We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Declaration of Independence of the new American nation, whose independence is celebrated on July 4?
Read it more carefully: the Declaration of Independence did not include the key phrase "and women."
No, not the Declaration of Independence. This is part of the 1848 Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments, which was a key document founding not a nation, but the women's rights movement. The right to vote was among the calls in the Declaration ... and the most controversial.
More:
- Declaration of Sentiments
- Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention
- Seneca Falls Resolutions
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- Lucretia Mott
Image is of Matilda Joslyn Gage who attended and reported on the convention. The image was originally printed in the History of Woman Suffrage, 1881. Digital image © 2003 Jone Johnson Lewis, licensed to About.com.
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