Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY GENERAL MOTORS Woman: MY MOTHER WAS A SUFFRAGETTE.

SHE AND HER FRIENDS HELD MEETINGS.

I THINK THAT I WAS ABOUT 15.

ALL OF THE WOMEN THAT HAD BEEN INVOLVED IN IT WERE MARCHING UP AND DOWN BEACON HILL, RIGHT TO THE BOTTOM OF BEACON HILL.

WITH CROWDS LOOKING AT US.

IT WAS NOT THE ONLY MARCH.

I MEAN, WOMEN WERE MARCHING ALL OVER.

THIS WAS OUR BIG TIME.

BIG TIME TO GET PEOPLE, TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE, TO GET THEM INTO THE MOVEMENT.

Woman: I KNEW ABOUT THE WOMEN SUFFRAGETTES.

BUT REMEMBER IN THOSE DAYS, WOMEN WERE IN THE KITCHEN.

IN THOSE DAYS WOMEN WERE IN THE HOME.

MEN DID THE VOTING.

AND THEY LET THEM DO THE VOTING.

THEY WEREN'T INTERESTED.

I REMEMBER THE WOMEN SUFFRAGETTES.

THEY SEEMED RATHER BOLD AND UNLADY-LIKE TO VENTURE OUT INTO THE WORLD.

THERE WAS A WOMAN IN COLD SPRING HARBOR.

SHE RODE A WHITE HORSE ALL THE WAY TO ALBANY TRYING TO EDUCATE PEOPLE ALONG THE WAY ON WHY WOMEN SHOULD HAVE THE VOTE.

AND THAT'S WHAT IMPRESSED ME VERY MUCH.

THEY WERE A LITTLE BIT UNLADY-LIKE, BUT...

BUT WHEN WE GOT THE VOTE, WE WERE THANKFUL TO THEM.

BUT WE HAD TO WAKE UP, TOO.

Narrator: ON NOVEMBER 2, 1920, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, MORE THAN EIGHT MILLION AMERICAN WOMEN WENT TO THE POLLS AND EXERCISED THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE IN PRECINCTS ALL OVER AMERICA.

THOMAS JEFFERSON HAD PROCLAIMED EQUALITY THE BEDROCK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, BUT IT HAD TAKEN 144 YEARS FOR WOMEN FINALLY TO ACHIEVE FULL CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES.

AND THE TWO WOMEN WHO HAD FOUGHT LONGEST FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON AND SUSAN B. ANTHONY, HAD NOT LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO CAST A BALLOT THEMSELVES.

Woman: 1881.

WHILE SHE IS SLOW AND ANALYTICAL IN COMPOSITION, I AM RAPID AND SYNTHETIC.

I AM THE BETTER WRITER, SHE, THE BETTER CRITIC.

SHE SUPPLIED THE FACTS AND STATISTICS, I, THE PHILOSOPHY AND RHETORIC, AND TOGETHER WE HAVE MADE ARGUMENTS THAT HAVE STOOD UNSHAKEN BY THE STORMS OF 30 LONG YEARS; ARGUMENTS THAT NO MAN HAS ANSWERED.

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.

Narrator: ELIZABETH CADY STANTON AND SUSAN B. ANTHONY WERE BORN 4 YEARS AND 71 MILES APART, INTO A WORLD RULED ENTIRELY BY MEN.

BUT BY THE TIME THEIR LIVES WERE OVER, THEY WOULD HAVE CHANGED FOR THE BETTER THE LIVES OF A MAJORITY OF AMERICAN CITIZENS.

THEY COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE DIFFERENT: STANTON WAS BORN TO WEALTH AND COMFORT, WAS MARRIED AND THE MOTHER OF 7 CHILDREN.

SHE WAS WITTY AND HOSPITABLE, FOND OF GOOD FOOD AND FINE CLOTHES.

BUT SHE WAS ALSO AN UNCOMPROMISING REVOLUTIONARY, A "MANY IDEA-ED WOMAN," HER DAUGHTER CALLED HER, WHO DARED PROCLAIM TO THE WORLD THAT WOMEN HAD THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

THAT WOMEN HAD THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

ANTHONY WAS PLAIN-SPOKEN, SINGLE-MINDED, DISCIPLINED, BORN A QUAKER.

SHE CHOSE NOT TO MARRY.

SHE WAS A BRILLIANT STRATEGIST, WILLING TO TACK TO THE LEFT OR TO THE RIGHT IF BY SO DOING SHE COULD STEER THE WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT CLOSER TO ITS GOAL.

THOUGH SHE NEVER HELD PUBLIC OFFICE, SHE WOULD BECOME THE NATION'S FIRST GREAT WOMAN POLITICIAN, "AUNT SUSAN," TO A WHOLE GENERATION OF YOUNG WOMEN.

DESPITE THEIR DIFFERENCES, THE TWO WOULD WORK TOGETHER, FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY, TO BETTER THE LIVES OF WOMEN EVERYWHERE.

Woman: THE COMBINATION OF SUSAN B. ANTHONY AND ELIZABETH CADY STANTON IS ONE OF THE GREAT MIRACLES IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY.

YOU CANNOT IMAGINE A SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT, YOU CANNOT IMAGINE THE PUSH TO GET WOMEN EQUAL RIGHTS WITHOUT THESE TWO WOMEN LEADING THE FRAY.

