Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Early Suffragists, 2025

Summary

Summary of The History Chicks: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Early Suffragists

Podcast Information:

• Title: The History Chicks: A Women's History Podcast
• Host/Author: The History Chicks | QCODE
• Episode: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Early Suffragists, 2025
• Release Date: June 27, 2025

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of The History Chicks, hosts Becky, Susan, and Dan delve deep into the life and legacy of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a pivotal figure in the early women's suffrage movement. Drawing from a meticulously edited 2013 recording, the episode weaves together personal anecdotes, historical events, and critical documents to paint a comprehensive portrait of Stanton's contributions to herstory.

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Early Life and Family Dynamics [01:49 – 07:48]

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born on November 12, 1815, in Johnstown, New York, as the eighth of eleven children to Daniel and Margaret Livingston Cady. Her father, Daniel Cady, was a prosperous lawyer and politician, known for his connections with prominent figures like Abraham Lincoln and Aaron Burr [02:46]. Despite the family's affluence, tragedy struck early as over half of Elizabeth's siblings passed away, including her only brother, Eliezer.

"It was easily seen that while my father was kind to us all, the one son filled a larger place in his affections than all five [sisters]." – Elizabeth Cady Stanton [07:25]

Elizabeth's upbringing was marked by strict social and religious norms. Her mother, Margaret, focused on molding her daughters into upper-class housewives, emphasizing marriage and domestic responsibilities. However, Elizabeth's intellect and rebellious spirit set her apart from her peers.

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Education and Formative Experiences [04:04 – 08:38]

Elizabeth excelled academically, being the only girl in the advanced math classes at the Johnstown Academy. Her inquisitive nature often led her into disciplinary trouble, resulting in visits to her father's office [04:38]. These visits exposed her to legal discussions and injustices, notably an incident where a widow named Flora Campbell was denied legal assistance by her father.

"I couldn't imagine a different type of life." – Narration [04:32]

At the age of ten, the sudden death of her only brother Eliezer profoundly impacted Elizabeth. Determined to fill the void left by her brother, she vowed to be learned and courageous, qualities that would define her future activism [07:05].

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Marriage and Early Activism [15:02 – 25:18]

At 24, Elizabeth married Henry Brewster Stanton, an abolitionist, aligning her personal life with her burgeoning activism. Their marriage introduced her to a vibrant social circle at the Peterborough estate, where discussions on abolition and temperance were frequent [13:15]. It was here that a pivotal conversation with Frederick Douglass led Elizabeth to recognize the parallels between slavery and women's oppression.

"Being a woman is really similar to being a slave. I can't control anything. I'm the property of someone else." – Narration [13:55]

Upon returning to Boston, Elizabeth balanced her roles as a wife, mother, and activist. Despite societal expectations to focus on domestic duties, she remained intellectually engaged, circulating petitions for the Married Women's Property Act to secure legal rights for women [25:04].

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Seneca Falls Convention and Declaration of Sentiments [30:18 – 45:26]

Inspired by her friendship with Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth co-organized the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. At this historic gathering, she authored the Declaration of Sentiments, a bold document modeled after Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, demanding equal rights for women, including suffrage [31:27].

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men and women are created equal..." – Excerpt from the Declaration of Sentiments [31:54]

The inclusion of the right to vote was particularly contentious. Lucretia Mott expressed concern that advocating for suffrage would render the movement too radical, but Elizabeth steadfastly insisted on its importance.

"This is the key to our rights—the right to vote." – Elizabeth Cady Stanton [41:22]

The convention faced backlash from both men and conservative women, branding the delegates as radical and unnatural. Despite the criticism, the event garnered significant attention, laying the foundation for the women's suffrage movement.

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Challenges and Infighting within the Suffrage Movement [63:21 – 76:09]

As the movement grew, differing strategies led to significant infighting. Elizabeth and Susan B. Anthony founded the National Women's Suffrage Association, advocating for a more radical approach. In contrast, Lucy Stone and her followers formed the American Women's Suffrage Association, favoring a more conservative strategy [63:21].

"I am all out of committees and organizations. You are welcome to wait." – Elizabeth Cady Stanton [63:38]

This division weakened the collective efforts, causing frustration and temporary rifts among key leaders. Elizabeth's uncompromising stance often clashed with others who sought more moderate paths to achieving suffrage.

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Partnership with Susan B. Anthony [50:29 – 55:22]

Elizabeth's collaboration with Susan B. Anthony was both dynamic and tumultuous. While Elizabeth provided the intellectual framework, Susan brought energy and activism to the forefront. Their relationship was marked by mutual respect, though not without moments of contention.

"Elizabeth stirred up Susan, and then Susan stirred the world." – Henry Stanton [53:50]

Susan's bold actions, such as her famous act of voting and subsequent arrest, brought national attention to the suffrage movement. Elizabeth's measured responses often contrasted with Susan's fervent activism, highlighting their complementary strengths and underlying tensions.

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Later Activism and Legacy [65:03 – 80:27]

After the Civil War, Elizabeth continued her relentless advocacy despite setbacks, including the exclusion of women's rights from the Reconstruction Amendments. She authored influential works like "History of Woman Suffrage" and "The Women's Bible," challenging entrenched societal norms [73:08].

At the age of 65, Elizabeth ran for Congress, leveraging a loophole that allowed women to stand as candidates despite not having the right to vote. Although she garnered only 24 votes, the act itself was a monumental statement for women's political agency [57:33].

Elizabeth's efforts culminated in her poignant speech, "Solitude of Self," advocating for women's complete self-reliance and equality [73:08].

"Women must know something of the laws of navigation in the voyage of life." – Elizabeth Cady Stanton [73:08]

Her steadfast dedication laid the groundwork for the eventual passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, granting women the right to vote eighteen years after her death.

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Conclusion and Reflections [80:27 – 86:57]

Elizabeth Cady Stanton's legacy is cemented by her unwavering commitment to women's rights and her strategic acumen in advancing the suffrage movement. Despite facing societal resistance, personal losses, and organizational conflicts, she remained a central figure in the fight for equality.

"The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that's in us and are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls." – Elizabeth Cady Stanton [86:34]

Her collaboration with Susan B. Anthony and her influence on future generations of activists underscore the enduring impact of her work.

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Notable Quotes

• “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men and women are created equal.” – Declaration of Sentiments [31:54]
• “I have very serious objections to being called [Mrs. Henry].” – Elizabeth Cady Stanton [19:37]
• “The greatest fault of mankind is that it just will not think.” – Elizabeth Cady Stanton [61:42]
• “Elizabeth stirred up Susan, and then Susan stirred the world.” – Henry Stanton [53:50]
• “Women must know something of the laws of navigation in the voyage of life.” – Elizabeth Cady Stanton [73:08]

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Further Resources

To deepen your understanding of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the early women's suffrage movement, consider exploring the following resources:

• Documentaries:

  • "Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony" by Ken Burns (Available on Netflix)

• Books:

  • "Elizabeth Leads the Way" by Tanya Lee Stone
  • "Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Bio-Bibliography" by Dolores Lang
  • "Mary Coleman’s Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, the Friendship that Changed the World" by Penny Coleman
  • "Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Radical for Women's Rights" by Lois W. Banner
  • "In Her Own Right: The Life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton" by Elizabeth Griffith
  • "The Lives of American Suffrage Sisters" by Jean H. Baker

• Online Resources:

  • National Archives: Teaching with Women's Suffrage and the 19th Amendment
  • National Park Service: Women's Rights Historical Park
  • League of Women Voters: Official Website

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Closing Thoughts

Elizabeth Cady Stanton's life was a testament to the power of resilience and the enduring fight for equality. Her strategic mind, combined with her relentless passion, not only advanced the cause of women's suffrage but also inspired countless women to pursue their rights and dreams. As Stanton herself eloquently stated:

"The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that's in us and are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls." – Elizabeth Cady Stanton [86:34]

Her legacy continues to resonate, reminding us of the importance of speaking out and standing firm in the pursuit of justice.

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For show notes, links to the discussed resources, or to support the podcast, please visit thehistorychicks.com. Share this episode with friends or leave a review on your preferred podcast platform to help others discover these inspiring stories.

Transcript

[Becky]

Welcome to the History Tricks, where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.

[Susan]

Hello and welcome to the show. We have just gotten back from a glorious field trip to Philadelphia where we saw Alice Paul's birthplace, etc. But what that means for you is we have not yet had time to put together Alice Paul Part 2. But never fear, never fear, we are going to bring you again the story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, her, let's say ancestors in the suffrage movement. You know, she's directly descended from their work.

[Katie]

This particular episode, first off, we cleaned it up because it's from 2013, but it also has Lucretia Mott, someone we talked about in Alice Paul. It has the origins of NASA. Like, how did it get started? It was two different organizations that form together. We had the Declaration of Sentiments, which is a document that Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote, recorded as a separate file. But what we've done is integrate it into this episode so it's right where she wrote it. So there's a lot of things in this that we're talking about in Alice Paul and it'll just give you a really good background as we dive into the next part of her life.

