The First American Feminists - Essay Example

The First American Feminists The history of women in the United States has a long and complex history, with the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 being considered the beginning of the first wave of feminism. From here, women have continued to fight for equal rights, and this has been represented in literature for centuries. Women have often found a voice through literature, and in many instances literature written by women is the place where feminism is most evident. The purpose of this paper is to explore the first American feminists through two main pieces of literature: Declaration of Sentiments (Stanton, 1848) and Woman in the 19th Century (Fuller, 1843) and from supplementary works. Declaration of Sentiments is important because it is a document from the aforementioned Seneca Falls convention and was one of the first works to outline the female position in society and the rights which women lacked but felt they deserved. Woman in the 19th Century is a different work, based on transcendental beliefs and rejecting the way that society relies on keeping women in place. The work emphasizes both the similarities and the differences between men and women, and suggests that there are energies at work within the universe that unite the two genders. Both of these works have their place in the literature, and both of them have their own commendations and criticisms, which will be explored throughout this paper. It is through analysis of these works that the reader can really understand the position of women in the 19th Century and what they were fighting for. The purpose of this essay is to show that these women were literate and intelligent and most importantly gave a lot to the cause of equality that they were fighting for. Declaration of Sentiments One of the most difficult aspects of studying the Declaration of Sentiments as a work of literature is that it was not intended to receive literary criticism, as it is not a piece of literature as such. Therefore when 'literary criticisms' of the work are discussed, this generally refers to how the Declaration was received in the political and social spheres. One of the most important criticisms of the work is that it went against conventional mindsets and suggested a lot of changes be made at once (Kerber, 1976), something that is often very difficult in the political world. For example, it is possible to examine two of the (very long list of) sentiments and find that the Declaration is asking women to fight for two separate things. 'He has compelled her to submit to law in the formation of which she had no voice' (Stanton, 1848) suggests that women fight for suffrage, so that they have a say in the law to which they have to submit. 'He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education, all colleges being closed against her' (Stanton, 1848) suggests that women fight for equal rights in education. Whilst this is an admirable aim, and outlines all of the things that women now have access to and seem intuitive enough to those living in the 21st century, it is easy to see how this long list of rights may have been considered too much by some. Change was important to these first American feminists, but it must be considered that typical mindsets were completely against everything that the Declaration asked for, and thus they must have expected this initial backlash against the work. The Oneida Whig described the Declaration of Sentiments as 'the most shocking and unnatural event ever recorded in the history of womanity' (Bizzell & Herzberg, 1996), which just shows that the document (and the Seneca Falls Convention) were both viewed as unnatural and unnecessary. Not only does this reinforce the point above, that the document was trying to achieve too much change in too short a space of time, but it shows that the document was possible not worded in a persuasive enough manner. If the document contained less information and was written with the intention of showing the audience that these women were strong, independent and deserved the rights they had outlined in the Declaration of Sentiments, it may have had more success, literary and politically. However, to reinforce the thesis statement, it is important to note that whilst the Declaration had its oppositions, that the document did have 100 signatories. Whilst there were criticisms to be made of the document, the content of the Declaration of Sentiments was obviously worth the attention of many men and women. It is not fair to write off the Declaration as a failure simply because it did not attain the goals that were described within, as it did start a set of events rolling and it could be argued that women in the 21st century do have access to everything outlined in the Sentiments section. A positive aspect of the Declaration of Sentiments, is therefore, that it is a seminal piece of work in the American feminist canon. It set out a large number of aims for the feminist movement, such as 'He has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those she is permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration' (Stanton, 1848). This one in particular lies out the fact that females wanted to have employment and receive equal pay. Although pay is not quite equal between men and women, women in the 21st century are permitted to hold almost any job open to males. This again reinforces the fact that the work was the start of a bigger feminist movement that had a great impact on the American way of life and how women were perceived in society. This is important, as other feminist works have backed up the ideas outlined in the Declaration of Sentiments, and it could be suggested that the work paved the way for more positively received feminist literature. Additionally, it has been suggested that the work was well-written (Kerber, 1976), supporting the aspect of the thesis that suggests that these works highlighted the intelligence of the female gender and allowed them to continue forth with their aims and ideals. Woman in the 19th Century Caroline Healey Dall