IT JUST WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED.

THEY ARE WOMEN'S HISTORY OF THE 19th CENTURY.

THERE IS NO WOMEN'S HISTORY, THERE WOULD BE NO WOMEN'S HISTORY WITHOUT THEM.

THEY CREATED THE MOVEMENT, THEY GAVE IT ITS VITALITY, THEY GAVE IT ITS LIFE, AND THEY CARRIED IT.

THEY ARE THE AUTHORS OF THE LARGEST CHANGES IN SOCIAL HISTORY IN AMERICA.

AND THEY ARE ALSO MODELS OF THIS POLITICAL ALLIANCE.

I THINK THE FACT THAT IT'S TWO FEMALE FRIENDS, ONE SINGLE, ONE MARRIED, ONE CRANKY AND INDEPENDENT, ONE EBULLIENT AND INDEPENDENT-- THIS PARTNERSHIP WAS SO SIGNIFICANT TO THEM PERSONALLY, AND SO IMPORTANT POLITICALLY.

IT'S A REMARKABLE TEAM.

Narrator: THE POLITICAL STRUGGLE STANTON AND ANTHONY LED WOULD FINALLY FULFILL THE PROMISE FIRST MADE WHEN AMERICA DECLARED ITS NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.

THEIR PERSONAL STORY WOULD ILLUMINATE UNIVERSAL QUALITIES OF LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP, LOYALTY AND BETRAYAL, COURAGE AND COMPROMISE, FAILURE AND SUCCESS-- AND THE VERY MEANING OF INDEPENDENCE ITSELF.

Woman: THE TRUE WOMAN WILL NOT BE EXPONENT OF ANOTHER, OR ALLOW ANOTHER TO BE SUCH FOR HER.

SHE WILL BE HER OWN INDIVIDUAL SELF...

STAND OR FALL BY HER OWN INDIVIDUAL WISDOM AND STRENGTH... SHE WILL PROCLAIM THE "GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD NEWS" TO ALL WOMEN, THAT WOMAN EQUALLY WITH MAN WAS MADE FOR HER OWN INDIVIDUAL HAPPINESS, TO DEVELOP...EVERY TALENT GIVEN TO HER BY GOD, IN THE GREAT WORK OF LIFE.

SUSAN B. ANTHONY.

Woman: I WAS BORN AND LIVED ALMOST 40 YEARS IN ONE OF THE MOST SECLUDED SPOTS IN WESTERN NEW YORK...

BUT FROM THE EARLIEST DAWN OF REASON, I PINED FOR THAT FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND ACTION THAT WAS THEN DENIED TO ALL WOMANKIND.

I REVOLTED IN SPIRIT AGAINST THE CUSTOMS OF SOCIETY AND THE LAWS OF THE STATE THAT CRUSHED MY ASPIRATIONS AND DEBARRED ME FROM THE PURSUIT OF ALMOST EVERY OBJECT WORTHY OF AN INTELLIGENT, RATIONAL MIND.

BUT NOT UNTIL THAT MEETING IN SENECA FALLS IN 1848 GAVE THIS FEELING OF UNREST FORM AND VOICE, DID I TAKE ACTION.

EMILY COLLINS.

Narrator: 1848 WAS A YEAR OF REVOLUTION.

IN PARIS, MOBS TOPPLED THE KING OF FRANCE.

ROME DECLARED ITSELF A REPUBLIC AND DROVE THE POPE FROM THE VATICAN.

THERE WERE VIOLENT UPRISINGS IN PRAGUE, BERLIN, VIENNA, VENICE, WARSAW.

IN LONDON, A GERMAN JOURNALIST NAMED KARL MARX CALLED UPON THE WORKERS OF THE WORLD TO UNITE AGAINST THEIR MASTERS.

BUT IN AMERICA, ON JULY 11, IN SENECA FALLS, NEW YORK, A BRIEF NOTICE IN THE COUNTY COURIER SIGNALED THE START OF A REVOLUTION WITH MORE LASTING CONSEQUENCES THAN ANY OF THE OTHERS.

Woman: WOMEN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION.

A CONVENTION TO DISCUSS THE SOCIAL, CIVIL, AND RELIGIOUS CONDITION AND RIGHTS OF WOMAN WILL BE HELD IN THE WESLEYAN CHAPEL, AT SENECA FALLS, NEW YORK, ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY, THE 19th AND 20th OF JULY CURRENT, COMMENCING AT 10:00 A.M. Narrator: NO SUCH MEETING HAD EVER TAKEN PLACE ANYWHERE BEFORE.

IT WAS THE BRAINCHILD OF 5 WOMEN.

4 WERE QUAKERS.

THE FIFTH AND YOUNGEST, WAS A 33-YEAR-OLD NEWCOMER TO TOWN, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.

THE OBJECT OF THE CONVENTION, STANTON REMEMBERED, WAS TO INAUGURATE NOTHING LESS THAN A REBELLION: TO OVERTHROW THE CUSTOMS AND LAWS THAT HAD KEPT WOMEN POWERLESS FOR CENTURIES.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 19th CENTURY, WOMEN WERE, BY CUSTOM, BARRED FROM THE PULPIT AND THE PROFESSIONS, PREVENTED FROM ATTENDING COLLEGE, AND THOSE WHO DARED SPEAK IN PUBLIC WERE THOUGHT INDECENT.