[Susan]

And without further ado, on with the show.

[Dan]

And here's your 30 second summary. The declaration of Independence promotes life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And it was in pursuit of these ideals for every single person in the United States that Elizabeth Cady Stanton took quite a few liberties herself. The end. Let's talk about Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

[Becky]

But first, let's drop her into history. In 1848, gaslights were first installed in the White House during James Polk's administration. Mexico gives Texas to the US Ending the Mexican American War. The Oregon Territory is created and Wisconsin becomes the 30th state. William G. Young patents the ice cream freezer. Antoine Sachs patents the saxophone. John Quincy Adams and John Jacob Astor died William Waldorf Astor, Wyatt Earp, Belle Starr and Paul Boat Gauguin were born. And on July 19, 1848, Elizabeth Cady stant helps to open the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Elizabeth Cady was born on November 12, 1815. She was the eighth of eleven children born to Margaret Livingston, Katie and Daniel. Katie in Johnstown, New York.

[Dan]

Elizabeth was born into a family who at first glance, they really seem to have it all. Her father, Daniel, was the richest man in striking distance at the time of her birth. He was actually a member of Congress. He was a self made man, a lawyer whose expertise in real estate law had given him customers with names like pastor and co workers like Abraham Lincoln and Aaron Burr. His wife, Margaret Livingston. Katie was a member of an old family, although the junior Canadian brand. So, you know, she was really tall and she was intelligent and independent and she had a policy of, I quote, molding people to get her way. Ms. Diplomacy? Ms. Scarlet, is that you? They had a huge house, 12 servants. Respect, money, power. Who could ask for anything more? But what this family did have in spades was tragedy. Margaret gave birth to 11 children, five boys and six girls. And over half of them died, including ultimately each and every boy in the family.

[Becky]

And that is key to this family because Daniel is big on the boys. By the time Elizabeth came around, there was one son and he was doted on. He was the favorite child, no question about it.

[Dan]

The eighth of 11 children actually grew up in a family of six. So there were six children in the house. One brother, Eliezer. I love the names of your.

[Becky]

I know. Really, I'm surprised if that one hasn't stuck around.

[Dan]

Well, so her older brother was following in death's footsteps. And then the five sisters.

[Becky]

Right.

[Dan]

Mama trained her daughters to be upper class housewives. They'd marry sons of their friends. They'd have servants, they'd have children. It's the circle of life.

[Becky]

That's okay. Well, it's all she do. How could she imagine. She couldn't imagine a different type of life.

[Dan]

Well, the family was very conservative, both religiously and socially. There was no dancing. Is this footloose? There's no dancing in the house. The girls went to the Johnstown Academy, the local comprehensive co educational school. Elizabeth was actually the only girl in the advanced math classes at Johnstown Academy.

[Becky]

Yeah, she was a very bright, bright.

[Dan]

Kid when her mother had had it with her because Elizabeth was always in the thick of the mischief and it was usually her fault. Her mother would. How about this? I'm going to send you down to your dad's office and we'll see what.

[Becky]

Which is a good punishment for this girl because that's where she wanted to be.

[Dan]

And dad didn't get the memo either. He was too busy. And he would just hand her a book, you know, and he would let her listen to conversations. He was bus.

[Becky]

Mm.

[Dan]

Like sending a child down here for discipline. I. Whatever. I don't have time for this. And so she saw a lot of stuff.

[Becky]

I have to wonder if dad thought that that alone was punishment to subject this girl to redo this reading and this male discussion about the law I mean, maybe he thought that that was a punishment for her, but it wasn't. She soaked it all in.

[Dan]

There was one incident in particular that stuck in her mind when she was a small child down there in disgrace, reading a book. A lady that was known to the children. She's the fruiterer or whatever, the wife of the farmer named Flora Campbell. Her husband had died, and the son inherited everything. And he was mean to his mother and wouldn't provide for her and basically kicked her out. And she was coming to the lawyer for help, and he said, there's nothing I can do.

[Becky]

Right? The laws do not protect you. I'm sorry. And Elizabeth thought that this was just horrible. So she had this plan that she would go in and the laws were in the book. She would just cut the laws out of the books. And she told Flora, it's okay. It'll be fine. We'll take care of that. And dad caught wind of her plan and sat her down and said, that's not how laws get changed. You have to go to legislature. And there's a big process that has to legally happen for a law to change.

[Dan]

I kind of like this, though. It's child logic. Like, just go to the ATM and get more money. Well, that's not how it works. Let me get my scissors.

[Becky]

Okay.

[Dan]

It's perfect. She's a woman of action, even as a small child. So when she was 10, a critical, formative event happened. Her brother, her only brother, Eliezer, 20 years old, a recent college graduate and the apple of Papa's eye, died suddenly. It has to be said, the family literally fell apart. Elizabeth remembers thinking, I'll just quote her. It was easily seen that while my father was kind to us all, the one son filled a larger place in his affections than all five. Daugh.

[Becky]

There's a famous story where she walks into the room with the casket, and dad is just sitting in a chair, just grieving. And she climbs into his lap, and they're both sad. And he hugs her, and he says, oh, my daughter, I wish you were a boy. And she says, I will try to be all that my brother was.

[Dan]

I know, I know. She resolved to kind of try to fill Eliezer's place. She wanted to lift her father, and honestly, her mother, who kind of retreated. She disappeared.

[Becky]

Yeah.

[Dan]

She wanted to make them proud of her, and she wanted to kind of cheer them up. And she determined that the two chief things she needed to do was to be learned and courageous.

[Becky]

Courageous. She filled by riding horses and doing. Doing physical boy act Things as much as she could and learned.

[Dan]

She studied Greek with this nice neighbor. Greek. In a period of time when men in etiquette books were told to never speak in Greek in front of ladies as they would not understand you.

[Becky]

She.

[Dan]

Second place in a Greek competition.

[Becky]

That's pretty awesome. I love that story.

[Dan]

Yeah. If she had been a boy and won second place, her father would have been proud of her. She jumped four bar gates. That's high. That's freaking scary.

[Becky]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Awesome. If she had been a boy, everything about her would have made her dad's heart swell with pride. But as it is, there was nothing there. There was one brief period, though. Where Papa. I don't know, was she a circus act or whatever. He would rush home, snatch her embroidery out of her hand, toss it on the couch, hand her a book and say so and says, come into dinner. I want you to debate and read up.

[Becky]

So she was kind of a parlor act.

[Dan]

And it's kind of weird. He kind of encouraged her while she was still little and cute. But as she got older and older and womanlier, it kind of became that. Like, she was a strange monster of his own creation.

[Becky]

No, I can see that.

[Dan]

He was the one who'd encouraged her to read and anything. She liked him.

[Becky]

She adored him.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Becky]

She wanted to please him. So she did what he said.

[Dan]

Well, she. She was bewildered because she had proved herself as good as or better than any boy. So what was the deal? She just could not fathom. Was the time of this cult of womanhood. A time like the 1950s, when domesticity was the key. And there were ladies and there were women. And the two shall not meet. Do you know?

[Becky]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I mean, ladies stayed in the kitchen, in the nursery and in the church.

[Becky]

At 15, she was ready with her education some more. And she really wanted to go to Union College, which was the alma mater of her recently deceased brother. But she couldn't because girls were not allowed into colleges at the time. It just wasn't possible for her to attend. So she attends the Troy Female Seminary, which is the best education that she, as a. As a young woman could get at the time.

[Dan]

She mocked it later, saying that she didn't learn a thing there. But here's what she studied there.

[Becky]

Listen to this.

[Dan]

This is a good school, people.

[Becky]

Okay.

[Dan]

She studied. I'm gonna have to take a deep breath. Algebra, Greek, music, logic, Botany, writing, Geometry, Modern history, criticism, arithmetic, Chemistry, French, piano, Literature, Human psychology, Natural philosophy and Domestic sciences.

[Becky]

One of these things, not like the other.

[Dan]

I'm just thinking it's so interesting that she was sent to such a school.

[Becky]

I love it. Yeah. I think it's great that she had the opportunity to go there too.

[Dan]

This is what she mostly remembered, that dancing was part of the physical education. She loved dancing. It was the forbidden zone.

[Becky]

That's right.

[Dan]

And it was part of class.

[Becky]

Well, they still do it. They still do it.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Becky]

There's some dance that they all learn.

[Dan]

Virginia reel.

[Becky]

No, a Missouri dance.

[Dan]

Oh.

[Becky]

Oh, shoot. I wish I knew what it was. I'll put it in the show notes.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Becky]

But it's my daughter's in high school and everybody in her class can do it and now do it at dances just because it's funny and it's like a local thing.