suggested that Woman in the 19th Century was 'doubtless the most brilliant, complete, and scholarly statement ever made on the subject' (Fuller, 1843). This supports the thesis statement in that it is evident from this one quote that Woman highlighted that feminist women were intelligent and educated. It also shows that the book was received well, perhaps better than Declaration of Sentiments, as Dall was not the only one to suggest that the book was of seminal importance and intelligently written. This quote from Dall also illustrates that this essay was instrumental in giving a voice to American feminists in the 19th century, and paved the way for further literary works on the topic. One of the most important aspects of Woman is how Fuller likens the life of women to the life of African-American slaves before the abolition movement. Fuller suggests that the statement 'All men are born free and equal' should be expanded to include compassion towards women (Fuller, 1843), something which was then taken up by the feminist movement and gave a lot to the fight towards equality between the sexes. Fuller goes on to expand on this opinion with 'It may well be an Anti-Slavery party that pleads for Woman' because she fully believes and maintains throughout the essay that those in the anti-Slavery movement are those that can lead to the abolition of what she considers to be slavery for women. This is an important literary technique in that it likens Fuller's plea to something already historically known and accepted, and she uses it to her persuasive advantage. This viewpoint has given a lot to the feminist movement. One major criticism of the work was by Rufus Wilmot Griswold, who suggested that the essay was 'an eloquent expression of her discontent at having been created female' (Gustafson, 1995). The fact that Griswold, whilst trying to give the work a negative review had to mention that the work was well-written suggests that Fuller's intelligence was so apparent that it had to be mentioned even by her critics. Again, this supports the thesis that these two seminal works highlighted the intelligence of these American women although in this case Fuller's intelligence does not seem to have helped her win over her opposition. However, it must be noted that these negative criticisms were well-balanced with the positive criticisms outlined above, and perhaps even enhanced the popularity of the piece. This will have, in turn, allowed Fuller's work to have become more well-known and a seminal piece of feminist literature that was used by many in the decades after publication to explain and communicate the feminist ideals. Another criticism of Fuller's work is that it was merely literary and not useful in the political sphere towards which it was aimed. This is because oratory politics were considered more important in the 19th century (Gustafson, 1995). However, it was difficult for women to reach a large audience in an oratory manner, as there were difficulties in allowing women to speak publicly. Again, this highlights not only the difficulties facing women in the 19th century but shows that Fuller contributed a lot to feminism using the tools available. It is evident from the work that Fuller had a good grasp of the English language and knew how to exploit it to get her point across in the context of transcendentalism, something which was gaining force within many circles of the era. It also shows that Fuller fully understood that she would reach a larger audience and perhaps receive less criticism (which may have been detrimental to the cause) by publishing her thoughts in written form. It has been said that Woman in the 19th Century was the first published feminist work of its kind in the United States, and this just shows the importance of the work within American feminist history. It also paved the way for women to contribute orally to politics in a fashion thought more appropriate for men at the time, showing how important this work was for women's rights. Conclusion In conclusion, it is fair to say that both the Declaration of Sentiments and Woman in the 19th Century both fully support the thesis statement outlined in the opening paragraphs. They were both written in an intelligent and direct manner by women who were well read and knew how to communicate their thoughts on women's write in a literary manner. Both also are considered seminal works in American feminism because they were amongst the first to properly indicate what women felt they deserved from society. The Seneca Falls Convention was the first of its kind, and publishing the Declaration of Sentiments allowed the proceedings to be available to a wider audience. It can be said that this was probably one of the main reasons that women's conventions did not die out after this initial attempt, but proliferated around the country. This highlights how important the work was in bringing American feminism to the forefront of the public consciousness. Woman in the 19th Century achieved similar things, by being published nationally it brought feminism and women's rights to public attention, and paved the way for similar essays to be published on the topic. It can be said that from the use of persuasive, well-written words that these two examples of literature began the chain of events that has led to the situation American women are in today, and thus have achieved the aims of the authors. Works Cited Bizzell, P., and B. Herzberg. Negotiating Difference: Cultural Case Studies for Composition: Editor’s Notes. Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press, 1996. Print. Fuller, Margaret. “The Great Lawsuit.  Man versus Men.  Woman versus Women.’.” The Essential Margaret Fuller (1843): Print. Gustafson, Sandra M.. “Choosing a Medium:  Margaret Fuller and the Forms of Sentiment.” American Quarterly 47.1 (1995): 34–65. Kerber, L.K. “From the Declaration of Independence to the Declaration of Sentiments: The Legal Status of Women in the Early Republic 1776-1848.” Hum. Rts. 6 (1976): 115. Print. Stanton, E.C., and others. Declaration of sentiments. Applewood Books, 2002. Print. Read More