BY LAW, MARRIED WOMEN WERE PROHIBITED FROM OWNING OR INHERITING PROPERTY.

IN FACT, WIVES WERE THE PROPERTY OF THEIR HUSBANDS, ENTITLED, BY LAW, TO HER WAGES AND HER BODY.

Griffith: YOU HAD NO RIGHTS.

THAT TRANSLATES, NO RIGHTS TRANSLATES INTO NO RIGHT TO PROPERTY, NO RIGHT TO SIGN CONTRACTS, NO RIGHT TO YOUR CHILDREN, NO RIGHT TO THE CLOTHES ON YOUR BACK.

IF YOU WERE SO BOLD AS TO ESCAPE A DREADFUL MARRIAGE, YOU TOOK YOUR CLOTHES, ONE OUTFIT, WITH YOU, NOT YOUR CHILDREN, NOT YOUR SUITCASE, YOU GOT NOTHING.

Narrator: NO WOMEN COULD SERVE ON A JURY, AND MOST WERE CONSIDERED INCOMPETENT TO TESTIFY.

AND THE BALLOT, BY WHICH WOMEN MIGHT HAVE VOTED TO IMPROVE THEIR STATUS, WAS DENIED TO THEM BY LAW.

NOWHERE IN AMERICA--NOWHERE IN THE WORLD--DID WOMEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

BUT IN 1848, A YOUNG WIFE AND MOTHER WAS DETERMINED TO CHANGE ALL THAT.

Stanton: SEPTEMBER 14, 1848.

IF GOD HAS ASSIGNED A SPHERE TO MAN AND ONE TO WOMAN, WE CLAIM THE RIGHT OURSELVES TO JUDGE HIS DESIGN IN REFERENCE TO US... WE THINK THAT A MAN HAS QUITE ENOUGH TO DO TO FIND OUT HIS OWN INDIVIDUAL CALLING, WITHOUT BEING TAXED TO FIND OUT ALSO WHERE EVERY WOMAN BELONGS.

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.

Narrator: ELIZABETH CADY STANTON WAS AN UNLIKELY REVOLUTIONARY.

SHE WAS BORN IN THE FINEST HOUSE IN JOHNSTOWN, NEW YORK, ON NOVEMBER 12, 1815, THE EIGHTH OF 11 CHILDREN.

HER MOTHER, MARGARET LIVINGSTON, WAS TALL, STATELY, INDEPENDENT-MINDED, THE WEALTHY DAUGHTER OF A REVOLUTIONARY WAR HERO.

BUT IT WAS HER FATHER WHO WOULD ALWAYS MATTER MOST TO HER.

DANIEL CADY WAS A PROMINENT LAWYER AND JUDGE, CANNY, SELF-MADE AND CONSERVATIVE.

AFTER 3 OF HIS SONS DIED IN CHILDHOOD, JUDGE CADY PINNED ALL HIS HOPES FOR THE FAMILY'S FUTURE ON HIS SURVIVING SON, 20-YEAR-OLD ELEAZAR.

"WE ALL...FELT," ELIZABETH REMEMBERED, "THAT THIS SON FILLED A LARGER PLACE IN OUR FATHER'S AFFECTION... THAN ALL HIS DAUGHTERS TOGETHER."

IN 1826, WHEN ELIZABETH WAS JUST 11 YEARS OLD, ELEAZAR, TOO, SUDDENLY FELL ILL AND DIED.

THE NEXT DAY, SHE FOUND HER GRIEVING FATHER SITTING ALL ALONE IN THE DARKENED FAMILY PARLOR, BESIDE HER BROTHER'S CASKET.

Stanton: I CLIMBED UPON HIS KNEE, WHEN HE MECHANICALLY PUT HIS ARM ABOUT ME AND WITH MY HEAD RESTING AGAINST HIS BEATING HEART, WE BOTH SAT IN SILENCE, HE THINKING OF THE WRECK OF ALL HIS HOPES IN THE LOSS OF A DEAR SON, AND I WONDERING WHAT COULD BE SAID OR DONE TO FILL THE VOID IN HIS BREAST.

AT LENGTH, HE HEAVED A DEEP SIGH AND SAID: "OH, MY DAUGHTER, I WISH YOU WERE A BOY!"

THROWING MY ARMS ABOUT HIS NECK, I REPLIED: "I WILL TRY TO BE ALL MY BROTHER WAS."

Narrator: DESPERATE TO PLEASE HER FATHER, ELIZABETH JUMPED FENCES ON HORSEBACK, BEAT BOYS AS WELL AS GIRLS TO WIN HONORS IN GREEK AT SCHOOL.

DANIEL CADY WAS PROUD OF ALL HER ACHIEVEMENTS, BUT NO MATTER HOW WELL SHE DID, HIS REACTION WAS ALWAYS THE SAME: "I WISH YOU WERE A BOY."

Woman: HER FATHER DEALT IN REAL PROPERTY LAW A LOT AND THERE WAS A WOMAN NAMED FLORA CAMPBELL WHO CAME TO HER FATHER AND SAID, "MY HUSBAND HAS DIED, MY SON HAS TAKEN THE FARM THAT WAS MINE, I HAVE NOTHING TO LIVE ON."

