March: Badass Women in History
Updated: Mar 9, 2022
International Women's Day
"The best protection any woman can have...is courage." - Elizabeth Cady Stanton
There are many badass women in history. How do you just talk about one? Who do you choose to share? My goal is to share the badass women of history, as many as I can. I am not sure if each one will have a blog attached to it but it will have important information.
The first people I share, helped women to be able to vote. Who do you think of when you think of women’s right to vote? Susan B. Anthony. Yes, of course, she catapulted the conversation around women’s rights but there were a few before her. In 1840, two women met at the World Anti-slavery Convention in London and were ready to make waves in women’s rights. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott met where they were barred from any involvement in the convention. Likely so, this bothered the ever loving crap out of the ladies.
Just a side note, Elizabeth had 6 children from the years 1942 to 1959 and had 7 total. Lucretia was raised as a Quaker, where her mom and dad instilled equality among men and women. Their paths were very different but something in the universe brought them together.
In 1848, Elizabeth (age 33), Lucretia (age 55), and a few other women put together the firsts Women’s Right Convention, also known as Seneca Falls Convention. They wrote up a document called the Declaration of Sentiments. Examples of what women could not do:
preventing them from voting
giving men authority in divorce and child custody proceedings and decisions
preventing them from gaining a college education
aiming to make them dependent and submissive to men
The convention was attended by 300 people and 68 women and 32 men signed the Declaration of Sentiments.
This was held over 70 years from when the 19th Amendment was passed. Throughout their lives Elizabeth and Lucretia never stopped fighting for women’s rights and suffrage.
At the break out of the Civil War, Elizabeth and Lucretia formed the Women’s Loyal National League to encourage Congress to pass the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery. The following 14th and 15th Amendments were pushed back by the ladies because they felt women's right to vote was crucial. It’s important to note that those two Amendments were for slaves and their way toward freedom. We know the women supported the amendments but felt womens rights were crucial.
Throughout her years, Elizabeth continued her work towards women’s rights and worked alongside Susan B. Anthony. She wrote a majority of Susan B. Anthony’s speeches and took to literature to share what people needed to know about women’s rights and suffrage. She focused her time on female autonomy. Elizabeth died on October 26th, 1902, 18 years before the Nineteenth Amendment was passed.
Lucretia was a part of the underground railroad and in 1864 opened a co-educational college with her husband and other Quakers. Swarthmore College is often ranked as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation. Lucretia Mott died on November 11th, 1880, 40 years before the Nineteenth Amendment was passed.
There are SO many more women involved in this part of our history. Women before Elizabeth and Lucretia and women after.
In 1919, the amendment was passed through the senate and on August 26th, 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment was made official.
Women had the right to vote.
It's been a little over 100 years since women had the right to vote and we will keep fighting towards equal rights.
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