[Dan]

I love it.

[Becky]

Yeah.

[Dan]

So after all the dancing.

[Becky]

Well, she gets involved in this evangelical religious revival movement and it kind of brainwashes her a bit. She's totally terrified of Helen. Damnation. I mean, and at one point she's so wrapped up in it that her dad and her brother in law have to take her away for a weekend and basically program her. They take her to Niagara Falls and cure her of this kind of obsession that she has at the time. And she will never go back to organized religion for the rest of her life after that event. And quite frankly, don't blame her.

[Dan]

So she left the Troy Female Seminary at last. So now you're in this period of time between school and getting married. What is one to do? Perhaps frivolity was the answer. Elizabeth had a cousin named Garrett Smith, and he and his wife Anne were enormously wealthy. They had an estate a few days away called the Peterborough. And at Peterborough, since it was far away, there were always invited guests. And man, were they good at inviting these guests. Aristocratic New Yorkers, Oneida Indians, the ones they bought the land from. Who was that? Like, they're all tenants. And see what we did with the place. Reformers of every stripe were there mostly at this time, temperance and abolitionists. In fact, this house mixed in with the balls and the fine food and the practical jokes and the fine clothes and the many admirers. This house was a stop in the Underground Railroad. There were lively debates about temperance and abolition. I mean, how exciting is this? There's a 360 degree life here. And it was just nearly intoxicating. Of course, Papa wanted her to stop going.

[Becky]

Sure, after. After a while. But at the time it was like what happens in Petersboro stays in Petersboro, you know? But it was appealing to her socially because she's very outgoing and vivacious. It's appealing to her intellectually, it's appealing to her morally, because these people are trying. The abolitionists and the whole reform movement are trying to do the right thing. She wanted to stay there.

[Dan]

She sat next to Frederick Douglass on a couch at one of these parties and they started talking and she. I think this may be where this whole thing was born. She was talking to him about slavery. He was a former slave. And she started to realize, hey, wait a minute. Being a woman is really similar to being a slave.

[Becky]

Right, Right.

[Dan]

I can't control anything. I'm the property of someone else. I don't have a say in what happens to me. My husband could beat me and nobody could do anything interesting. So there's where it was lodged in her brain. Let's leave it there for now. So at 24, there was another guest at Peterborough that was important.

[Becky]

His name was Henry Brewster Stanton and he was an abolitionist. And he begins to court her.

[Dan]

He was romantically his man. He'd been involved in dangerous and famous abolitionist riots. He was passionate, he was captivating. And I don't know if it's his own press, but theoretically, he could stop people rioting by his oratory. I mean.

[Becky]

Well, he kind of stopped her in her tracks. I don't. I think it was a. It was a love match, not only in the traditional sense, but I think it was an intellectual love match for both of them because they could just debate these things and she could talk about things that other women generally didn't.

[Dan]

We could thank Papa for that.

[Becky]

But Papa wasn't really crazy about this particular match.

[Dan]

I mean, they were engaged within a month.

[Becky]

Mm.

[Dan]

Of meeting. Now, number one, papas don't like that.

[Becky]

No, not so much.

[Dan]

But number two, her family's reaction was immediate and completely negative. He has no money. He is embarrassingly radical. Hooray. That's what I like. I always. He was not our kind, dear.

[Becky]

He rides up on his motorcycle. His mother jacket.

[Dan]

Nobody puts baby in a corner.

[Becky]

Wheat.

[Dan]

Oh, my gosh. That's kind of like what it was.

[Becky]

Yeah, totally.

[Dan]

Totally. They put enormous pressure on her to break this engagement, even going so far as to tell her the legal pitfalls of getting married. You can't inherit any of property. You can't sign contracts. You can't have control of your children. You won't be able to keep any money you earn, which seems a bit rich, if you ask me.

[Becky]

Let's raise you to believe that marriage is the be all and end all. And then when you're ready to do it tell you that it's a really bad idea.

[Dan]

I know. Didn't you tell this person and all the person like her that it was her destiny? Well, it works temporarily. She did write the engagement and she wrote my family have turned the sweetest dream of my life into tragedy even richer. Her brother in law, Edward Bayard, her oldest sister's husband, is reputed at this point to have pressured her to elope with him. At the same time he was trying to convince her not to marry. Huh.

[Katie]

In the summertime like it is right now, I just don't want to think about menus and I have a kid home so it's not just my husband and I. Now I have three people in the house and they want meals and I don't want to think about it, I don't want to shop for it, I don't want to plan it. And sometimes I like to cook, but sometimes I want it pre made. And that's why I am so excited for my Hungry Root Boxes.

[Susan]

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[Katie]

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[Susan]

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[Dan]

Well, Henry was going to England for most of the year. And so they decided it was kind of time to take the plunge. Because either it would be a year of her being at home pressurized to dump him forever, or she could just go. And so they had to keep it a secret so papa wouldn't intervene, like spirit her away somewhere or, you know, pull a face on them or something. So she got married in a white evening gown that she already had. Notably, she omitted obey from the vows.

[Becky]

And she kept her maiden name as her middle name.

[Dan]

She self referred as Elizabeth Cady Stanton from now on, but she should have been known as Mrs. Henry Stanton. And she took umbrage with that. And this is what she said about it. I have very serious objections to being called Henry. Why are the slaves nameless unless they take the name of their master? They are chattel with no civil or social rights. The custom of calling women Mrs. John, this and colored men sambo is founded on the principle that white men are the lords of all. I cannot acknowledge this principle as just. Therefore I cannot bear the name of another this early. Yeah, and it was a start, man. It was a start.

[Becky]

And he accepted that. So first off, since Henry was planning to go to England, she obviously, as his wife, goes along with him and heads off to the International Conference against Slavery in England.

[Dan]

She was less impressed with anything she heard or saw about slavery and more impressed with what had actually happened to women. At this convention. There were women delegates that had arrived from America. The antislavery movement had a lot of women in it. And the vicious debates over whether to seat these women delegates opened her eyes a lot. The women were just sent to this curtained off section and they were barred from speaking at the convention. All possible arguments were brought out to reinforce. Women aren't worth being here right in front of them. Hello. We're right here.

[Becky]

Here.

[Dan]

We're invisible.

[Becky]

Yeah. She'd been sheltered. She hadn't seen the ugly. I mean, she felt it, but she hadn't seen as much ugly as she did when she was there.

[Dan]

Yeah. She called it the most exquisite torture. And she was enraged. These supposedly enlightened men, that was like a big blow. Reformers. This was not the exciting debate on slavery she had looked forward to witnessing. No, she befriended this Quaker lady named Lucretia Mott.

[Becky]

She was a Quaker abolitionist. She was also a Quaker preacher because in the Quaker church, women and men were equal. So it was a big deal that the Quakers got involved in the women's rights movements because that's how they had been raised. That's what they believed in. And Lucretia Mott was head of that force. She was so anti slavery that she refused to wear cotton clothes and she refused to serve sugar on her table because they were both slave products.

[Dan]

I like that you walked the talk.

[Becky]

Yeah, absolutely. And especially, I mean, sugar.

[Dan]

Well, Mrs. Mott also was a good model. She had six children. She was a married woman. She had a more supportive husband, perhaps, but she told the young Elizabeth that she had as much right to think for herself as Martin Luther or John Knox or any male philosopher. Yeah. And that really stuck with her. They discussed Wollstonecraft, which we have discussed, if you want to go back and read that. And Lucretia Mott was absolutely confident in her rights. And that really clicked with Elizabeth. It was to be this lifelong friendship.

[Becky]

Yeah, it was. And it also sparked behind the curtain while they were in their observational role at this convention. It sparked an idea that they should have a convention for women's rights when they get back to the United States.

[Dan]

Back home in the United States again, they set about mending fences with Papa. Smart, smart. Henry actually joined Papa in the law office. They lived with the in laws. Her husband was away a lot on business and anti slavery work. Still, he must have been home often enough, because within four years, Mrs. Elizabeth had three little sons.

[Becky]

Daniel, Henry and Garrett. Her father, her husband and her cousin.

[Dan]

These names, well, Henry's work was not as profitable as it might be. Papa gave them a house, gave them a house in Boston. And Elizabeth went to housekeeping. And you would think that she'd feel tied down or resentful about this, but she was completely energized. She studied up on housekeeping, which makes me laugh. Her first instinct is to get a book. Hermione Granger for Mary Pop.

[Becky]

My first instinct is to Google, but whatever. Yeah, no, that's great. She loved Boston. She loved living there. She loved the people that she hung out with. Hello. They hobnobbed with Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who are like dinner companions.