AND HER FATHER SAID, "THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO.

THE LAWS DO NOT PROTECT YOU."

ELIZABETH CADY HEARD THIS AND SAID IN HER CHILDISH FASHION, BUT IT BECAME A MATURE RESPONSE AS WELL, "I'M GONNA DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT."

AND SO SHE CONFIDED TO FLORA THAT SHE HAD NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, SHE WAS GOING TO CUT THE LAWS OUT OF HER FATHER'S LAW BOOK AND EVERYTHING WOULD BE FINE.

Narrator: AT 15, ELIZABETH DEMANDED TO CONTINUE HER EDUCATION AT UNION COLLEGE, THE SCHOOL HER LATE BROTHER HAD ATTENDED.

BUT, IN 1830, NO COLLEGE IN AMERICA WOULD ADMIT A FEMALE STUDENT.

IN ANY CASE, HER FATHER WAS AGAINST IT.

TOO MUCH EDUCATION WOULD DISCOURAGE THE RIGHT SORT OF SUITORS, JUDGE CADY BELIEVED, WOULD MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR HIS DAUGHTER TO CONFORM TO WHAT WOULD COME TO BE CALLED "THE CULT OF TRUE WOMANHOOD".

Griffith: "THE CULT OF TRUE WOMANHOOD" WAS THE IDEOLOGY OF THAT ERA.

TO FUNCTION IN THE KITCHEN, IN THE HOME, TO HAVE CARE OF MORALITY AND PURITY AND ETHICS, TO HAVE THE TRAINING OF CHILDREN, THE CARE OF CULTURE.

IT WAS VIEWED AS A VERY SAFE SPHERE AND IT WAS DESIGNED IN CONTRAST TO THE MALE SPHERE OF ACTIVITY, ECONOMY, POLITICS, WAR-LIKE, AGGRESSIVE ACTIVITY.

Narrator: ELIZABETH'S FATHER FINALLY ALLOWED HER TO ATTEND THE FEMALE SEMINARY AT TROY, NEW YORK, RUN BY A PIONEER IN WOMEN'S EDUCATION, EMMA WILLARD, WHO OFFERED A SERIOUS AND RIGOROUS CURRICULUM.

ELIZABETH ADMIRED WILLARD, LOVED LEARNING, BUT DISLIKED WHAT SHE CALLED THE "ARTIFICIAL RELATIONS WITH BOYS" THAT AN ALL-GIRL SCHOOL FOSTERED.

SHE WAS GRADUATED IN 1833 AND SOON BEGAN SPENDING MORE AND MORE TIME AT THE HOME OF HER WEALTHY COUSIN, GERRIT SMITH.

HE WAS AN ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORTER OF EVERY KIND OF REFORM-- TEMPERANCE, VEGETARIANISM, INDIAN RIGHTS, BUT ESPECIALLY ABOLITION.

IN SMITH'S PARLOR, ELIZABETH MET SLAVES HIDING OUT ON THEIR WAY TO CANADA, LISTENED TO CEASELESS TALK OF POLITICS AND RADICAL REFORM, AND DELIGHTED IN OFFERING HER OWN OPINIONS, AS WELL.

Griffith: SHE'S VERY PRETTY WHEN SHE'S YOUNG AND YOUTHFUL AND VIVACIOUS.

WE KNEW SHE LOVED TO DANCE.

SHE WAS TINY, PETITE, THAT LED TO BEING PORKY WHEN SHE WAS OLDER.

SPARKLING EYES, CURLY HAIR, RADIATING ENERGY.

I THINK THERE WAS JUST A POWER THERE, A PERSONAL CHARISMA.

Narrator: ELIZABETH CADY WAS EAGERLY COURTED BY AN ANTI-SLAVERY ORATOR 10 YEARS HER SENIOR-- HENRY BREWSTER STANTON.

Griffith: HE'S GORGEOUS.

HE'S TALL, HE'S HANDSOME, HE'S HEROIC, HE HAS SINGLE-HANDEDLY FOUGHT BACK ANTI-ABOLITIONIST CROWDS.

THEY GO RIDING TOGETHER, SHE FALLS MADLY IN LOVE WITH HIM.

AND I THINK IT WAS A LOVE MATCH, A VERY PASSIONATE LOVE MATCH.

Narrator: ELIZABETH'S FATHER DEPLORED STANTON'S ABOLITIONIST POLITICS, BUT SHE AND HENRY WERE MARRIED ANYWAY ON MAY 10, 1840.

ELIZABETH INSISTED ON TWO CHANGES IN THE CEREMONY.

SHE STRUCK THE WORD "OBEY."

HERS WAS MEANT TO BE A MARRIAGE BETWEEN EQUALS.

AND SHE KEPT HER OWN NAME.

HENCEFORTH, SHE WOULD BE KNOWN NOT AS "MRS. HENRY STANTON," BUT AS "ELIZABETH CADY STANTON."

Woman: THE OLD IDEA THAT MAN WAS MADE FOR HIMSELF, AND WOMAN FOR HIM, THAT HE IS THE OAK, SHE THE VINE, HE THE HEAD, SHE THE HEART, HE THE GREAT CONSERVATOR OF WISDOM, SHE OF LOVE, WILL BE REVERENTLY LAID ASIDE WITH OTHER LONG SINCE EXPLODED PHILOSOPHIES OF THE IGNORANT PAST.

