The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was key in?
1 Answer
Correct, in elevating the national concern for women's rights.
Explanation:
One of the problems to be found in most abolitionist societies prior to the American Civil War was that they often did not allow women or, ironically enough, blacks to be part of the membership. While the latter was because of lingering racism despite the ideal of not supporting the owning of another being, the former was because in this era of Victorian "ideals," politics and movements were considered to be outside of the purview of women.
The impetus behind the Seneca Falls Convention was after various women joined in with the anti-slavery movement throughout the 1820's and 30's, gaining experience as orators and organizers. When the World Anti-Slavery Convention was organized in London in June of 1840.
Lucretia Mott and Lady Anne Byron were two prominent members of an American delegation that intended to speak at the meeting. However, they were denied access to the main proceedings at the door to the hall, and were instead forced to sit in a segregated area specifically for the women of the meeting, mainly since many of the British delegates did not want the issue of women's equality to divert public attention away from the issue of slavery.
While there, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was visiting while on honeymoon, and met Mott at the convention, where they quickly became friends. Mott and Stanton, in response to the problems they saw in London, met with other feminist activists and abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison and the sole African-American attendee Frederick Douglas. The document they ratified there, known as the Declaration of Sentiments, was published across the US and rocketed women's rights into the national debate.
