The Road to Seneca Falls: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the First Woman's Rights Convention

Women, Gender, and Sexuality in American History

by Judith Wellman

Feminists from 1848 to the present have rightly viewed the Seneca Falls convention as the birth of the women's rights movement in the United States and beyond. In The Road To Seneca Falls , Judith Wellman offers the first well documented, full-length account of this historic meeting in its contemporary context.                               
 
The convention succeeded by uniting powerful elements of the antislavery movement, radical Quakers, and the campaign for legal reform under a common cause. Wellman shows that these three strands converged not only in Seneca Falls, but also in the life of women's rights pioneer Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It is this convergence, she argues, that foments one of the greatest rebellions of modern times.
 
Rather than working heavy-handedly downward from their official "Declaration of Sentiments," Wellman works upward from richly detailed documentary evidence to construct a complex tapestry of causes that lay behind the convention, bringing the struggle to life. Her approach results in a satisfying combination of social, community, and reform history with individual and collective biographical elements. 
 
The Road to Seneca Falls challenges all of us to reflect on what it means to be an American trying to implement the belief that "all men and women are created equal," both then and now. A fascinating story in its own right, it is also a seminal piece of scholarship for anyone interested in history, politics, or gender.
 

Genres: History, Feminism, Nonfiction, Womens

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

Reviews

[Francesca Calarco · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are searching for a good source on the life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the push for women’s suffrage and civil rights at Seneca Falls, New York—then this volume by Judith Wellman is pretty solid. Stylistically, I cannot say I am a fan of the dramatization of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s life in the early chapters. However, once Wellman moves onto the history of the early women’s voting rights movement(s), the historical narrative proves to be quite informative. At the very least, this book was most certainly created as a work of passion.

[David Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Cady Stanton may be the Thomas Jefferson of the women's rights movement, often taking center stage and overshadowing the other major players involved in the push for equal rights. Without downplaying Stanton’s status and contributions, professor Judith Wellman expands on her legacy by taking a community-oriented approach to the advancements of the women's rights movement of the early nineteenth century. Stanton is still a core figure, but Wellman’s history expands outward to include all of the other people and situations in her orbit, from her fellow reformers to the Quaker church to new technology and industry to the local politics of central New York state.

The movement that would lead to the Seneca Fall Convention of 1848, in some regards, almost happened by accident. Not only did religious and economic shifts in the population align, but the women who began as abolitionists and teetotalers only shifted their focus to gender disparities when they were blocked from speaking in public and taking leadership positions on these initial moral issues. Even male reformers of the time who were ostensibly in favor of women’s rights–such as Henry Stanton, Elizabeth’s husband–were opposed to female leadership, claiming it would detract from the more pressing issue of slavery.

Aside from jumpstarting the movement, this division between certain factions of nineteenth century progressives also raises one of the more interesting and still relevant questions of the book: is a single-minded focus on the worst issue of the day necessary, or is it possible to address a number of problem issues effectively all at once? The pragmatist might agree with the former and the cynic with the latter. It’s easy to imagine a world better on all accounts, but it’s, perhaps, even easier to prevaricate around important issues by merely pressing on another.

The book contains quite a few other rich details: the Quakers and their own Hicksite rebellion, industrialization and the split between rich women allowed to perfect their femininity and the poor women forced into low wage factory jobs, the quick and fervent backlash to the convention, enough to cause most signers to renege on their complicity. Only occasionally does it feel repetitive or poorly structured, as Wellman has a tendency to dole out little details early on and then wait too long to circle back with the requisite additional info.

[Steve Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good information about the lead-up to Seneca Falls. The author does an excellent job of interweaving all the different reform movements in Western New York and arguing how they all had a cumulative effect on Stanton and the others involved. Very informative.

[Genie Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely detailed with a timeline hard to follow.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though this is hardly a proper review, I need to type something to keep this book in my mind for class tomorrow.

The Road to Seneca Falls: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the First Woman's Rights Convention has some slow spots, as is to be expected from an academic history, but it does an impressive job of avoiding dryness. Though some of this is due to a light writing style and anecdotes about Lucretia Mott swearing at dinner, more of it is due to the fact that this book balances biography and the big picture really well. As jarring as it can be to jump from chapters about the life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton to summaries of the growth of industry in Seneca Falls, these jumps prevent monotony and help to bring together the titular final event pretty well.

I don't know what the rest of the books for my historical readings class will be like this semester, but with this, the class is off to a pretty good start.

[Valerie]

I'm not sure this is the book I read: it was certainly not this edition, anyway.

The origins of feminism in the US owe a lot to the abolitionist movement, which was the first political movement most feminists were involved in.

Tracing the history of feminism in the nineteenth century is important, because (for one thing) it illustrates the hazards of putting all your eggs in one basket. The early feminists were a broad-spectrum movement, encompassing people who championed all sorts of reforms. By becoming too focused on the franchise (which was very important, of course, but not a be-all nor an end-all, they gained fairly unanimous support (those who didn't support votes for women were rarely feminists), but they lost momentum in other areas. Sometimes it DOESN'T pay to be 'focused'--and there's a tendency along those lines in present feminist movements, as well.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating account of the very long road to suffrage in our country! I was honestly floored by the prevailing ideas about the differences between the sexes in the mid 19th century. Even more astounding was the time and effort a small number of women (and a few men) put into the campaign for suffrage and more importantly, women's rights, with so little that changed. For more than 50 years, Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (and others) fought nearly constantly for women's rights and still died more than 15 years _before_ the passing of the 19th Amendment.

(Huge thanks to Cathie Watson Short for recommending this book!)

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read this whole book, but am citing it in an entry for the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Motherhood essay I am writing. The few bits of this book I have read have been really good. It focuses on the years building up to the Seneca Falls convention (as it says in the title) and gives a deeper view into how the feminist movement was born in the USA. I hope to figure out a way to incorporate this into my future (not-yet-scheduled) PhD on feminist organizations.

[Hapzydeco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Students interested in researching the roots of the Women’s Rights Movement will find this examination of Stanton and the 1848 Woman’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, New York an excellent place to begin. Wellman describes the event within its social context and reveals how Stanton’s leadership united radical Quakers, Abolitionists, and legal reformers to promote the belief that “All men and women are created equal.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much-needed look at the local context of the 1st Women's Rights Convention in the U.S. Nice job placing you within the everyday lives of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others in 1848 Seneca Falls, NY.