The Declaration of Sentiments, adopted at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, was significant because it was the starting point of the feminist movement.
Explanation:
The Declaration of Seneca Falls, also known as the Declaration of Sentiments, is the document resulting from the meeting held on July 19 and 20, 1848 signed by sixty-eight women and thirty-two men of various liberal movements and associations close to abolitionist circles, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott to study the social, civil and religious rights conditions of women.
It was Elizabeth Cady Stanton who was responsible for drafting the declaration of principles and resolutions that was finally passed. In his writing he made it take the form of the Declaration of Independence, with which she managed to load it with a powerful force of conviction and historical significance.
The statement faced political restrictions: not being able to vote, or stand for elections, or hold public office, or join political organizations or attend political meetings. It was also against economic restrictions: the prohibition of having property, since the goods were transferred to the husband; the prohibition of engaging in commerce, having own businesses or opening current accounts and expressed against the denial of civil or legal rights for women.
It consists of twelve decisions and includes two major sections: the requirements to achieve civil citizenship for women and the principles that must modify customs and morals. Eleven of the decisions were approved unanimously and the number twelve, which refers to the vote, by a small majority.
It is considered as the founding text of feminism as a social movement.
