Elizabeth Cady Staton was an author, lecturer, and one of the key founders in the women’s suffrage movement. Born in the early 1800s, Stanton fought for women’s rights her entire life and is remembered today as a great role model and leader for young girls all across the country. “The best protection any woman can have… is courage”, Stanton once said, and that is what she stands for today. She is an image of strength and fortitude and teaches us to never give up until you have accomplished what you started. She had a long and successful career, and even though she did not live to the day women got the right to vote, her impact on society greatly changed women’s role in “her-story”… or history that is.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born on November 12th, 1815 in Johnstown, New York to Margaret Livingston and Daniel Cady. They were a rather wealthy family. Danel Cady was a lawyer, state assemblyman, and later a Supreme Court judge, and Margaret Livingston came from a storied family. They were able to provide an excellent education for young Elizabeth Cady. She attended the Johnstown Academy and later Emma Willard’s Troy Female Seminary in New York, which she graduated from in 1832. She also learned a few things about the law from her father. More than anything, she wanted to be equal to her brother who was the light of her father’s life. When her brother died, she wanted to take her place in her father’s heart and do all the things he did. But at the time, women could not. This goal to have the same rights as a man would drive Stanton her whole life.
In 1840, Cady married a lawyer and abolitionist, Henry Brewster Stantonr. Together, they attended the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention in London on their honeymoon. Cady who now added Stanton to her name also met Lucretia C. Mott, another suffragette, at the convention. They both disliked the unequal representation of women and wanted to do something about it. Their meeting would lead to a lifelong friendship and working relationship.
After a three month honeymoon in Europe, the Stantons settled into a small home in Boston. They lived there until 1847, when they moved to Seneca Falls to be closer to Elizabeth’s family. Not long after, a New York bill granting married women property rights passed in 1848, due in no small part to Henry Stanton. He gifted a house in Seneca Falls to Elizabeth and gave her $300 to fix it to serve as the home base for her growing family. In 1848, she and Lucretia, her now very close friend, were reunited, and together, held the first Woman’s Rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. At the convection, Stanton expressed her feelings toward the inequality of women. She read the Declaration of Sentiments, an article that she wrote that included 16 injustices women faced, similar to the structure of the Declaration of Independence.
Stanton continued to fight for women’s suffrage, but it became increasingly harder for her to travel because of the demands of her family life. In 1851, Stanton was introduced to Susan B. Anthony by a mutual friend, Amelia Bloomer. They became not only lifelong friend but also fighters for women’s rights. They instantly connected, working together to write and deliver speeches, and organise rallies. Anthony babysit Stanton’s children while Stanton would write a speech for Anthony who would then deliver it. The pair would go on to work together for 50 years. They traveled to many different places, spreading the suffrage movement as they went. In 1866, Stanton became the first woman to run for Congress. Unfortunately, she only received 24 votes out of the 12,000 males who were able to vote. The following year, Stanton and Anthony traveled out west to Kansas for three months promoting the movement.
Stanton and Anthony organized the National Woman’s Suffrage Association in 1869, which later became the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association in 1890. Stanton was president of both of these organizations. In addition to writing speeches for herself and Susan, Stanton also wrote for newspapers, authored several books, and even wrote her own autobiography. The newspaper she wrote for under the pseudonym, Sunflower, “The Lily” was the first feminist newspaper. Later Stanton co edited “The Revolution”, a newspaper dedicated entirely to women’s rights. She is also the author of “The Women’s Bible” and the first three volumes of “History of Women’s Suffrage.” She wrote her autobiography, “Eighty Years and More,” in 1898. Stanton died on October 26, 1902. She is buried in The Woodlawn Cemetery and Conservancy in New York City.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a smart and courageous woman. Though she did not live to see the day when women were granted the right to vote, her daughter and granddaughter were suffragettes and they were there at this important moment in history. Stanton’s work to have women treated equally and fairly will always be remembered, and her legacy will never be forgotten. She never got to be on a U.S. coin like Susan B. Anthony, but we can always look up to her for strength and perseverance, and she will always be known as a hard worker. We need to acknowledge women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton for the rights women have today. She made many sacrifices to ensure a better future for women, and eventually, it paid off. Because of Elizabeth and her fellow suffragettes, we are able to celebrate the 100th year of women having the right to vote in America this year.
Sources :
