Attached you will find “The Destructive Male,” a speech by Stanton. While labor is going through its
upheaval during the Gilded Age, progressive minded individuals are working towards other aspects of
civil rights.
The Seneca Falls convention in 1848 was the first of its kind, with over 200 women gathering to discuss
their current plight and to foment for their rights, Stanton was one of the organizers of the event. Chief
among their concerns was the right to vote. Suffrage became the rallying cry from which all other civil
rights issues became centered.
While thousands of women flocked to the cause, the women’s rights movement was hampered for a
number of reasons. These included resistance from conservative women, difficulty in getting men on
board, and the idea that people of color and the poor were often left out of the proceedings and public
marches.
As you red Stanton’s work, ask yourself how women approached things differently than labor, what
were the hoped for outcomes? What does Stanton see as the biggest stumbling block to overcome?
What stigma is attached to the idea of suffrage?
Please write a brief summary of differences you observe between the suffrage movement and the labor
movement which are happening at the same time in the United States. This will be graded and count as
an in class assignment.
http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/stanton.htm
