Patricia Anthis
Professor Matthew Coulter
History 1301 Tuesday 7pm
November 17, 2015
Three Women that helped Advance Women’s Rights Abigail Adams made her strongest appeal for women’s rights in her letters of 1776. Abigail wrote “Remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.” She went on to write “Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could.” Those statements stressed her concern for how the women would be treated. Abigail sensed the struggles that were to come by her statement “If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies we are determined to ferment a rebellion.” She understood the unfairness of making one group subject to the will of another. John Adams response of “We know better than to repeal our masculine system.” Did not please Abigail. It was obvious by her response in a subsequent letter. Abigail wrote “Whilst you are proclaiming peace and good will to Men, Emancipating all Nations, you insist upon retaining an absolute power over wives.” That response said it all. It was obvious that she saw the hypocrisy in the Founding Fathers quest for equality. While they were fighting for freedom, they found it acceptable to suppress the rights of women denying them equal freedom. Abigail Adams was ahead of her time. She did not have a great impact on eighteenth century America but her ideas would continue to spread for generations to come. Women’s rights activists remained small throughout the first half of the nineteenth century. Women began to play a greater role in the public sphere by participating in various reform movements. One such movement was the Seneca Falls Convention. The Declaration of Independence was used as a model for the Declaration of Sentiments that was presented at the first Women’s Rights Convention in