Convention Organizer and Leader:

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Position: For the Declaration of Sentiments
Personal Background: Born in New York in
1815. Her father was a lawyer that would
have rather had a son. As such, she tried to
excel in male areas, like becoming an
intellectual. She married Henry Stanton,
who was a reformer, in 1840. They went to
the Worlds Anti-Slavery Convention in
London for their honeymoon. Women
were left out of the convention and she
joined other women in their objections to
being excluded. Henry Stanton studied to
become a lawyer and the two had 7
children. They eventually settled in Seneca
Falls, NY, where the convention would
eventually be held.
Background in Womens Rights: Elizabeth
Cady Stanton met Lucretia Mott in 1842.
They immediately began discussing the
possibility of a convention regarding
womens rights. In 1848, Stanton, Mott,
Wright, McClintock, and one other, Jane
Hunt, met after a Quaker Church service.
They discussed womens subservient place in society and decided to hold a Womens Rights Convention
in the immediate future. Stanton helped draft the Declaration of Sentiments, using the Declaration of
Independence as a template. The convention was to begin on July 19, 1848.
The Seneca Falls Convention: The convention lasted 3 days, starting on July 19, 1848 and closing on July
21, 1848. The convention included over 200 women and (on the 2nd and 3rd days) 40 men. 100 of these
attendees would end up signing the Declaration of Sentiments. Elizabeth Cady Stanton opens the
convention and works toward getting all attendees to sign the Declaration of Sentiments.
During the Simulation: You will open the convention and deliver a speech that urges women to take
control of their lives and to sign the Declaration of Sentiments, which includes grievances of all women.
After the closing speech by Lucretia Mott, you will call everyone forward to sign the Declaration of
Sentiments, including yourself. After everyone has signed, you will post the Declaration of Sentiments
on the board.

Convention Organizer and Leader:

Lucretia Mott
Position: For the Declaration of
Sentiments
Personal Background: Born in
Massachusetts in 1793. Lucretia was born
into a family of Quakers and was raised to
be a reformer. As a teenager, she
attended a Quaker Boarding School in
New York, where she stayed and worked
as a teaching assistant. She met James
Mott at the school and they were married
in 1811. She became a Quaker minister in
1821 and her and her husband attended
the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention
in London. This is where she met
Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Womens Rights Background: As a
Quaker and a social reformer, Lucretia
Mott fought for many different causes,
including abolition and womens rights.
Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
discussed the possibility of a womens rights convention and made that a reality in 1848 with the Seneca
Falls Convention.
The Seneca Falls Convention: The convention lasted 3 days, starting on July 19, 1848 and closing on July
21, 1848. The convention included over 200 women and (on the 2nd and 3rd days) 40 men. 100 of these
attendees would end up signing the Declaration of Sentiments. Lucretia Mott is the second to speak at
the Seneca Falls Convention and gives the Closing Statement.
During the Simulation: You will deliver your speech after Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Your speech should try
to persuade all of the attendees to sign onto the Declaration of Sentiments. After you give your speech,
you will aid Elizabeth Cady Stanton in reading the Declaration of Sentiments in its entirety. You will also
give the closing speech of the convention, urging all attendees to sign the Declaration. You will sign on
to the Declaration of Sentiments afterwards.

Convention Organizer:
Martha Wright
Position: For the Declaration of
Sentiments
Personal Background: Martha
was born in Massachusetts in
1806. She was the younger sister
of Lucretia Mott, and like her
sister was educated in Quaker
schools in Philadelphia. She
married Peter Pelham in 1824
and moved with him to Florida,
where they had a daughter.
Peter died in 1826. Martha
moved to upstate New York to
teach at a Quaker school. She
then married David Wright and
they had 6 more children.
Womens Rights Background: As
a Quaker and the younger sister
of Lucretia Mott, she was a big
supporter of social reform,
including womens rights. Her
sister visited her home in
Auburn New York in 1848.
During this visit, the two sisters, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mary Ann McClintock, and others
planned and organized the Seneca Falls Convention.
The Seneca Falls Convention: The convention lasted 3 days, starting on July 19, 1848 and closing on July
21, 1848. The convention included over 200 women and (on the 2nd and 3rd days) 40 men. 100 of these
attendees would end up signing the Declaration of Sentiments. Marth Wright participates some in the
convention, but is not as involved as her sister or the other organizers.
During the Simulation: You will deliver your comments after Lucretia Mott. Your speech should be a
satire (a humorous portrayal) of mens treatment of women. You should include a discussion of
womens duties in the home and the man giving the woman advice on how to do those duties. Include
any other issues that were occurring at the time. You will end up signing on to the Declaration of
Sentiments.

Convention Organizer:
Mary Ann McClintock
Position: For the Declaration
of Sentiments
Personal Background: Mary
Ann was born in 1800 to
Quaker parents. She married
Thomas McClintock, a fellow
Quaker in 1820 and the two
lived in Philadelphia for 17
years. They had 5 children.
Mary Ann was recognized as
a Quaker minister and a
social activist, having helped
found the Philadelphia
Female Anti-Slavery Society.
She moved with her family to
Waterloo, New York in 1836.
Womens Rights
Background: Mary Ann
joined the group of
organizers of the Seneca Falls
Convention when they met in
1848. Having been a Quaker
and a social activist, she was
in strong support of equality
and freedom, for all people.
She was one of the main organizers of the Convention and housed the meeting in which they wrote the
Declaration of Sentiments.
The Seneca Falls Convention: The convention lasted 3 days, starting on July 19, 1848 and closing on July
21, 1848. The convention included over 200 women and (on the 2nd and 3rd days) 40 men. 100 of these
attendees would end up signing the Declaration of Sentiments. Mary Ann, her husband Thomas, and her
daughter Elizabeth all played a very large role in the Convention.
During the Simulation: You will deliver a speech after Frederick Douglass and before Lucretia Mott gives
her closing address. Your speech should ask women to stop being lethargic and apathetic about their
own lives. You want women to be true to themselves and to God by taking a stand for their own
equality. You will end up signing on to the Declaration of Sentiments.

