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Antonella’s assignment 1

Angela Davis’s chapter on class and race in the Early Women rights campaign does draw reference to several key historical figures that were in attendance to The Seneca Falls Convention in the early 19^th century. Davis relies on using the historical figures and setting to inform the audience about how the relationship of gender, race, and class. The Seneca falls convention is known to be one of the starting point that lead to the beginning of the women suffrage movement. A name that Davis tends to repeat is Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a future women suffragist who worked alongside Susan B. Anthony. Mrs. Stanton was not much of a practiced activist besides her and her husband’s involvement in the abolitionist movement. However, she was seen only as the wife of an abolitionist but was allowed the right to be there due to the status of her husband’s position as a lawyer and her position as his wife (1981:52). Mrs. Stanton had most likely used the methods that she saw in these conferences to help her during the Seneca Falls convention. Though Davis believes Mrs. Stanton was in some form of handicap due to her lack of perspective that was created by several years of struggle that had protected a women’s right to help in contributing to the anti-slavery movement (1981:52). A different key figure at the convention was Charlotte Woodward. Charlotte was a different class from Elizabeth, she was a working woman but only through her home since she was a glovemaker. The wages she had from making the gloves would back to the men in her family (1981:61). As mentioned by Davis, she alleged that the working women were thought to be more serious about women’s right then the other part of their lives (1981:61). Both their gender and race has helped these two women received chances to attend the convention. However, there is a woman who have attended the convention and went regardless if she was invited or not due to the color of her. That women’s name is Sojourner Truth. Sojourner was an ex slave but that didn’t mean that was any less of a woman. According to Davis, many white women would forget that black women were in the same situation as them, sojourner presence reminded those in the convention that black women  are still women the same as them(1981:69).