Women -- Suffrage -- History; Women -- Suffrage -- United States -- History; Women's rights -- History; Women's rights -- United States -- History
The reader will see from these debates the amount of prejudice,
wickedness, and violence, woman was compelled to meet from all classes
of men, especially the clergy, in those early days, and on the other
hand the wisdom, courage, and mild self-assertion with which she
fought her battle and conquered. There is not a man living who took
part in that disgraceful row who would not gladly blot out that page
in his personal history. But the few noble men--lawyers, statesmen,
clergymen, philanthropists, poets, orators, philosophers--who have
remained steadfast and loyal to woman through all her struggles for
freedom--have been brave and generous enough to redeem their sex from
the utter contempt and distrust of all womankind.
NATIONAL CONVENTION AT CINCINNATI, OHIO.
In 1855, October 17th and 18th, the people of Cincinnati, Ohio, were
summoned to the consideration of the question of Woman's Rights. A
brief report in the city journals, is all we can find of the
proceedings. From these we learn that the meetings were held in
Nixon's Hall, that some ladies wore bloomers, and some gentlemen
shawls, that the audiences were large and enthusiastic, that the
curiosity to see women who could make a speech was intense. Martha C.
Wright, of Auburn, a sister of Lucretia Mott, was chosen President. On
the platform sat Mrs. Mott, Hannah Tracy Cutler, Josephine S.
Griffing, Mary S. Anthony, of Rochester, N. Y.; Ernestine L. Rose,
Adeline Swift, Joseph Barker, an Englishman, an ex-member of
Parliament, Lucy Stone and her husband, Henry B. Blackwell, recently
married. Mrs. Stone did not take her husband's name, because she
believed a woman had a right to an individual existence, and an
individual name to designate that existence.
After the election of officers,[19] the President stated the object of
the Convention to be to secure equality with man in social, civil, and
political rights. It was only seven years, she said, since this
movement commenced, since our first Convention was called, in timidity
and doubt of our own strength, our own capacity, our own powers; now,
east, west, north, and even south, there were found advocates of
woman's rights. The newspapers which ridiculed and slandered us at
first, are beginning to give impartial accounts of our meetings.
Newspapers do not lead, but follow public opinion; and doing so, they
go through three stages in regard to reforms; they first ridicule
them, then report them without comment, and at last openly advocate
them. We seem to be still in the first stage on this question.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account