Procedures

• WARM-UP:

  Before beginning class, have the students brainstorm answers to the following question:

  • How have the rights for women changed since the founding of the United States?

• VOCABULARY INTRODUCTION:

  After discussing how rights for women have changed, introduce students to the vocabulary that will be used throughout the lesson. Have them research these terms and define them in their own words.

  Students can use the handout, to complete this activity.

  HANDOUT: The Seneca Falls Convention and the Declaration of Sentiment (Google Doc)

  • Abolitionism

  • Antislavery Movement

  • Enfranchisement

  • Franchise

  • Inherent Rights

  • Self-Evident

  • Sentiments

  • Suffrage

• EXPLORATION:

  Using the handout linked below have the student view each of the following video clips. Students will answer questions for each clip as they watch. Based on the video clips, they will make a list of events and ideas that contributed to the ideas included in the Declaration of Sentiments.

  HANDOUT: The Seneca Falls Convention and the Declaration of Sentiment (Google Doc)

• VIDEO CLIP 1: Women's Rights Prior to the 1948 Seneca Falls Convention (4:51)

  • Describe the debate over women’s rights during the early 1800s.

  • What impact did Mary Wollstonecraft have on the idea of women’s rights?

  • How did voting change in the Jacksonian period? How did this impact the argument for women’s rights?

  • Describe the events and ideas that contributed to the women’s rights movement.

• VIDEO CLIP 2: Lucretia Mott and the Seneca Falls Convention (2:58)

  • How did Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s background in the antislavery movement relate to their beliefs about women’s equality?

  • What similar events preceded the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention?

  • Describe the events and ideas that contributed to the women’s rights movement.

• VIDEO CLIP 3: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Seneca Falls Convention (3:08)

  • What role did abolitionism and the antislavery movement play in the women’s rights movement?

  • Why does Dr. Ginzberg describe the Seneca Fall Convention as “radical?”

  • Why did attendees at the Seneca Falls Convention oppose the inclusion of women’s suffrage in the Declaration of Sentiments?

  • Describe the events and ideas that contributed to the women’s rights movement.

• VIDEO CLIP 4: Suffrage at the Seneca Falls Convention (4:57)

  • How was the early women’s rights movement tied to the abolitionist movement?

  • What demands did attendees at the Seneca Falls Convention want to include in the Declaration of Sentiments?

  • How did Frederick Douglass convince attendees at the Seneca Falls Convention to include suffrage in the Declaration of Sentiments? What arguments did he make?

  • How did this coalition of abolitionists and women’s rights activists change after the Civil War?

  • Describe the events and ideas that contributed to the women’s rights movement.

• VIDEO CLIP 5: The Seneca Falls Convention (5:00)

  • Describe the attendees of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848.

  • Which document is the Declaration of Sentiments modeled off? Why did they do this?

  • What is meant by “he” in the Declaration of Sentiments?

  • What types of rights are included in the Declaration of Sentiments?

  • What was the purpose of the Seneca Fall’s Declaration of Sentiments?

  • Describe the events and ideas that contributed to the women’s rights movement.

• APPLICATION: After reviewing answers with students and addressing any misconceptions, have the students read the text of The Declaration of Sentiments using the handout (Google Doc). After reading the text, have the students complete the chart included below the text to provide the following information.

  • Choose five statements or complaints included in the Declaration of Sentiments.

  • Summarize what this means in your own words.

  • How does this statement or complaint relate to the events and ideas that contributed to the Seneca Falls Convention?

  • Is this specific statement or complaint still applicable today? Explain your answer.

• CONCLUSION:

  As an exit slip, have the students respond to the following prompt:

  • How did the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention advance the women’s rights movement in the United States?

• EXTENSION/ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITIES:

  Paired Texts: The Declaration of Independence- Use the Paired Texts handout (Google Doc) to compare similar excerpts from the 1848 Seneca Fall’s Declaration of Sentiments and the 1776 Declaration of Independence. Identify differences between the excerpts and use that to evaluate how the Declaration of Sentiments achieves its purposes.

• ADDITIONAL PROMPTS:

  • How did the Declaration of Sentiments reflect the events and ideas occurring at the time?

  • How united were abolitionists and women’s rights activists in their goals expanding rights for all?

  • Why did attendees at Seneca Falls model their document after the Declaration of Independence? Was this effective?

  • How were the antislavery movement and the women’s rights movement similar in their goals? How were they different?