[Dan]

It's good, she said. It is a proud moment in a woman's life to reign supreme within four walls, to be the one to which house matters are referred. She also get this. This is, I guess, a lot like me. She Read up on childbearing methods and largely just discarded them, she thought because she had been overly disciplined in her youth or at least yelled at Papa, never really did pull out the belt. But nobody was that permissive, this very strict in her house.

[Becky]

Elizabeth was a very liberal minded parent, I think. And she would never require her children to attend church, which was a big deal at the time, but none of them were required. And she was very, I want to say almost Montessori in her, which is why she kind of. She does remind me of the way that you parent.

[Dan]

I just love it. So at this time of her life, Elizabeth was as content as it was possible to be, really. Her husband was starting to earn money. Her children were happy and healthy. They interchanged frequently.

[Becky]

Right.

[Dan]

As Susan said, she had freedom because she had servants in Boston. I know there's Irish servants everywhere.

[Becky]

Yeah. What's not to love about this life? She could spend as much time with her kids as she wanted to, which was a lot more than a lot of moms at the time.

[Dan]

Oh yeah.

[Becky]

But she also had the social aspect because she is a very social creature. It was a good life. Intellectually stimulated, she could go to meetings.

[Dan]

And lectures mostly about temperance and anti slavery. They seemed to go hand in hand, didn't they? Temperance would kind of feed into abolition would feed into temperance. And it was interesting. Those were the first two big reforms that were percolating. She kept up her correspondence with the lady reformers she'd met in London. But really the only reform activity she engaged in at this point when her boys were really little was circulating petitions for the Married Women's Property Act. And so that just guarantees that women could hold title to property in her own right. And that was kind of an easier sell because the papas that only had daughters were on board with this right. Because they're not going to give Downton Abbey all their money away from their daughter to these sons in law who may or may not be good stewards of it. That aside though, domesticity was the order of the day and it may have gone on so for the rest of her life really, had her husband not decided to try his luck in politics in a town called Seneca Falls, New York. So here we are. Here we are in central New York and headlines off on the nearby rail line to Buffalo or Albany or Washington D.C. or any number of places. He was elected to the state senate. It at last his dreams are coming true.

[Becky]

That's great. And. And Elizabeth's dreams were pretty much crushed because she loved Boston and as Much as she loved Boston, she despised Seneca Falls. Her life was so very different. She was suddenly in the neighborhood of some extremely conventional neighbors. The roads were dirty. She was stuck at home while Henry traveled. She didn't have the help that she had had at the house in Boston.

[Dan]

The house was really bringing her down. I think she began to really resent her husband's freedom to do what he wanted and go wherever he liked. She just didn't realize that she was spared the usual woman's lot. She was in Boston and now she's starting to feel it a little bit. It hadn't been so apparent before. Also, her husband started coming home and lord of the manor did around, where's my pipe? Build up this fire. Keep those children quiet. Bring me my newspaper. And she now wrote, as I contrast my freedom with my bondage, I feel that because of the false position of women, I have been compelled to hold all my noblest aspirations in advance, to be a wife, a mother, a nurse, a cook and a household drudge.

[Becky]

She said she suffered from mental hunger too. I mean, this is like so sad. This really vivacious, outgoing, almost socialite in Boston is suddenly thrown into the life of most women at the time. It shock.

[Katie]

You know how we were in Philadelphia recently? Well, I had brought a friend with me and I had also brought a travel size of Oa's Undaria algae body oil. I use this stuff at home. I have the big bottle at home. I have small bottle to travel with and I put it on and my friend who was with me was like, ooh, what kind of perfume is that? I didn't have perfume on. Yes, it smells that good.

[Susan]

It is the scent of summer citrus and mango, which I don't think is a citrus and cypress with a little woody note underneath. Mandarin, grapefruit and lime. It is so refreshing and it's not greasy.

[Katie]

It's very rich.

[Dan]

It's a.

[Katie]

It's a dry oil is how I like to describe it. It makes your skin glow for sure, winter or summer. So it's nice to put on a finishing touch. And for me, that's Osea's Undaria Algae body oil.

[Susan]

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[Katie]

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[Susan]

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[Katie]

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[Dan]

So she got a note. Lucretia Mott's coming to visit her sister nearby. Would you like to be our guest? She'd love to see you.

[Becky]

Yeah. I mean, women. I can sit and talk with someone that I really admire. Sure, let's do it. Yeah.

[Dan]

So over at tea table, the most fateful of conversations occurred. Questions were asked, resentments aired. You know how it is. It's usually glasses of wine these days.

[Becky]

That's right. It was tea back then.

[Dan]

Yes, Temperance, you know, and before this meetup of five women was over. Five women, by the way, all of whom had children and were married, not the, quote, disappointed Baron Spencers that they were later marketed as. These women came up with the idea for the first women's rights conference in America, to be held right there in Seneca Falls to discuss the position of women in society. If you listened or read Obama's second inaugural speech, he mentioned the word Seneca Falls. This is it. This is it. This is where it all began in America.

[Becky]

And it happened very quickly because within a couple months, this thing was gonna happen. We have a mutual friend named Lindsay who says that Mom's gay. Get stuff done. This is Mom's getting stuff done right here.

[Dan]

They were all amateurs, which is probably sometimes good not to know what you're getting into podcasting. So they didn't really know. They're like. So they reserved a hall check. Yeah, they took out an ad check.

[Becky]

Just a tiny little ad. That's it.

[Dan]

So they're all well read and intelligent women, and they decided to base their.

[Becky]

Manifesto on Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.

[Dan]

They discussed and determined on 18 separate issues they were taking men to task over. And they used the Declaration of Independence as a framework because they thought it was a good parallel by changing a few words. I want you to see what we're dealing with here as women. It was really a brilliant strategy. So Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the author of this document, which was called the Declaration of Rights and Sentiment. And I tell you what? We have got it in its entirety. It's about seven minutes long. But the short version is that they demanded things like property rights, education, jobs, equality under the law, and the right to vote. The following is the text of the Declaration of Sentiments, a work that Elizabeth Cady Stanton presented to the Seneca falls Conference in 1848. The declaration was amended and discussed during the convention, and it was signed by 68 women and 32 men. The declaration of Sentiments. When, in the course of human events. It becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of Earth a position different from which they have hitherto occupied. But one to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course. We hold these truths to be self evident. That all men and women are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it. And to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed will dictate. That Governments, long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes. And accordingly, all experience has shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable. Than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their duty to throw off such government. And to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferings of the women under this government. And such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled. 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. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise. 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. Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides. He has made her, if married in the eye of the law, civilly dead. He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns. He has made her morally an irresponsible being, as she can commit many crimes with impunity, provided they be done in the presence of her husband. In the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband. He becoming to all intents and purposes her master the law, giving him power to deprive her of her liberty and to administer chastisement. He has so framed the laws of divorce as to what shall be the proper causes and in case of separation, to whom the guardianship of the children shall be given, as to be wholly regardless of the happiness of women. The law, in all cases going upon a false supposition of the supremacy of man and giving all power into his hands. After depriving her of all rights as a married woman if single and the owner of property, he has taxed her to support a government which recognizes her only when her property can be made profitable to it. He has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments and from those she is permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration. He closes against her all the avenues to wealth and distinction which he considers most honorable to himself as a teacher of theology, medicine, or law. She is not known. He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education, all colleges being closed against her. He allows her in church as well as state, but a subordinate position. Claiming apostolic authority for her exclusion from the ministry and, with some exceptions, from any public participation in the affairs of the church. He has created a false public sentiment by giving to the world a different code of morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies which exclude women from society are not only tolerated, but deemed of little account in man. He has usurped the prerogative of Jehovah himself, claiming it as his right to assign for her a sphere of action when that belongs to her conscience and to her God. He has endeavored in every way that he could to destroy her confidence in her own power, to lessen her self respect and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life. Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one half of the people of this country, their social and religious degradation. In view of the unjust laws above mentioned, 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. In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule. But we shall use every instrumentality within our power to effect our object. We shall employ agents, circulate tracts, petition the state and national legislatures, and endeavor to enlist the pulpit and the press on our behalf. We hope this convention will be followed by a series of conventions embracing every part of the country firmly relying upon the final triumph of the right and the true. We do this day affix our signatures to this declaration.

[Susan]

As I've told you, Jett Graham is, as nature intends, planning to move out. You should see the upstairs hallway.

[Dan]

It is.

[Susan]

It is full of things. He's taken all of his posters off of the bedroom where I assembled his crib.

[Becky]

Oh, my goodness.

[Susan]

But heartbreaking, I know, but that's like, you know, it's grief and it's also what's supposed to happen. The goal.

[Katie]

I know independence is the goal. I've been repeating that to myself a lot as my kids have all been moving out.

[Susan]

So as he has been packing, he has had to do a lot of cleaning. And I have given him a package of Blueland cleaning products to take to his new house. And he's using mine to clean his existing room. And he knows there's a standard in this house. It's like, yeah, is that clean enough? Well, is it, mom? Clean enough?