SUSAN B. ANTHONY.

Narrator: 4 YEARS AFTER ELIZABETH CADY STANTON'S BIRTH, SUSAN BROWNELL ANTHONY WAS BORN THE SECOND OF 7 CHILDREN, AT HER FATHER'S FARM NEAR ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS, ON FEBRUARY 15, 1820.

HER MOTHER, LUCY READ, WAS A BAPTIST, WHOSE HARD WORK AND SELFLESS DEVOTION TO OTHERS SET THE EXAMPLE HER DAUGHTER WOULD FOLLOW ALL HER LIFE.

HER FATHER, DANIEL ANTHONY, WAS A PROSPEROUS MILL OWNER AND A QUAKER-- SO DEVOUT THAT TOYS AND MUSIC AND GAMES WERE ALL BARRED FROM HIS HOUSE FOR FEAR THEY MIGHT DISTRACT THE CHILDREN FROM WHAT WAS CALLED THE INNER LIGHT-- THE GOD WHO LIVED WITHIN EVERYONE'S SOUL.

THE QUAKERS MAY HAVE BEEN AUSTERE, BUT THEY BELIEVED MEN AND WOMEN EQUAL BEFORE GOD.

SUSAN'S OWN AUNT WAS A QUAKER PREACHER.

Sherr: I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT SUSAN B. ANTHONY HAD A GREAT ADVANTAGE IN THAT SHE WAS RAISED A QUAKER.

THAT PARTICULAR FAITH GAVE HER A SENSIBILITY AND AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD THAT WAS SO FAR BEYOND WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAD AT THE TIME.

Narrator: WHEN SUSAN COMPLAINED THAT HER TEACHER REFUSED TO ALLOW HER TO STUDY LONG DIVISION WITH THE BOYS, HER FATHER PULLED HER OUT OF PUBLIC SCHOOL ALTOGETHER, STARTED HIS OWN HOME SCHOOL FOR HIS CHILDREN, THEN SENT SUSAN OFF TO A QUAKER BOARDING SCHOOL NEAR PHILADELPHIA.

HE WANTED HIS DAUGHTER TO GET A SERIOUS AND EQUAL EDUCATION.

IN 1838, IN THE MIDST OF A NATIONAL ECONOMIC PANIC, DANIEL ANTHONY'S BUSINESS WENT UNDER.

SUSAN, HOPING TO HELP HIM GET BACK ON HIS FEET, TOOK A JOB IN A FIELD THAT WAS JUST OPENING TO WOMEN-- TEACHING SCHOOL.

SHE WAS TERRIBLY INSECURE AT FIRST, BUT SLOWLY HER CONFIDENCE GREW, AND SHE WAS EVENTUALLY ASKED TO HEAD THE FEMALE DEPARTMENT AT THE CANAJOHARIE ACADEMY NEAR ALBANY, NEW YORK.

SHE DELIGHTED IN EARNING HER OWN LIVING, LOVED BEING A GOOD TEACHER, AND CAME TO VALUE HER INDEPENDENCE ABOVE ALL ELSE.

OVER THE YEARS, ANTHONY WOULD HAVE HER SHARE OF SUITORS, BUT IN THE END, SHE WOULD TURN THEM ALL AWAY.

Anthony: I NEVER FELT I COULD GIVE UP MY LIFE OF FREEDOM TO BECOME A MAN'S HOUSEKEEPER.

WHEN I WAS YOUNG, IF A GIRL MARRIED POOR, SHE BECAME A HOUSEKEEPER AND A DRUDGE.

IF SHE MARRIED WEALTHY, SHE BECAME A PET AND A DOLL.

JUST THINK, HAD I MARRIED AT 20, I WOULD HAVE BEEN A DRUDGE OR A DOLL FOR 55 YEARS.

THINK OF IT!

Narrator: TWO DAYS AFTER THEY WERE MARRIED IN MAY OF 1840, ELIZABETH AND HENRY STANTON TRAVELED TO LONDON FOR THE FIRST WORLD ANTI-SLAVERY CONVENTION.

THEY WERE PART OF A LARGE DELEGATION OF BOTH MEN AND WOMEN THAT INCLUDED THE MOST PROMINENT ABOLITIONISTS IN AMERICA, WENDELL PHILLIPS AND WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.

BUT THE FEMALE ABOLITIONISTS QUICKLY DISCOVERED THEY WERE NOT WELCOME.

THOSE WHO WISHED TO ATTEND THE CONVENTION WERE FORCED TO SIT IN A SEGREGATED, SCREENED SECTION, AND WERE FORBIDDEN TO SPEAK OR VOTE.

WENDELL PHILLIPS WAS OUTRAGED.

SO WAS WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, WHO REFUSED TO TAKE HIS SEAT AS A DELEGATE, AND SAT INSTEAD IN THE LADIES SECTION.

"I CAN TAKE NO PART IN A CONVENTION," HE SAID, "THAT STRIKES DOWN THE MOST SACRED RIGHTS OF ALL WOMEN."

ELIZABETH LISTENED, FASCINATED, AS THE ARGUMENT RAGED.

Woman: SHE WATCHED AS MINISTER AFTER MINISTER STOOD UP AND HELD THEIR BIBLE ALOFT AND SAID THAT THE BOOK PREACHED THAT WOMEN SHOULD NOT TAKE PART IN ASSEMBLIES OF MEN.

