Analysis of Declaration of Sentiments of the Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights Convention

📌Category: Gender Equality, Human rights, Social Issues
📌Words: 640
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 01 February 2022

In “Declaration of Sentiments of the Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights Convention”, Elizabeth Cady Stanton proclaims that women should have equal rights to men. At the time of the creation of this article, women’s rights were nearly non-existent, and a lawful woman was looking to change that. Elizabeth Cady Stanton argues her point with the perspective of a critical thinker through logos, an anaphora, and by including an allusion from a significant article.

First and foremost, Elizabeth Cady Stanton uses an allusion to display an important reason why women should have equal rights. Included in the allusion, this is stated, “...We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…” (Stanton 1). This allusion is originally from “The Declaration of Independence.” What Stanton accomplishes from including this allusion, is time for those in opposition to consider the importance of this document, and to possibly reach a concession. She includes this allusion because it states all men and women are equal. Stanton knew that “The Declaration of Independence” is part of the backbone of North America, and was the declaration that freed them from Britain. Therefore, she understood that her argument of not being able to pick and choose parts of the declaration to go by was a valid one due to how important each and every word was. This allusion created credibility and a strong justification for her view.

Furthermore, Stanton provides an anaphora to emphasize a specific in her position. She writes that “He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice. He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men-both natives and foreigners” (1). In these sentences, an anaphora is used to emphasize the negative things done by men, to women, in the past. The “He has” proceeds to display that there is a multitude of events that have oppressed women and that this issue is a continuous and tenacious one. The anaphora included in these sentences contribute to the realization of the issue’s prominence and adds power to her words.

In addition to an anaphora and an allusion, Elizabeth Cady Stanton includes a lot of logos to prove her point further. A couple of the examples are when Stanton states, “He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise” (1), and, “Of one half the people of this country… and because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights. We insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States” (2). In the first example, she mentions inalienable rights. Because the “inalienable rights to the elective franchise” are the right to vote which cannot be taken away, she uses logical reasoning to show why it is wrong that it is stripped from women, using the definition of that word. In the second example, she talks about the meaning of being a citizen and how women have feelings which matter. This is logos, because the meaning of being a citizen is genderless, and they should have rights dependent on that quality alone. Also, she speaks on how women are affected by this mistreatment, and these are rights that they don’t, but should, possess. The common use of the word “rights” is impactful because it implies the logic of something that is rightfully women’s, and gives time for others to think about the contradictory nature of the lack of them. The use of logos in her article prompts the readers to look deeper into her claim.

In conclusion, Elizabeth Cady Stanton is a very persuasive writer who uses many rhetorical techniques to strengthen and prove her point that women should have equal rights to men. Stanton uses an allusion to provide justification for her argument, along with an anaphora for emphasis, and finally, logos to state the objective facts and win over the minds of the reader.

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