[Katie]

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[Susan]

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[Katie]

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[Susan]

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[Katie]

Toilet cleaner tablets, but they have cleaning sprays. Hand soap. I love the hand soaps.

[Susan]

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[Katie]

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[Susan]

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[Becky]

Now. The right to vote was actually a pretty controversial thing to add. Elizabeth wanted to add it. Her husband wasn't really keen on it. Lucretia Mott thought that people would not take them seriously if they added it. But Elizabeth held firm. She said, no, this is the key to our rights is the right to vote.

[Dan]

Everyone was just afraid this was going too far. It was a neat dress at the MTV Music Awards. It's going to make us look ridiculous.

[Becky]

Actually, Lucretia Mott's words were, why, Lizzy? The will make us ridiculous. Those were her exact words.

[Dan]

But you know what? She was first. She's the daughter of a politician and the wife of another one. We need a political solution. Anyway, you know what? Ask for the stars and you may well get it. By the way, why are we aiming low? Start high. You know what I mean? So the day approached. There probably won't be too many people here. The ad was small. It's harvest time, eh? No contraire.

[Becky]

Oh, absolutely. 300 people turned out based on that tiny little ad from only about five miles around. And that's a high percentage of the people in that area that decided to go to the church that day and hear what these women had to say.

[Dan]

And so here they look out, you know, Gulp. It should be noted that even this meeting, it was kind of unseemly at this time for a lady to preside over a meeting. Philip, Lucretia Mott's husband, stepped in as the boss of the meeting. He was like the emcee called to order, et cetera.

[Becky]

Right. So Elizabeth does her first public speaking. Can you imagine?

[Dan]

Well, it should be noted that Elizabeth's husband had proofread her speech and then left town in case this thing left a stain on him. So here's Lucretia Mott's husband in the thick of it. So qui es mas macho is what I'm saying. Henry, you.

[Becky]

But I'm going to go back to this. He was a good husband for her in that other husbands would have forbidden it. Forbidden it and made it so that she couldn't attend or even be involved in this particular project.

[Dan]

Okay, fair enough.

[Becky]

I mean, he might have been a little bit of a like, okay, I'm just gonna back out of this room.

[Dan]

Back out of town.

[Becky]

I know, but he could have done more to stop her, and she didn't.

[Dan]

I concede the point. It is a man of his time. So the Declaration of Sentiments was read out and debated paragraph by paragraph. The one just like they thought, the one that had people jumping out of their seats and yelling was number nine, result. It is the duty of the women of this country to secure their sacred right to the elective franchise. Everyone's like, you know, we just leave this part out. Everything else will be so much easier without this. And Elizabeth answered tartly, you know what? We would not feel so bad being excluded if eminent men could vote. But drunkers, idiots, foreigners, barkeepers, they could vote, and we can't vote. I mean, that kind of goes back to the child. Like, we are as good as most men. Maybe not all the eminent men. Fair enough. But we are as good as most men, and so therefore, why are they excluding us? She, like, literally couldn't get it. So. And then she wrote, this is a slap in the face. You mark my words. This will happen. This will happen. Her first speech, and she's all in the face.

[Becky]

I know. That's fantastic.

[Dan]

I love it. So there's great grumbling in the land. This is, you know, man hating from.

[Becky]

The podium, and I'm shirts at that.

[Dan]

You know, speaking of men, Frederick Douglass, the only man of color on the premises, in fact, jumped to her defense and he said, voting is the way. These others will be possible. Even. So, number nine just. It barely made it in, by the way.

[Becky]

Yes, sounds great of Frederick Douglass to step up and do that.

[Dan]

Well, so the storm freaking broke when the details of that meeting came out the next day. The church leaders freaked out from the pulpit. Newspapers, for the most part, not all, but for the most part, condemned them as, quote, radical heretics. Conservative women condemned them as unnatural creatures. So negative. But Elizabeth saw this as kind of a good thing. Well, there's no chance this is going to fade away for want of notice.

[Becky]

No.

[Dan]

Any publicity, Any good publicity.

[Becky]

And I want to say that 100 men and women signed that document. 100 that day. One third of the people there signed that document, which is kind of a big deal.

[Dan]

It is.

[Becky]

And because I'm going to forget it later. By the time the women got the vote, only one person that signed that document was still alive.

[Dan]

Man.

[Becky]

I know, but how awesome to be that One woman at the beginning, and.

[Dan]

Then at the end. Well, Elizabeth said that this will start women thinking, and men, too. The greatest fault of mankind is that it just will not think. And she was actually quite right about that. Let's call Seneca Falls the big explosion. It was like, big, loud and over. But like any explosion, it sent out sparks. All these little sparks all over the country that just smoldered and smoldered. Some of them caught fire right away. In fact, the very next women's conference in Worcester, Mass. There were a thousand attendees. Okay. Some of them fired up right away, and some of them just gathering and gathering for years and years. 70 years in some cases. But that was the place that sent them along in the first place.

[Becky]

It was. And it kind of made a name for Elizabeth Cady Stanton. I mean, she was at the center of all of it, kind of famous.

[Dan]

She actually, interestingly, did not attend another national women's conference for 10 years. But her presence was felt at every single one because letters from her, speeches from her were read out at the beginning of every. I mean, she. She was the ulcer of the agenda of all these conventions. She wrote letters and articles, distributed petitions, and had four more children. So obviously, Henry's still on the scene. And she kind of got into this period where the classic problem balancing work, which energized her and made her feel whole with all the work and involvement with her family. Those older boys, by the way, what the heck? One of them shot his brother in the eye with an arrow. One of them put their baby on a rabbit and pushed it out into the lake. I mean, maybe we needed more eyeballs on the older boys. But anyway, the family seemed loud and jumbly, and it just seemed very involved and not formal like you think of families at this time of being very disciplinarian and formal. And it was just like running everywhere, and they would come in and yank on her dress, and she'd bend down to listen to people.

[Becky]

And it was just.

[Dan]

I get this impression of her as a really good mother.

[Becky]

Yeah, I think so, too. And I think she was very devoted to her family, but extremely torn. How many years ago was this?

[Dan]

This is just.

[Becky]

It's still the case.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Becky]

I mean, unbelievable. It's just.

[Dan]

It's.

[Becky]

It's our burden.

[Dan]

Well, I think it's very telling that everyone in that village remembers her as cheery, vivacious, and haggard.

[Becky]

Makes me laugh. Now, think of your favorite mom that you know in your life who has a ton of kids, and she's probably exactly the same way, you know, the ones that love it and, and you know, they live for their families and are torn just like, just like she was.

[Dan]

So her cousin invented this new style of clothes called the Turkish dress. She loved it. It was long pants and a knee length skirt. And she's like, I can carry the baby and a candle. Well, that's good. I mean, nobody's tripping on their face on the stairs with a baby and a candle in her hand. That's good. This practical and kind of lightweight dress spread all over upstate New York, much to the men folks dismay. In fact, her sons were so embarrassed, like, please do not visit us at school in that costume. They called it a costume. It was introduced to the wider world by the postmistress and newspaper woman, Amelia Bloomer. Bloomers.

[Becky]

I know.

[Dan]

Elizabeth stuck with him in public for a few years and then she finally thought, you know what, this is distracting from my message. Small boys were throwing stones at me. This is probably not good. She reluctantly. She did keep that, that costume for home.

[Becky]

Right. Practical, very.

[Dan]

But she decided that a costume of respectability was a better tactic. But Ms. Bloomer actually introduced her one fateful day to something much more important than the Turkish dress.

[Becky]

Much more. One day, Amelia Bloomer introduces Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Cady Stanton. How is that for a name dropping sentence?

[Dan]

They met on a street corner and.

[Becky]

Elizabeth said, there she stood with, with her good earnest face and genial smile, the perfection of neatness and sobriety. I liked her thoroughly and why I didn't invite her immediately to dinner, I do not know. It was like instant boom. They were connected and they would be connected 50 years. And I am so fascinated by the relationship of these two women. It was just almost disgusting to keep on that Elizabeth Yates Stanton path because Susan B. Anthony was such an integral part of her life, almost like a spouse in their, in their, the closeness and the importance of their work.

[Dan]

During this time, the two ladies had such, this symbiotic relationship. Elizabeth had all these ideas and philosophies, but no freedom to go, go, go. Susan hadn't got the creative spark really and the turn of phrase, but she was daring and she was forceful and she was free. Free to roam about the country.

[Becky]

They were exact opposites in so many ways. Susan B. Anthony's very tall and severe and striking and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, I don't want to say Elizabeth Cady Stanton was bubbly, but she kind of was. Susan B. Anthony was a Quaker. She was raised in a Quaker household. And like we said earlier, Quakers believe and her father believed that men and women were equal. Susan B. Anthony came from a family that wasn't nearly as wealthy as that of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She was a teacher by profession, where Elizabeth was a housewife by destiny. They were polar opposites, and they just got along famously.