THAT THE WOMEN SHOULD KEEP SILENT.

THAT MOMENT, I THINK, WAS THE MOMENT OF SEEING IMMEDIATELY THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE FIGHT FOR THE RIGHTS OF SLAVES AND THE FIGHT FOR THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN.

SHE SAW THAT THE VOICES OF WOMEN WERE SILENCED IN ASKING FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE SLAVE AND THE CONNECTION AND THE NEED TO WORK FOR BOTH WAS THERE.

Narrator: ELIZABETH SPENT THE REST OF THE CONVENTION SITTING BEHIND THE SCREEN WITH THE MOST CELEBRATED OF ALL THE WOMEN DELEGATES, LUCRETIA MOTT.

LUCRETIA MOTT WAS A QUAKER MINISTER FROM PHILADELPHIA WHO HAD ALREADY HELPED ESTABLISH THE FIRST FEMALE ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY IN THE WORLD.

SHE WAS SO COMMITTED TO HER CAUSE THAT SHE REFUSED TO WEAR COTTON OR SERVE SUGAR AT HER TABLE BECAUSE BOTH DEPENDED ON THE LABOR OF SLAVES.

ELIZABETH HAD NEVER MET ANYONE LIKE HER.

Stanton: MRS. MOTT WAS TO ME AN ENTIRE NEW REVELATION OF WOMANHOOD.

WHEN I FIRST HEARD FROM HER LIPS THAT I HAD THE SAME RIGHT TO THINK FOR MYSELF THAT LUTHER, CALVIN AND JOHN KNOX HAD, AND THE SAME RIGHT TO BE GUIDED BY MY OWN CONVICTIONS, I FELT AT ONCE A NEW BORN SENSE OF DIGNITY AND FREEDOM.

Griffith: THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENT IS WHEN SHE MEETS LUCRETIA MOTT.

IT'S A TURNING POINT IN HER LIFE.

AND IN MOTT SHE FINDS THE ROLE MODEL OF HER FUTURE.

Stanton: AS THE CONVENTION ADJOURNED, THE REMARK WAS HEARD ON ALL SIDES, "IT IS ABOUT TIME SOME DEMAND WAS MADE FOR NEW LIBERTIES FOR WOMEN."

AS MRS. MOTT AND I WALKED HOME, ARM IN ARM... WE RESOLVED TO HOLD A CONVENTION AS SOON AS WE RETURNED HOME TO AMERICA, AND FORM A SOCIETY TO ADVOCATE THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN.

Stanton: IN ANCIENT GREECE SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN A STOIC; IN THE ERA OF THE REFORMATION, A CALVINIST; IN KING CHARLES' TIME A PURITAN; BUT IN THE 19th CENTURY, BY THE VERY LAW OF HER BEING, SHE IS A REFORMER.

Narrator: AFTER 10 YEARS OF TEACHING SCHOOL, SUSAN B. ANTHONY HAD GROWN BORED AND DISSATISFIED.

SHE WAS 29 AND HER FUTURE SEEMED HOPELESSLY CONSTRICTED-- SHE COULD CONTINUE TEACHING, SHE COULD MARRY, OR SHE COULD RETURN HOME AS WHAT WAS THEN CALLED "AN OLD MAID."

Woman: YOU HAD TO MAKE A CHOICE TO STAY SINGLE, AS ANTHONY DID.

WHEN SHE TALKS ABOUT SINGLENESS, SHE ALWAYS TALKS ABOUT IT IN TERMS OF INDEPENDENCE AND EQUALITY.

THAT WHEN MEN REGARD THEIR WIVES AS EQUALS, THEN IT MIGHT BE TIME FOR HER TO THINK ABOUT MARRIAGE.

BUT THAT, I THINK, IS AS MUCH CONVERTING HER OWN CONDITION INTO A POLITICAL STATEMENT AS ANYTHING ELSE.

Narrator: SYMPATHETIC TO HER GROWING DISCONTENT, ANTHONY'S PARENTS TRIED TO HELP.

HER FATHER'S FORTUNES HAD IMPROVED-- HE WAS NOW A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN IN ROCHESTER-- AND HE OFFERED TO LET HER RUN THE FAMILY FARM IF SHE LIKED.

DURING THE 1840s, WESTERN NEW YORK HAD BECOME A HOTBED OF RELIGIOUS RADICALISM AND POLITICAL AND SOCIAL REFORMS OF EVERY KIND, AND WHEN ANTHONY CAME HOME, SHE FOUND THAT HER FATHER'S HOUSE WAS A MEETING PLACE FOR ANTI-SLAVERY AND TEMPERANCE LEADERS.

Woman: AT THEIR FARM HOME, RIGHT OUTSIDE OF ROCHESTER, SHE WAS MEETING THE REFORMERS OF THE DAY.

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, WENDELL PHILLIPS, FREDERICK DOUGLASS, JOHN BROWN, AMY POST.

SHE WAS SERVING COFFEE AND TEA TO THESE PEOPLE BUT ANXIOUS TO BE IN ON THE CONVERSATION, AND SHE JUST, I THINK, GOT SWEPT UP IN IT.

