Historical Context of Women's Rights Movement

Women of the 1800's felt oppressed in society to the point where they needed change.
"The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her."  -Paragraph four of the Declaration of Sentiments

Throughout History...

Women have always:
  • been regarded as the inferior to men
  • had an important role in the domestic area
  • never been  given the opportunity outside the household

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Within the household marriage laws denied women:
  • property rights
  • custody rights
  • political positions
  • economical opportunities
  • educational opportunities
  
Beforehand, women were powerless. The Declaration of Sentiments led to individual thinking and empowerment, which spawned movements and new ideas, changing the woman’s place in the domestic world forever.
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