[Dan]

Elizabeth Cady Stanton once said that she. The speechwriter, she forged the thunderbolts, and Susan fired them. That's just the perfect nutshell of their relationship, I think. But Elizabeth longed to be out there, longs to be out there. Not just by proxy. She wrote, men and angels give me patience. I am at the boiling point. If I do not find someday the use of my tongue in this question, I shall die of repression. A women's rights compulsion. Seems to me she was so fierce about her need to get away from her family's demands. I mean, she was practically a single mother.

[Becky]

It was.

[Dan]

Her husband was always gone. I mean, think about Abigail Adams. Remember we talked about, she's not supposed to have any responsibility, but it's all on her. Everything, the entirety of it. It seems to me that she was equally ferocious about both getting away from her family's demands and then her absolute need to match up to her modern parenthood standards. She was kind of holding herself to some high standards and doing it to herself. But her name, her words, were everywhere. Susan constantly worried about her and about the cause. And also, she would always write her, why do you have to have so many children? Sorry, what happened?

[Becky]

Susan B. Anthony got tipped whenever any of her contemporaries got married and had settled into a phase, a season of conventional life. Why?

[Dan]

And so she would always pressure her, like, look, I need a speech. This is actually a letter. I beg you. With one baby on your knee and another at your feet, and four boys running through the house hallooing, Mama, set yourself about the work. Don't get all on fire. Be as cross as you please, like, hello, I need a speech. Sometimes Elizabeth would tartly respond, look, I'm stirring the puddings over here. Really? And so Susan would literally travel to her house, go in the kitchen, put on an apron, get a spoon, and say, I'm here to stir the puddings. I'm here to mind the children, go in the dining room and write me a freaking speech.

[Becky]

And even Henry backed this whole pudding thing up. This is what he said. He said, susan stirred the puddings. Elizabeth stirs up Susan, and then Susan stirs the world.

[Dan]

I love it. I do, too.

[Becky]

The kids called her Aunt Susan. How much she was there. She'd come and help out with the Domestic chores so that Elizabeth could sit at the table and write and they could debate. That's cool.

[Dan]

So they didn't always hurry. Of course they didn't.

[Becky]

Of course they didn't.

[Dan]

One of the controversial speeches that Elizabeth gave. Did. Given person, in fact, around this time was on the subject of divorce. And at the time, divorce might as well have said adultery.

[Becky]

Just loose women, even if there was solid reason.

[Dan]

Yeah. And so here's this mother of seven blindly saying, oh, it's just a right. People's heads kind of will all. And Elizabeth was kind of physically not even caring. She kind of liked it. I think shock. Not shock or not just plain old shock was her point. She's like, you can stay in your comfortable place, or I can just push you off your chair, and then you're gonna have to stand up. How about that? She liked it. But Susan B. Anthony thought, this is not the right mood of cooperation. And Elizabeth's like, don't care. So they're kind of, like, not alike at all.

[Becky]

No, they're opposites that get along from a similar mission.

[Dan]

You know, something that was kind of bothering me about this women in the audience during this speech, women said, well, where are your children right now? Like, impugning her. And then she later, secretly relieved that she had brought them, said, they're in the next room with their nurse. Where are your children? Like, can't we just support each other?

[Becky]

I know.

[Dan]

Like, seriously, where are my children? I mean, normally they were at home. This time they weren't. It was good ammo. It was awesome. Yeah, she felt lucky. But.

[Becky]

And I have to say that, guys, that's another thing. If we can't get away from that.

[Dan]

Battle goes way back. Susan. I know. Really. She was known to refer to conservative women that were reluctant to seize their rights as jackass, who she hopes, quote, die out to make way for new women.

[Becky]

At a New York state teachers conference, there was a vote up about equal pay. Should the women be paid the same as the men for doing the same job. And. And it was overwhelmingly rejected. These women voted against it. And what Elizabeth said is, the sooner this present generation of women die out, the better. We have enough jackasses in the world now without these women propagating more.

[Dan]

So Susan and Elizabeth's most vivid and nearly breakupable battle with each other came during the Civil War. Women who had been working so hard for the cause of women's rights, kind of one by one, defected to abolition. Oh, just during this crisis. Just during this crisis. And Elizabeth agreed, you know, it was her thought if women would be seen to work on this popular in the north, popular, energetic cause, you know, at the end, so they would receive their reward. Right? Equality. Right. Susan is just horrified. We're abandoning it. We're. We're leaving things. You couldn't stand all alone with no one. Poor Susan. So the team threw themselves into gathering signatures for a petition to the 13th Amendment, to the Constitution, which abolished slavery. Their work was critical evidence for popular support. Their work, I'll repeat this, was critical evidence for there being popular support for its passage. And the 13th amendment passed. Okay, so the war is over and they're expecting this reward. And it was actually kind of bitter disappointment at the praise they got for this 13th amendment thing. Elizabeth was shocked that the same women who'd been so cascaded for talking about equal rights for women got all this praise for doing the exact same thing for slavery. So now she's like, wait a minute. Not only are we not getting the same praise as men for doing the same work. Work, we're not getting the same praise for the same work when we apply it to women. She's like, this world is crazy. So she was kind of bitterly disappointed with the outcome of the Civil War. So mostly without Henry, but mostly with Susan. She got down to work and, oh, did they get down to work. She and Susan started four ankle rights associations, campaigned for the vote in three states, including Kansas. Edited a newspaper called the Revolution, Stopped the legalization of prostitution in New York. Why was that happening? And at 51 years of age, became the very first woman to run for the United States Congress. She had discovered a loophole. Oh, sure, you can't vote, but there's nothing that stops you from standing as a candidate. This. She only got 24 votes. She knows she wasn't going to win. Talk about M high. That's amazing.

[Becky]

And she got 24 votes.

[Dan]

She later said, I only wish I'd gotten photographs of my two dozen unknown friends. She would like to thank them. So she was a very controversial figure as she would not compromise. I want the votes. It comes down to that issue. Many former allies were kind of angry at her and distancing themselves. They did not want to risk their abolitionist activities, etcetera, about muddying this issue with women. And a congressman had sent her a draft for the 14th amendment on the DL to warn her of the language in it.

[Becky]

The 14th amendment is going to say that any male born in the US Is granted citizenship. Ouch.

[Dan]

She said male. Do you think the African race is composed entirely of Males. Frederick Douglass didn't support her this time. He said, said, this country loves women but hates Negroes. We need this more than you do, he said. And many men thought, and many women thought, which is incomprehensible to me. Women did not need to vote because they're under the umbrella of fathers or husbands or brothers or sons. Elizabeth literally could not fathom that people thought this way. To me, in this time period, she seems like a displaced time traveler. It's like you or I were sent to back. Seriously, like, we would have no way to think that people would have that in our heads. She had no sympathy for us. No, none. And then she said, speaking of time traveling, time, well, showed that Ms. Anthony and myself are neither idiots nor lunatics. So I'm sorry to say, Project Douglas to you, too. Sorry that she became pretty racist at some point.

[Becky]

Yeah, she actually used pretty strong words. But she was very upset that there's a whole group of people who used to be working with her that are suddenly saying, this is more important than women voting. And she used the word sambo.

[Dan]

Not good. Yeah. Much to the bitter, bitter, bitter dismay to her former abolitionist friends, that was no bueno. So she was making some bitter enemies. But here's the thing. She was also gaining credence as a thinker, as a speaker. She was becoming a star. She got good reviews in newspapers all over the place for her way of speaking and her directness and her passion. Yeah.

[Becky]

And she was also personable. It wasn't that she stood up and gave her speech, but she could relate to the crowd and she was herself. And then she gave her message amongst.

[Dan]

That, and she would make people laugh. And she was increasingly looking like Mrs. Claus.

[Becky]

She looks like a grandmother.

[Dan]

Yeah. Yeah. And so does this look in like Mrs. Claus?

[Becky]

Well, she kind of did.

[Dan]

Am I wrong?

[Becky]

No, not at all.

[Dan]

So she was absolutely against the 14th amendment and its follow up, the 15th amendment, which made a special reference to you can't be denied the vote because of your color or race or previous condition of servitude, which actually, to me, that could be women.

[Becky]

Yeah.

[Dan]

But whatever. So she's like, all right, then we gotta have a 16th amendment. We gotta have one. She started agitating for a 16th amendment for women's suffrage in 1878. Now, I'm sorry to tell you that the 16th amendment actually deals with income tax. Boo. And the 17th is senator elections. Yawn, yawn. And the 18th is. Breaking prohibition was all that more important, evidently, because women didn't get to vote for till 41 years later with the 19th amendment.

[Becky]

That's right.