Narrator: INSPIRED BY THE EXAMPLE OF HER FATHER'S VISITORS, MOVED BY THEIR PASSION, SHE DETERMINED AGAINST ALL THE ODDS TO SEE IF SHE, A SINGLE WOMAN, COULDN'T FIND A WAY TO WORK FULL-TIME AS A REFORMER.

Gordon: SUSAN B. ANTHONY WAS RAISED IN A REFORMER'S FAMILY, SO THAT THE NOTION THAT YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE A BETTER WORLD AND THAT THAT IS A SUFFICIENT CALLING FOR ONE'S LIFE IS THERE.

Narrator: SUSAN B. ANTHONY'S FIRST CAUSE WAS TEMPERANCE, THE MOST WIDESPREAD REFORM MOVEMENT OF THE TIME.

ON THE SURFACE, TEMPERANCE WAS ABOUT SOBRIETY AND CLEAN LIVING, BUT ANTHONY AND OTHER WOMEN BELIEVED IT WAS THE KEY TO STOPPING THE OUTRAGE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, SPOUSAL RAPE, AND THE DRINKING UP OF FAMILY INCOME.

BUT FOR ANTHONY, EVERY SOCIAL WRONG NEEDED TO BE RIGHTED, AND SHE SOON HURLED HERSELF, AS WELL, INTO THE MOST CONTENTIOUS OF ALL REFORMS--ABOLITION.

SHE BEGAN TO FEED AND SHELTER RUNAWAY SLAVES, AND AT A TEMPERANCE FESTIVAL IN ROCHESTER, SHE SHOCKED THE WOMEN PRESENT BY URGING THEM TO HAVE AS MUCH SYMPATHY FOR THE SLAVE WOMEN OF THE SOUTH AS THEY HAD FOR THE BATTERED WIVES OF DRUNKARDS.

Gordon: I THINK SHE'S PROBABLY DRIVEN IN A WAY THAT IS NOT ALWAYS COMFORTABLE.

I DON'T THINK SHE COULD SIT STILL.

IT'S LUCKY FOR HER THAT SHE FOUND A POLITICAL OBJECTIVE FOR ALL THAT RESTLESSNESS AND REMARKABLE ENERGY.

I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE WHERE THAT FORCEFULNESS WOULD HAVE GONE HAD SHE NOT HAD A POLITICAL PURPOSE.

SHE BEGINS TO MEET SOME OF THE LEADING ANTI-SLAVERY WOMEN WHO HAVE DEVELOPED A VOCATION OUT OF REFORM, BECOME VERY GOOD PLATFORM SPEAKERS, AND UNDERSTAND HOW TO GO AND ORGANIZE A MEETING IN A SMALL TOWN AND HOW TO CIRCULATE PETITIONS.

SHE'S BEING CALLED NAPOLEON WITHIN A FEW MONTHS OF STARTING THAT KIND OF WORK.

SHE DISCOVERED SOMETHING SHE WAS AWFULLY GOOD AT, SO IT MADE SENSE TO KEEP GOING AT IT.

Narrator: AFTER THEY RETURNED FROM THE LONDON ANTI-SLAVERY CONVENTION, THE STANTONS MOVED TO BOSTON AND INTO A HANDSOME HOUSE STAFFED WITH SERVANTS.

HENRY PURSUED A CAREER IN LAW AND ANTI-SLAVERY POLITICS.

ELIZABETH GAVE BIRTH TO THREE BOYS--DANIEL, HENRY, AND GERRIT-- AND SHOWED ALL THE OUTWARD SIGNS OF BECOMING A CONVENTIONAL YOUNG MATRON.

Stanton: IT IS A PROUD MOMENT IN A WOMAN'S LIFE TO REIGN SUPREME WITHIN FOUR WALLS, TO BE THE ONE TO WHOM ALL QUESTIONS OF DOMESTIC PLEASURE AND ECONOMY ARE REFERRED.

I STUDIED UP EVERYTHING PERTAINING TO HOUSEKEEPING AND ENJOYED IT ALL.

Narrator: ELIZABETH LOVED BOSTON.

IT WAS "A KIND OF MORAL MUSEUM," SHE SAID.

THE STANTONS GOT TO KNOW THE REGION'S MOST EMINENT WRITERS AND REFORMERS: BRONSON ALCOTT, NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, THEODORE PARKER, WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING, RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

"ALL SORTS OF NEW IDEAS ARE SEETHING," SHE TOLD HER MOTHER, "BUT I HAVEN'T EITHER TIME OR PLACE TO ENUMERATE THEM, AND IF I DID, YOU AND MY GOOD FATHER WOULD PROBABLY BALK AT MOST OF THEM."

BUT IN THE SPRING OF 1847, HENRY'S LAW FIRM BROKE UP, AND STRAPPED FOR CASH, THE STANTONS DECIDED TO MOVE TO THE LITTLE UPSTATE NEW YORK TOWN OF SENECA FALLS.

JUDGE CADY BOUGHT THEM A HOUSE AT 32 WASHINGTON STREET.

HENRY SPENT MOST OF HIS TIME AWAY FROM HOME PURSUING ANTI-SLAVERY POLITICS.

ELIZABETH WAS LEFT ALONE TO CARE FOR THE HOUSEHOLD.