Convention Attendee: Amy Post

Position: For the Declaration of
Sentiments
Personal Background: Amy was
born in New York in 1802 to Quaker
parents. She was taught the
importance of humanitarian reform
in her early education. In 1821,
Isaac Post married Amys older
sister, Hannah, but Hannah soon
fell ill. Amy moved in with her sister
and Isaac to help care for their 2
children. Hannah soon died and
Amy stayed to help with the kids.
Isaac and Amy would marry in 1828
and have 4 more children. The two
moved to New York in 1836 and
took up many radical causes.
Womens Rights Background: Amy
and her husband belonged to a
radical wing of Quakers that
staunchly supported abolition and
womens rights. Amy and her stepdaughter would attend the Seneca
Fall Convention and sign on to the
Declaration of Sentiments.
The Seneca Falls Convention: The
convention lasted 3 days, starting
on July 19, 1848 and closing on July
21, 1848. The convention included
over 200 women and (on the 2nd
and 3rd days) 40 men. 100 of these attendees would end up signing the Declaration of Sentiments. Amy
and her step-daughter attended the conference and advocated for womens rights.
During the Simulation: You will respond to the speeches by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott,
Martha Wright, and Mary Ann McClintock. You will comment in support of the Declaration of
Sentiments and will sign on to it at the end of the convention.

Convention Attendee:
Frederick Douglass
Position: For the Declaration of
Sentiments
Personal Background: Frederick
Douglass was born into slavery in
1818. He became a freeman in
1838 when he escaped slavery
and made his way through
Philadelphia and eventually to
New York. He married Anna
Murray that same year and they
settled in Bedford,
Massachusetts. He became a
preacher, statesman, and social
activist. He fought for abolition
and womens rights.
Womens Rights Background:
Frederick Douglass supported all
social reform that would lead to
equality. He was the only African
American to attend the Seneca
Falls Convention and only one of
40 men to do so. He believed that
he could not argue for the right to
vote as a black man and not give that same right to women.
The Seneca Falls Convention: The convention lasted 3 days, starting on July 19, 1848 and closing on July
21, 1848. The convention included over 200 women and (on the 2nd and 3rd days) 40 men. 100 of these
attendees would end up signing the Declaration of Sentiments. Douglass presents a speech at the
Convention and will sign the Declaration of Sentiments.
During the Simulation: You will make a speech following Ansel Bascom. You will speak in favor of giving
women the same rights as men, in particular the right to vote. You believe that all rights you would
request as a black man should be the same rights given to women. You will end up signing on to the
Declaration of Sentiments.

Convention Attendee:
Amelia Bloomer
Position: Against the
Declaration of Sentiments
Personal Background: Amelia
was born in 1818 in Homer,
New York. She only received a
few years of education and
worked as a governess to a
family in New York. She
married Dexter Bloomer when
she was 22 years old. She was
a social activist known for the
temperance movement and
womens rights.
Womens Rights Background:
At the time of the womens
rights movement, Amelia
Bloomer was more concerned
with the temperance
movement. While she did
support womens rights, she
did not sign on to the
Declaration of Sentiments,
believing that temperance was the more important issue.
The Seneca Falls Convention: The convention lasted 3 days, starting on July 19, 1848 and closing on July
21, 1848. The convention included over 200 women and (on the 2nd and 3rd days) 40 men. 100 of these
attendees would end up signing the Declaration of Sentiments. Amelia attends the conference and will
not end up signing the Declaration of Sentiments.
During the Simulation: Your goal is to refocus everyone back to the temperance movement. You will
make comments after each speech in support of their ideas, but attempting to redirect the discussion.
You will not sign the Declaration of Sentiments.

Convention Attendee: Ansel Bascom

Position: Against the Declaration of Sentiments
Personal Background: Born in New York in 1797. He
married and had 5 children. Ansel was elected the first
Mayor of Seneca Falls in the early 1930s. He was a member
of the Constitutional Convention held in Albany and an
Assemblymember in New York, a state that had just passed
a bill regarding womens property rights.
Womens Rights Background: Ansel Bascom attended the
Seneca Falls Convention and spoke in length about the bill
recently passed by the New York legislature regarding
womens property rights. He would not sign onto the
Declaration of Sentiments because he believed that it was
too bold and unnecessary.
The Seneca Falls Convention: The convention lasted 3 days, starting on July 19, 1848 and closing on July
21, 1848. The convention included over 200 women and (on the 2nd and 3rd days) 40 men. 100 of these
attendees would end up signing the Declaration of Sentiments. Ansel attends the conference, makes
comments regarding existing legislation, and will not end up signing the Declaration of Sentiments.
During the Simulation: Your goal is to convince everyone that this convention is unnecessary because
other laws have been passed that help women. You will make a speech following Martha Wright that
discusses new legislation that protects property rights for women, even after a divorce. You will not sign
on to the Declaration of Sentiments.