Quick Facts
- NAME: Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- OCCUPATION: Women's Rights Activist
- BIRTH DATE: November 12, 1815
- DEATH DATE: October 26, 1902
- EDUCATION: Johnstown Academy, Troy Female Seminary
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Johnstown, New York
- PLACE OF DEATH: New York, Unites States
Best Known For
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an early leader of the woman's rights movement, writing the Declaration of Sentiments as a call to arms for female equality.
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Elizabeth Cady Stanton - Pioneer for Woman's Suffrage (1:14)
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Elizabeth Cady Stanton - Pioneer for Woman's Suffrage
Watch a short video about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and how she influenced a generation of women suffragettes, including Susan B. Anthony.
Susan B. Anthony - A Powerful Friend
When Susan B. Anthony combined forces with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, they were unstoppable.
Susan B. Anthony - Mini Biography
Susan B. Anthony was a prominent women's rights activist in 19th century America who initiated the women's suffrage movement. She was active in the anti-slavery movement before the Civil War.
Susan B. Anthony - An Act of Courage
If the men in power were not going to give women the right to vote, Susan B. Anthony and her followers were going to have to take it.
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Play NowElizabeth Cady Stanton. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 12:14, May 22, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-cady-stanton-9492182.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-cady-stanton-9492182 [Accessed 22 May 2013].
"Elizabeth Cady Stanton." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 22 2013, 12:14 http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-cady-stanton-9492182.
"Elizabeth Cady Stanton," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-cady-stanton-9492182 [accessed May 22, 2013].
"Elizabeth Cady Stanton," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-cady-stanton-9492182 (accessed May 22, 2013).
Elizabeth Cady Stanton [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 22] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-cady-stanton-9492182.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-cady-stanton-9492182 (last visited May 22, 2013).
Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-cady-stanton-9492182. Accessed May 22, 2013.
Synopsis
Born on November 12, 1815, in Johnstown, New York, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an abolitionist and leading figure of the early woman's movement. An eloquent writer, her Declaration of Sentiments was a revolutionary call for women's rights across a variety of spectrums. Stanton was the president of the National Woman Suffrage Association for 20 years and worked closely with Susan B. Anthony.
Early Life
Women's rights activist, feminist, editor, and writer. Born on November 12, 1815, in Johnstown, New York. The daughter of a lawyer who made no secret of his preference for another son, she early showed her desire to excel in intellectual and other "male" spheres. She graduated from the Emma Willard's Troy Female Seminary in 1832 and then was drawn to the abolitionist, temperance, and women's rights movements through visits to the home of her cousin, the reformer Gerrit Smith.
In 1840 Elizabeth Cady Stanton married a reformer Henry Stanton (omitting “obey” from the marriage oath), and they went at once to the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in London, where she joined other women in objecting to their exclusion from the assembly. On returning to the United States, Elizabeth and Henry had seven children while he studied and practiced law, and eventually they settled in Seneca Falls, New York.
Women's Rights Movement
With Lucretia Mott and several other women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton held the famous Seneca Falls Convention in July 1848. At this meeting, the attendees drew up its “Declaration of Sentiments” and took the lead in proposing that women be granted the right to vote. She continued to write and lecture on women's rights and other reforms of the day. After meeting Susan B Anthony in the early 1850s, she was one of the leaders in promoting women's rights in general (such as divorce) and the right to vote in particular.
During the Civil War Elizabeth Cady Stanton concentrated her efforts on abolishing slavery, but afterwards she became even more outspoken in promoting women suffrage. In 1868, she worked with Susan B. Anthony on the Revolution, a militant weekly paper. The two then formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) in 1869. Stanton was the NWSA’s first president - a position she held until 1890. At that time the organization merged with another suffrage group to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Stanton served as the president of the new organization for two years.
Later Work
As a part of her work on behalf of women’s rights, Elizabeth Cady Stanton often traveled to give lectures and speeches. She called for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote. Stanton also worked with Anthony on the first three volumes of the History of Woman Suffrage (1881–6). Matilda Joslyn Gage also worked with the pair on parts of the project.
Besides chronicling the history of the suffrage movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton took on the role religion played in the struggle for equal rights for women.
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Famous Women's Rights Activists
View groupWomen and men have continued the call for full-fledged women’s rights in a number of venues, including voting access, fair treatment in the workplace and reproductive and sexual freedom. Find out more about this eclectic and electric group of global activists who include Shirin Ebadi, Coretta Scott King, Asra Nomani and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Visit Biography.com's Women's History group to explore more biographies, photos and videos of some the world's most fascinating women.
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Famous Suffragettes
View groupWith Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony began working to establish women's right to vote in the mid-1800s. Unfortunately, Anthony never got to see the impact of her efforts—the 19th Amendment, granting women the righ to vote, was passed on August 26, 1920, more than a decade after Anthony's death—but hers remains one of the most important stories in women's history. Explpre this group to learn more about Anthony and other leading suffragettes, including Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Louisa May Alcott, Alice Paul, Dorothy Day, Amelia Bloomer and Jeannette Rankin.
Visit Biography.com's Women's History group to explore more biographies, photos and videos of some the world's most fascinating women.
Famous Suffragettes 39 people in this group

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