Joseph Vaccaro
Professor Leslie Lindenauer
HIS 148
20 October, 2011 Independence: For All or For Some The Declaration of Sentiments written by Elizabeth Cody Stanton, and The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Frederick Douglas are two documents that portray their own explanation of freedom and independence. These two activists portray their justification in their own way, one heavily towards women the other towards the African American people. Freedom should be for all not for some, it should be for blacks, whites, men, and women. Elizabeth Cody Stanton follows the framework of the Declaration of Independence very closely when writing the Declaration of Sentiments. She uses the wording to show connections between women and the rest of the American people during this time. The Declaration of Independence states, “We hold this truth to be self evident that all men are created equal. However, Stanton throughout her declaration re-phrases this in a way that all men and women are created equal. Throughout the Declaration of Sentiments, Stanton mimics the style of the Declaration of Independence, in this case it directs its anger towards the King of England “He has obstructed the Administration of Justice” and “He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly.” She instead uses the word “He” not to refer to the king but to refer to the controlling males in society during this time period. Along with those issues Stanton also has concerns with the freedom of women in their marriages. While the Declaration of Independence believes the major concern is political freedom, the Declaration of Sentiments points it concerns at marital freedom. In some cases Stanton describes the man as the woman’s master. “The law giving him power to deprive her of her liberty.” As well as saying, “He has made her, if married, in the eyes of the law, civilly dead”.