(1815–1902). When Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a child, her father told her, “Oh, my daughter, I wish you were a boy!” She never forgot those words. Stanton grew up to become one of the founders of the women's rights movement in the United States. She played an important role in gaining for women the right to vote.

Early life

Elizabeth Cady was born in Johnstown, New York, on November 12, 1815. She studied law with her father and was an excellent student in Greek, Latin, and mathematics. However, colleges at that time did not accept women. Instead, she attended Troy Female Seminary in New York. That school was among the first to offer women a college-level education.

In 1840 Cady married a lawyer, Henry Stanton. The couple supported an end to slavery in the United States. As part of their honeymoon, the Stantons traveled to the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in London. To Stanton's surprise, the convention refused to allow women to participate. Stanton and other women, including her future friend Lucretia Mott, were outraged.

Career

In 1848 Stanton and Mott called for a women's rights meeting at Seneca Falls, New York. Stanton knew that women in the United States faced severe problems. If a woman married, her property and wages legally belonged to her husband. She could not sign a contract or write a will. Divorce was very difficult, even if men abused their wives. Women could not vote, and they could not easily attend college or start careers.

At Seneca Falls in 1848, Stanton helped to write the Declaration of Sentiments, which was modeled after the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Sentiments stated that all men and women were created equal. It called for easier divorce laws. It demanded an end to discrimination against women in employment, pay, and education. It said that married women should have the right to keep their property and wages.

Stanton also suggested that women should be allowed to vote. That right was known as women's suffrage. She felt it was unfair that women had to obey the laws but could not vote. The colonists who wrote the Declaration of Independence had fought the American Revolution on the same principle. After much arguing over women's suffrage, 68 women and 32 men signed the Declaration of Sentiments. The women's rights movement in the United States had begun.

After 1851 Stanton worked closely with another women's rights activist, Susan B. Anthony. They gave speeches, talked to politicians, and wrote books and pamphlets. Stanton was usually the writer and speaker, while Anthony was the better organizer.

After the Civil War, the U.S. Constitution was changed to allow all male citizens to vote. Stanton and Anthony were outraged that women were not included. Together they founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) in 1869. Stanton served as president of the NWSA for 20 years. She then served as president of the new National American Woman Suffrage Association until 1892.

Late career and death

Stanton never thought the right to vote was the only goal of the women's movement. She also took daring stands on social concerns. For example, she called for more comfortable women's clothes and for easier divorce. After Stanton's seven children grew up, she traveled across the United States to spread her ideas. She gave speeches on many issues important to women.

In 1895 Stanton published The Woman's Bible. In it, she criticized the way that some Christian leaders had used religious ideas to keep women down. Many women feared that Stanton's attack on religion would hurt the cause of women's suffrage. Stanton drifted farther from the mainstream of the women's movement.

Stanton died in New York City on October 26, 1902. Her daughter, Harriot Stanton Blatch, continued the fight for women's suffrage and equal rights. Women in the United States finally gained the right to vote in 1920.