When we brainstormed a research topic, the first thing that came to mind when we thought about a revolution was the Declaration of Sentiments. From there, we also wanted to look into movements that emerged from this document, and it served as a catalyst. Specifically, it contributed to an uprising of conflicting opinions women’s rights in marriage.
            To conduct our research, we started with what we already knew. We utilized the primary source handouts given to us in class. These primary sources served as a good foundation for reaction to the controversial movements. From there, we moved our search to the library. We found more primary sources by the same authors because we wanted to delve further into what they had to say. We searched the online catalogues and found a few broad context books. From there, we found articles from the Historical New York Times. These articles served as a first-hand account of the actions and the opinions of the people at the time. Next, we searched the Boston Public Library’s online catalogue and found that they had an abundant number of sources. Here we found secondary sources with more broad ideas, as well as primary sources such as the Declaration of Sentiments. In the future we are planning on going to the library for a better search. After finding quite a few print sources we decided to look for documentaries. We went to the History Channel’s website and found a few short online videos but are still searching for a full-length documentary. To support our website we found pictures and quotes to create a visual representation of our information.
            For this project, we decided that a website would be an interesting and accurate way to really express our message.  A website uses multimedia elements to show the multifarious aspects of the project, keeping it brief yet thorough. To create a website, we each used our creative and intellectual skills to find important quotes, pictures, and videos, and then in collaboration we contributed simultaneously by piecing each part together to present our argument and make the website intriguing, informational, and accessible for all.
            In our research, we found that the Declaration of Sentiments had a significant impact and was very revolutionary because it allowed for people to express themselves very differently than anyone had before. Since some peoples’ ideas were so radical many people reacted to each other strongly. We also know that our topic fits the second part of our theme: reaction, because of people like Catherine Beecher. She wrote passionate letters expressing her objection to Angelina Grimké’s public support for the innovative idea of gender equality. Also, we know that overtime, there were many compromises and changes made in the legislation of woman’s rights, and therefore our topic fits into the third and final part of our theme: reform. It was a controversial and complex topic and people interpreted it differently, regardless of gender and other factors. There were many reform acts that happened as a compromise between the revolution and the reaction.

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