Seneca Falls Convention

The Seneca Falls Convention was a meeting of people who supported Women's rights. It was at Seneca Falls, New York in on July 19 and July 20, 1848.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a women's rights activist, wrote a "Declaration of Sentiments" which talked about what changes needed to happen. One of these ideas was that men and women are equal,^[1] The document argued that women were treated like slaves, which at the time was common because of women's lack of rights compared to men.

Many of the activists at the Convention were Quakers. Quakerism is a pacifistic sect of Christianity.

At the Convention, the activists created a document called the Seneca Falls Declaration. Over one hundred activists signed the document. Not all of these activists were women; men signed too. One man at the meeting was Frederick Douglass.

At the time of the Convention, women did not have the right to vote, sign contracts, or buy property. If they were married, they had to give any money they earned to their husbands. Women were also paid less than men.^[2]

Many women who wanted divorces couldn't get them because the marriage laws were unequal and favored men.^[3] Many women were simply not allowed to divorce because of the rules at the time.

At the time, divorce was fault-based. A person who wanted a divorce needed specific proof that their spouse did something wrong. These things included cheating or cruelty. This is similar to old Catholic marriage.

Even though the Seneca Falls Convention did not directly help with the rights women have during marriage and divorce, women's rights were accelerating and movements at the time were working to make women equal. This convention and others like them helped women's suffrage and were important in taking the small steps needed to create change.