about women's role in society.
The Seneca Falls Convention was seen as an important step in the women's rights movement in respect to the effort by women to gain greater rights in moral, social, and civil aspects of their lives.
The first day of the Seneca Falls Convention involved the presentation of the 'Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions', which stipulated that all men and women were created equal and should have equals rights in regards to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions had 18 charges against the king of England George III, for unequal treatment of women as well as injuries and unfair laws, and the inability to vote.
The biggest debate at the convention was in regards to a woman's right to vote. Some people wanted it removed but it stayed on the document.
Approximately 100 people, (mostly female attendees) at the Seneca Falls Convention signed the Declaration of Sentiments, although some men (out of the 300 people in attendance) also signed.
Some who signed the document later removed their names because of criticism and ridicule.
Only two weeks after the Seneca Falls Convention, another women's rights convention was held in Rochester, New York.
The National Women's Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts was held in 1851, which became an annual event. They continued until the American Civil War broke out in 1861.
When the right to vote for women was finally passed in the U.S. in 1920, (following the 19th Amendment) only one woman from the Seneca Falls Convention was still alive to cast her vote. Her name was Charlotte Woodward.


Related Links:
Facts
US History Facts
Animals Facts
Antebellum America