In 1868, the United States passed the 14th amendment which granted citizenship to anyone born in the United States. In 1870, the United States passed the 15th Amendment which gave all citizens the right to vote despite race or color, this did not include women. At this time, women activist started becoming more popular because they felt that they deserved the same liberties as men. Elizabeth Stanton starts her essay by saying that the United States is in a social revolution, she states “… a question of magnitude presses on our consideration, whether a man and woman are equal…” (Stanton, page 14). This question is very important to society because of all the other historical events happening during this time period. The second industrial revolution was coming to an end in the 1870s but during the revolution it allowed for the economy to grow and it allowed for some men like Carnegie or Rockefeller to get rich. This influenced Elizabeth Stanton’s text because she writes about how men are scared to be equal with women because men like to have authority and are used to being in charge. The other historical event that might have influenced this text was the corrupted politics during this time period. The corrupted politics lead to a focus on laws about economics and not a lot of focus on the social issues. The focus that was on the social issues was about workers …show more content…
The manuscript was very informative about the current divorce laws and the role that women should play in society verse what role they are forced to do. Elizabeth Stanton might have had other perspectives or cultural factors shaping her main argument and message to the audience. One cultural factor that could have shaped the essay is the idea of the traditional family. This factor could have played an important role in Elizabeth Stanton’s writing process because she wanted her audience to see that the tradition family is still possible with these new rights. It is not necessary to be a part of the idea of the traditional family. In the essay, Elizabeth says when the social changes happen that it will not destroy the idea of the traditional family but “it will entirely revolutionize it” (Stanton, page 15). This quote is important because it shows how when writing this essay Elizabeth Stanton was thinking about other people’s perspectives and cultural factors playing a role in people’s opinions. It is significant that the audience remember that Elizabeth Stanton is leaving out the historical perspective of the males and how they view these social problems. Elizabeth Stanton’s manuscript also leaves questions that the audience might have about how a solution to the problems will happen. Overall, her essay is very informative