Kalia Hayes

Kris Kirk
RHET 1301
10/4/16
To Whom It May Concern
In modern times, it is debatable whether or not the best protection any woman can have
is courage (Stanton). This is attributed by the fact that women have earned more protection
under the law since the birth of our nation. However, in 1848 this was nothing shy from the truth
in Stantons eyes. Stanton, a steadfast powerhouse at the forefront of the fight for womens
equality in the United States, drafted her lists of grievances concerning womens suffrage and
equality and debuted them at what is now known as the Seneca Falls Convention under the title
The Declaration of Sentiments. Stanton begins her argument by directly stating her grievances;
however, underlying and supporting her direct approach are appeals to logos and pathos in the
form of hard facts and emotionally supported truths that only women can truly relate to.
Although, it is important to note that said facts are formatted with the use of anaphora which
succeeds in reminding the audience that it is solely he who makes the laws that women are
subjected to and adds a sense of urgency to the issue at hand that even those not directly affected
can sense and assess.
Regarding the nature of the message behind The Declaration of Sentiments, it is
understandable that Stanton would want to reach the ears of women all throughout the United
States as they are all directly affected. Throughout her declaration this is most successfully
achieved by appealing to the emotions of women. When a woman listens to and analyzes the
following quote, 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

Kalia Hayes
Kris Kirk
RHET 1301
10/4/16
her, it becomes a catalyst for self and situational reflection. (Stanton) Concerning the appeal to
the self-interest of women, usage of pathos is a surefire way to persuade and convince women to
band together and make a change. Stanton wants the audience to evaluate the treatment of
women under the law negatively, and appeals to emotion, such as stating that 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 (Stanton) succeeds in arousing anger within those directly and emotionally
impacted. Ultimately, an emotional connectedness is established between women and Stanton as
she shines light on a problem that all women are facing and demands for womens rights to be
reevaluated and readjusted.
Branching out from an attempt to connect with women on an emotional level, through the use
of logical appeals, Stanton is able to more robustly convey her message to the audience to the
point where one does not have to be a victim of the oppression to understand the problem.
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. (Stanton)

Kalia Hayes
Kris Kirk
RHET 1301
10/4/16
Stanton is forthright in some of her lists of grievances by presenting cold hard facts that leave no
wiggle room for emotionally supported reasoning as seen in the above quote. The issues
surrounding womens rights are clearly and directly stated and enable anyone to be able to
understand exactly what it is that women go through. With that being said, Stanton goes beyond
gossiping with women about the tribulations they face hoping that they would all band together
to fight the unjust, to opening the discussion up to everyone, even those not directly affected, and
giving everyone room to deduce their own conclusion from the facts she lists. Then, the audience
is in a position to decide whether or not they support her list of grievances.
When Stanton officially submits the facts to a candid world it is formatted similarly to the
way the Declaration of Independence is formatted with the repetition of the word he at the
beginning of each grievance. The usage of anaphora not only allows the audience to understand
the problem, but also allows them to identify where it all stems from and how detrimental the
problem is to those affected. When the audience hears or reads 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 denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education, all colleges being
closed against her, (Stanton) they are reminded by Stanton that it is solely he who creates the
laws by which women are subjected to, yet not fully represented by. With this in mind, the usage
of anaphora adds a sense of urgency to her purpose and demands by emphasizing the prevalence
of men reigning over women. Also, another lasting effect of the repetition throughout the list of

Kalia Hayes
Kris Kirk
RHET 1301
10/4/16
grievances is to give the impression that the list of wrongdoings just goes on and on; which to
some people it does.
Stanton successfully informed the people of the United States about the mistreatment of
women under the law by appealing to emotions and logic which each had differing effects on her
audience but also enabled her to connect, in one way or another, to her listeners. Stanton even
used techniques such as parallel repetition to insure that her message resonates in the mind of her
audience members. Although Stanton purposefully followed the same format as the Declaration
of Independence, her own declarations were not as openly accepted as those listed in the
Declaration of Independence. As a result, her argument, which was the first of its kind to gain so
much attention, was weakened by the lack of a method toward remediation. Had she followed
through and offered resolutions to each of her grievances, her message would have been
perceived as more than a biased radical approach to changing conventional mindsets.