Created by Mackenzie Shaffer on Tue, 11/09/2021 - 21:44
Description:
This image is in the "Proceedings of the Women's National Convention" book that details what went on in Worcester Massachusetts in 1850. It reveals what happened during the convention, such as, who spoke and what addresses they made to the public on the issue of women's rights. It covers both days that the convention went on for and focuses on the speeches given, such as President Paulina Wright Davis' address human rights and why they have been focused on men when they should be focused on everybody. This image shows just a small percentage of the people that were in attendence at the convention with people like, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass who are historical and very influential people that helped spread their voices to many causes, one being this convention where they focused on shedding light on equality for all.
Sojourner Trutch spent her life being a slave on a big estate by Dutch settlers and "when she was nine years old, she was sold away from her parents" bringing her all the way to New York ("Sojourner"). She would continue to be sold many times until finally escaping for freddom in 1826. Being a woman in slavery, she often experienced rape from her slaveholders which ended up in her having children; bringing about more slaves for the slaveholders to own. This experience was obviously very tramatic and reveals just how little women, especially slave women have a say in anything. It only magnifies the fact that men have so much more rights than women and that they can essentially do whatever they want as women are not seen as independent from men. After Sojourner escaped, she moved to Massachusetts and quickly met Frederick Douglass who she realized was a part of a group that was in support of fighting for women's rights. She decided to join in the group and that is when she went to the National Women's Rights Convention in Worchester Massachusetts and gave a speech on women's rights. Later on she would attend more Women's Rights Conventions, such as the one in Akron, Ohio where she gave a very speech titled "Ain't I a Women?" which focused on African American women and how they are treated very differently compared to white women ("Sojourner"). It emphasized the need to support women's rights with a great focus on African American women's rights since they are often treated poorly because of their race.
Additionally, Frederick Douglass was at the National Women's Rights Convention as well. Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland and was never allowed to attend school, even though he was a man, but there was a lot of injustice for people of color going on at this time ("Frederick"). In 1838, he decided to escape from his slaveholder and managed to go to New York where he quickly began attending meetings on anti-slavery and listening to people's call to gain equal rights for all people. He was very influential when it came to advocating for Civil Rights and that is why he came to the convention in Worcester so he could continue advocating for people's rights which included women's rights. After the convention in Worcester, he continued to be present at other Women's Rights Conventions.