[Dan]

I'm just saying it's not the 16th amendment. But it came.

[Becky]

It came up every year for vote. Every year it was defeated.

[Dan]

Yeah, but it was important to, you know, ban liquor was more important.

[Becky]

Well, that's the whole temperance. I mean, that whole temperance organization that felt that getting at the liquor would stop the abuse of the wives and, you know, fortunes being ruined through alcohol. They were kind of working together. What a world. One of the organizations that Susan and Elizabeth formed was the National Women's Suffrage Association. They felt that no men would be allowed, and they were taking their somewhat radical stance to get their women's vote out. And it kind of ticked off some of their supporters. Lucy Stone and her people, who thought that Elizabeth and Susan were being a little too radical, formed another organization called the American Women's Suffrage Association. And at times, they were working at cross purposes. It was almost like a, you know, vilify the other side and slam down the other side. But they're all working towards the same goal.

[Dan]

The infighting got so bad that Elizabeth was just disgusted. It was like a PTA meeting. Ridiculous. She said, I am all out of committees and organizations. You are welcome to wait. And, of course, Susan lost her crap again. How are you excusing yourself from this?

[Becky]

Really?

[Dan]

You're leaving me? You're. Ah. And they kind of fell apart for quite a long time. Susan really resented her opting out and letting other people do the boring parts. And she also resented the fact that, you know, Elizabeth had this effortless popularity if she chose to pull it out. And the fact that she was not pulling it out, not for the things Susan thought were important. Well, Susan B. Anthony actually went out to vote.

[Becky]

I was just gonna say, at this point is about right where Susan is gonna get her time in the spotlight and why we remember her, I mean, as a collective more than we do Elizabeth Cady Stanton, because she finds a loophole in the law and goes to register to vote, thinking that they're not gonna let her and that she can just use it as a publicity stunt almost. But what happens is they actually let her register and her sisters register to vote in Albany. And she does. She votes, which is huge. But she also gets arrested. And the U.S. marshal takes her on a trolley to downtown. And the trolley, you know, they want their fare. And she says, I'm traveling, you know, on the courtesy of the U.S. government. We'll pay my fare. And she. She gets arrested, and it's a big publicity thing. And but it worked because it got her into the spotlight.

[Dan]

And I have to say I am disappointed in Elizabeth's response because there was a little bit of chicanery and they decided they weren't going to pursue Susan B. Anthony because on publicity and she'd be a test case before the Supreme Court, et cetera. So they simply let her go and canceled her fine. And they will mum about it. And Susan was like, wait, what? The wind's been taken out of my sail. And Elizabeth Cady Stanton merely wrote back to her mildly, well, what did you expect? Like, didn't you expect a little more fire from you? Whatever. It's time to take a little break.

[Becky]

And when we come back, we'll continue to march down the rocky path towards women's suffrage.

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[Dan]

And we're back. So Elizabeth, still out, went to England, where she spoke all over in favor of women's rights. You've seen Downton Abbey. It happens later there too. So she spoke there a spoiled grandkids, kids. So she's working and familying still over there.

[Becky]

Yeah, she's a paid lunch for her. I mean, she's making a living.

[Dan]

So when she comes back, she went on what's called the lyceum circuit. So eight months out of the year doing speaking engagements at 75 or a hundred dollars a pop, that's pretty respectable. Lots of these speaking engagements were in the west, where women were more accustomed to taking charge of their destinies. And Elizabeth liked them better because there was none of this New England conservatism that she was so angry with Lucy Stone and all those people, she's like, see? Hell, it could be.

[Becky]

Look at this.

[Dan]

She could hold a crowd in the palm of her hand. Crowds of autograph seekers would mob her. And so Susan exasperated, will you not use your power for good, please? And so she finally made it up with Susan. She tried to vote, and by this time, people were watching. They were wise. They weren't gonna let her vote. She goes, well, I'm three times the required age. I'm a property owner. I can read, I can write. And he's like, no. And so she crumpled up her thing and threw it at his face. That's a lot less cool than getting arrested by me.

[Becky]

So at this point, Elizabeth is 65 years old. She moves to Tennis Line, New Jersey, and she gets together with Susan and Margaret Gage to write the history of women's Suffering. This is going to be a history of how they got to this point and beyond. It's a big deal publication, and it takes them quite a few years, about six years to get it all together.

[Dan]

She's back at the dinner table, right.

[Becky]

She is with Susan and Margaret Gates.

[Dan]

You know, who is Margaret Gage. She was kind of a buffer guest, I have to say, because, you know, Susan and Elizabeth were still a little rocky. By the way, Margaret Gage, incidentally, mother in law, future mother in law of Frank Baum, who wrote the wizard of Oz. Cool. So any feminist philosophy in the wizard of Oz, I think you can blame her. So they wrote three volumes of a thousand pages each. That's a lot. That's a lot. In fact, her children hated this book. They did everything they could to be loud and slam doors and. And not be cooperative. So that's so nice. Like, yeah, mother's on the phone back in the day. Mother's at the dinner table. Yeah. Her daughters recorded great arguments and screaming fits and people slamming doors and going outside to walk around in circles. And it didn't all go smoothly.

[Becky]

History of Woman Suffrage is actually dedicated to several women that had gone before them. Mary Wollstonecraft being the first, which I think is pretty interesting because you. She has inspired them all along. Lucy Stone at this point, doesn't really have a big part in this book, even though she's a very active member of the crusade toward this. Right. But she gave them minimal information about herself, and she did not want Elizabeth to write anything about her. She didn't want her to write her biography in there. So that's how bad it was. Eventually, though, they saw that they were all working towards the same cause. So those two fighting organizations merged to become the National American Women's Suffrage association. And Elizabeth is elected the first president. But she thinks the focus of the movement is too narrow, and she often offers suggestions to broaden it, which are politely declined. No, that's okay, dear. This is our focus. We need to get to this.

[Dan]

So Susan B. Anthony ended up being the more visible presence. Head presence.

[Becky]

She's becoming the face of suffrage.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Becky]

Not only here, but on a coin.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Becky]

Really?

[Dan]

Coin that didn't work in vending machines.

[Becky]

During this time, four states do lead the right to get the women the vote. Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and Idaho, which all.

[Dan]

In the west, just like Elizabeth said. This is where the mines are open out here.

[Becky]

Since 1892. Elizabeth, at this point, she's fairly heavy, stuffed. She's about £240. She needs a paid companion to just physically get around. She's losing her sight and she's getting older. It's all wearing down on her. And so she would like to resign her presidency at the age of 76. This is where she writes of speech called Solitude of Self.

[Dan]

It was just this definitive statement of what she thought about feminism. And it was a demand basically for women to be absolutely self reliant. She delivered this to the Senate. It's widely considered to be her finest work. And you can listen to the entire text on Librivox for free. A little quote though. He said the talk of sheltering women from the fierce storms of life is sheerest mockery. For they beat on her from every point of the compass, just as they do on man. And with more fatal result, for he has been trained to protect himself in an emergency. Women must know something of the laws of navigation in the voyage of life. Good mystery, I thought.

[Becky]

Yeah.

[Dan]

So from that high point, considered to be her best work. We've ought to be the most controversial of her work.

[Becky]

And so at this point, Zindab's speaking and she's taken over that whole thing. Elizabeth is taking this opportunity to do, you know, the things that are important to her at this time. And she write the women's Bible and it's a challenge to religious doctrine that suggests that women are inferior to men. And she goes through the Bible pointing out things that are sexist almost in.

[Dan]

The whole Bible it's kind of like the annotated Alice. If you've seen the antecedent Alice, the full text of, of the original book, the Bible is there. And then with her commentary footnoted, you know, specific passages and then explanation of her. Yeah. Disagreements with them.

[Becky]

And it is online and we will link you up in the show notes if you're interested to take a look at things.

[Dan]

It was really, really shocking though, really. In perhaps only my opinion, it didn't condemn God per se. More like saying this book was written by men in a bio society.

[Becky]

It's not that the message was entirely wrong, it's just the details of it were wrong. I mean, she starts in Genesis and she says God made man and women in his image, which means that God is not only male but female. And if you start with that premise and then take it through the entire Bible all the way to Revelations, then you can change a lot of things in the Bible.

[Dan]

This went through seven printings. It was a hot potato.

[Becky]

It was 50 shades of gray of its time. Oh my gosh.

[Dan]

Did you write that? I wrote the Same identical thing. So it was. It was shocking and intriguing and, you know, read widely everywhere. She was continually besieged by publishers to write on a wide range of subjects. She has never lost her popularity, her attraction. People recognize her intelligence. However, the younger women were absolutely serious at her, and they spared no expense distancing themselves from her. No.

[Becky]

Yeah. And Susan thought that it was. The book was just a little too controversial and that it would sidetrack them from their cause.

