Women's Rights - 2

Women’s Rights
HIS204: American History Since 1865
September 2, 2012

Women’s Rights
Today most women have the same rights as men; there are also other countries where women are being treated differently because they are women. There was a time when women were treated differently just because they were women. It took a lot of hard work from many dedicated women for that to change. While women once had few life options beyond isolation in the domestic sphere, there were some historical developments that presented new opportunities for women in society such as their work, education, duties, and their voice.
Emerging out of the patriotic enthusiasm of the 1760s and 1770s, Daughters of Liberty supported American revolutionary cause by joining boycotts against British goods. With no formal organization, especially when compared to the Sons of Liberty, groups of American colonial women demonstrated their support for the boycott by spinning wool and flax (O’Dea 1999).
The first women’s right convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. After two days of discussion and debate, 68 women and 32 men sign a Declaration of Sentiments, which outlines grievances and sets the agenda for the women’s rights movement. A set of 12 resolutions is adapted for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women (Imbornoni 2007). The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions was drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton for the women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. Based on the American Declaration of Independence, the Sentiments demanded equality with men before the law, in education and employment. Here, too, was the first pronouncement demanding that women be given the right to vote.
      Women fought for the right to gain freedom and women struggled for their rights. The United States concentrated first on gaining the right for women to vote. The right to vote was presented to congress from 1878 until it was made a constitutional...