[Dan]

And if you were to know why, I think you know Susan B. Anthony and not Elizabeth Cady Stanton, I think this right here is a major reason. I think there was just a great whitewashing right here.

[Becky]

They had a vote to throw her out of the movement.

[Dan]

Yeah. And Susan was active. She cultivated the younger people. And Elizabeth had pulled back. I mean, so I do think that's why Susan has the prominence. And Elizabeth Cady Stanton perhaps was a little bit more lost in the midst of time, however, their entire lives, Susan had a photo on her desk of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. And more touchingly still, Elizabeth had on her desk a plaster cast of their clients. Clasped hands. So if that doesn't tell you what they really thought of each other, I don't know what will. So while there was a whitewashing, there was during her lifetime, like for example, her 80th birthday, arranged by Susan, surrounded by flowers, 6,000 people came to celebrate her birthday and all the work that she had done. She was overwhelmed. She literally, for the first time in her life, was nearly speechless and said, only I am well aware that all these public demonstrations are not so much tributes to me as an individual as to the great idea. I represent the enfranchisement of women. It was amazing. So in her lifetime, she was still venerated, but just as time goes on.

[Becky]

Yes, this kind of fades into the. Into the sunset, sort of.

[Dan]

So she is basically retired now. She is writing her autobiography called 80 Years and More, that she had to hire a typist and a reader. Her eyesight is really, really failing her.

[Becky]

It's 1902. She is 86 years old.

[Dan]

The very last letters she ever wrote were, characteristically, am I to President Theodore Roosevelt? And she urged him in her letter to put all his political weight behind, behind the vote. Now, the next day, having thought, oh, wait, where is this lever of power? Wrote to Mrs. Roosevelt just as a stopgap measure. So technically, her very last letter was to Mrs. Roosevelt to ask her to endorse the suffrage movement from the bully pulpit of the presidency.

[Becky]

Pretty cool. So on October 26, 1902, she decides she'd like to stand up. So she stands up, and she's surrounded by her family, and she just looks around and she takes in the moment. The kids are like, mama, you're kind of frail. I want to sit down.

[Dan]

And her daughter Harriet later wrote that for seven or eight minutes, she just stood there, almost kind of in a zone, almost kind of out of herself. And Harriet's thought, perhaps in her mind, she was given her last address.

[Becky]

She takes a nap, and she dies.

[Dan]

Now, family legend says that Elizabeth had asked her female doctor to give her an overdose of medication if she became, you know, unfortunate. Now, I don't know. Did it happen? Did it not happen? There is never, ever, ever, ever going to be a way to know. But Elizabeth Cady Stanton specifically said there was not to be an autopsy when she died. Seems strange to me.

[Becky]

Yeah.

[Dan]

So that's the only legend. Let's just leave that as legend. It could be true, it could not be true. There's no way to know.

[Becky]

Yeah. It's kind of interesting, though. But she also planned her whole funeral. She didn't want any black. She wanted to be put in an ordinary dress, and she wanted women to conduct the ceremony. The table that she had written the Declaration of Sentiments, was there at her funeral, and so was a picture of Susan B. Anthony. A portrait was right there at the funeral amongst the flowers.

[Dan]

Susan B. Anthony said, it seems impossible. The voice I longed to hear for 50 years is hushed forever. It was. Dang. Major newspapers put the news of her death on the front page.

[Becky]

Some of the. Some of the headlines read, anthony left behind Man. Wow.

[Dan]

Okay. So, wow. Was that powerful life something to behold? I'm glad that we delved in. In 1920, 18 years after her death, the 19th amendment was finally passed. Passed.

[Becky]

45 years, this was up for vote, and finally it gets passed. The wording of the 19th Amendment is this. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

[Dan]

Now, if that's not enough of a legacy, I don't know what is. She and her mentor, Lucretia Mott and her friend Susan B. Anthony are featured in a sculpture in the rotunda of the U.S. capitol Building by a famous sculptor, Adelaide Johnson. There was also a highly decorated troop transport ship named USS Elizabeth C. Stanton in service during World War II.

[Becky]

That's pretty interesting, Dean.

[Dan]

This.

[Becky]

I thought, I'm going to go back in time just a little bit, but in 1920 when women finally got the vote, the National American Women's Suffrage association morphed into the League of Women Voters.

[Dan]

Ooh.

[Becky]

Oh, how about that? It didn't start right at the vote. It started long before.

[Dan]

So as for media that we recommend, here's the very first thing you should do. It's on Netflix streaming as of the date of this podcast. Not for ourselves alone. The story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony by ken Burns.

[Becky]

It's 300 minutes. It's pretty long, but it's. It's really good. And you know, it's a typical Ken Burns with the still photographs and the. Sally Kellerman is the narrator. And it's just. It's a very good documentary. I would strongly recommend it. You can also read the women's Bible in 80 years or more online and we will link you up to that. Do you have something else?

[Dan]

I do. The National Archive has a site called Teaching with Women's suffrage and the 19th Amendment. It was the 150th year of the Seneca Falls Convention. So that project has started then. It's just an interesting resource to be able to look at, you know, primary source documents too. Also there is something called the Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan D. Anthony Papers Project that is trying to digitalize all of their letters. So read what they've got so far. And National Women's hall of Fame site. There is a good concise, more concise than this podcast biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

[Becky]

There is.

[Dan]

You can also.

[Becky]

There's a really neat site and it's not just for this particular one, but this will bring you there through it. It's our documents.gov and you can actually see documents in photographs that are in the National Archives. And you can see the signed 19th amendment in that there. Of course League of Women Voters is that they have a website. There's no Twitters or Facebooks. I think what happens a lot of times is people take them on as high school or college assignments, start a Twitter feed for this historical figure and tweet for them for six months or whatever, and then they die off, which is kind of sad. It's fun to be able to find ones that are active and that wasn't one. Also, we know you like your museums. The National Park Service has the Women's Rights Historical park in Seneca Falls. There's four properties on it. The Elizabeth Cady Stanton House, the Wesleyan Chapel where the first women's rights convention was located. The McClintock home where the tea was held, where they started to form the ideas and a hunt house, which was also a social gathering home. So it's actually, it's not the coolest NationalParkservice.org site there is, but you can see these properties and it's pretty interesting. So we will link you up to all that. What about books?

[Dan]

Before we talk about books, I'm just going to throw out a fun fact.

[Becky]

Okay.

[Dan]

We talked about the neat dress at the MTV music wants. Lady Gaga once lived on Stanton street in New York City. Not named after Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Sorry about that. Can't make the full circle. Still, that was kind of cool to find out how I found that out, I have no idea.

[Becky]

I'm gonna give it to the Bowery Boys, maybe. Books. A really cute kids book is Elizabeth Leads the Way by Tanya Lee Stone. Illustration by Rebecca Gibbon. It's very cute and it talks about her life. You know, it's a little, little kids book. I enjoyed Penny Coleman's Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, the Friendship that Changed the World because like I said, I was so fascinated by their relationship. That is kind of cool. And finally, my list of books that I would recommend is well Behaved Women Seldom Make History. And you're like, wait, I heard that before. Yeah. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, who made that quote in one of her previous books, has a whole book that talks about specific women. And Elizabeth Cady Satan is one of them that she talks about in her, her wonderful writing style. So I, I enjoy that.

[Dan]

So I've got two biographies and then a kind of a collective biography. Lois W. Banner's Elizabeth Cady Stanton A Radical for Women's Rights is a paperback sized book, perfectly accessible. It's a lot of dates, if that's your thing. There's a lot of dates and a lot of specifics about pages. Unexpectedly, I bought an autographed copy of In Her Own Right, the Life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton by Elizabeth Griffith. Don't know if that's worth running now that I've ditched the dust cover. And then I highly recommend this one. That one's easy to read and I got a lot of good information out of that. If you would like to read kind of an encapsulated version using examples from each era of women's suffrage sisters. The Lives of Americus Suffrage by Jean H. Baker takes you from the beginnings where we are now all the way through to the votes. It's very accessible because it focuses on each woman as a representative of her era. And I really liked it.

[Becky]

Okay, let's leave you with this.

[Dan]

A quote from Elizabeth Cady Stanton herself. The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that's in us and are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls. Go forth. Thanks for listening.

[Becky]

Bye.

[Dan]

For show notes, links to the things we talked about today or to donate, please Visit [e-mail] if you'd like to send real life, please tell a few friends or leave a review for us on itunes. Our music comes courtesy of Musically. Visit them at musically music.mevio.com People in.

[E]

The hall calling out for love there's people down below all riled up in all across the town we got you calling it in a night and saying that you're through oh how I love that time when all you want is just to keep the fire oh you gotta a fine condition still all you want is just to keep on wishing you got a pattern that needs repeating I know you got a drum.

[Dan]

That.

[E]

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[Dan]

Yeah.

[E]

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