SHE HATED SMALL TOWN LIFE: THE MUDDY ROADS, THE DOMESTIC DRUDGERY, THE DRUNKEN NEIGHBORS, THE OVERLY CONVENTIONAL TOWNSPEOPLE WHOM SHE SHOCKED BY RAISING A FLAG TO DENOTE THE BIRTH OF EACH NEW BABY IN AN AGE WHEN CHILDBIRTH WAS NOT TO BE MENTIONED IN POLITE COMPANY.

SHE "SUFFERED," SHE REMEMBERED, "FROM MENTAL HUNGER," COULD FIND NOTHING THAT WOULD "BRING INTO PLAY MY HIGHER FACULTIES."

Griffith: IN MOVING TO SENECA FALLS, STANTON WAS NO LONGER THE PAMPERED WIFE.

SHE HAD TO PUT UP WITH LITTLE CHILDREN, LOTS OF RESPONSIBILITIES, AN ABSENT HUSBAND.

AND SHE PERSONALIZES FOR THE FIRST TIME HOW DIFFICULT LIFE IS FOR THE MAJORITY OF AMERICAN WHITE, NORTHERN WOMEN.

IT'S TO HER CREDIT THAT SHE CAN EXTRAPOLATE FROM THAT AND NOT WANT ONLY TO VENT ABOUT HER OWN DISCOMFORT, BUT TO EXPAND AND THINK ABOUT THE RIGHTS OF ALL WOMEN.

Narrator: IN THE SUMMER OF 1848, SHE HEARD THAT HER OLD FRIEND LUCRETIA MOTT WAS COMING TO TOWN.

IT HAD BEEN 8 YEARS SINCE THEY FIRST PROMISED EACH OTHER IN LONDON TO HOLD A CONVENTION ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS.

Wellman: IN EARLY JULY, 1848, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON GOT AN INVITATION TO TEA AT THE HOME OF JANE AND RICHARD HUNT, AND SHE SAT DOWN WITH FOUR OTHER WOMEN AND TRANSFORMED WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A SIMPLE DISCUSSION OF SOME OF THE EVENTS IN QUAKER HISTORY INTO A MOVEMENT FOR SOCIAL CHANGE.

SHE SAID, "I POURED OUT THE TORRENT OF MY LONG-STANDING DISCONTENT, AND I CHALLENGED THEM TO DO AND DARE ANYTHING."

Griffith: THEY DETERMINE TO HOLD A CONVENTION.

IT'S A VERY 1840s SOLUTION.

"I HAVE A PROBLEM, I'LL HOLD A PUBLIC MEETING," LIKE THE ABOLITIONISTS WOULD.

Narrator: BUT THE WOMEN WEREN'T REALLY SURE WHAT TO DO NEXT.

MEETING AROUND A CIRCULAR MAHOGANY TABLE IN MARY ANN McCLINTOCK'S PARLOR, STANTON RECALLED THAT THEY WERE AT FIRST "AS HELPLESS AND HOPELESS AS IF WE HAD BEEN SUDDENLY ASKED TO CONSTRUCT A STEAM ENGINE."

FINALLY, THEY DECIDED TO DRAFT A STATEMENT FOR THE CONVENTION TO CONSIDER-- A "DECLARATION OF RIGHTS AND SENTIMENTS," THEY CALLED IT-- THAT WOULD ENUMERATE THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN.

THEY HAD ALL BEEN INSPIRED BY THE WORK OF THE PIONEER 18th-CENTURY BRITISH FEMINIST, MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT, BUT IN THE END, STANTON AND HER FRIENDS CHOSE TO MODEL THEIR REVOLUTIONARY DOCUMENT AFTER THOMAS JEFFERSON'S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

Woman: AT FIRST WE TRAVELED QUITE ALONE...

BUT BEFORE WE HAD GONE MANY MILES, WE CAME ON OTHER WAGON-LOADS OF WOMEN BOUND IN THE SAME DIRECTION.

AS WE REACHED THE DIFFERENT CROSSROADS, WE SAW WAGONS COMING FROM EVERY PART OF THE COUNTY, AND LONG BEFORE WE REACHED SENECA FALLS WE WERE A PROCESSION.

Narrator: THE FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION IN HISTORY BEGAN AT 10 A.M. AT THE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHAPEL IN SENECA FALLS, NEW YORK, ON THE MORNING OF JULY 19th, 1848.

THAT DAY, ONLY WOMEN WERE ALLOWED TO ATTEND, BUT ON THE 20th, THE CONVENTION WAS OPEN TO ALL, AND MORE THAN 300 WOMEN AND MEN-- SHOPKEEPERS AND FARMERS AND MILL WORKERS, CLERGYMEN AND WIVES AND MOTHERS-- FILED INTO THE CHAPEL.

THEY WOULD BE ASKED TO VOTE STANTON'S "DECLARATION OF RIGHTS AND SENTIMENTS" UP OR DOWN.

NONE OF THE WOMEN WHO HAD ORGANIZED THE CONVENTION FELT QUALIFIED TO ACT AS CHAIR, SO LUCRETIA MOTT'S HUSBAND JAMES AGREED TO PRESIDE.

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON WAS SO NERVOUS TO BE SPEAKING IN PUBLIC THAT AT FIRST SHE COULD BARELY BE HEARD.

Stanton: I SHOULD FEEL EXCEEDINGLY DIFFIDENT TO APPEAR BEFORE YOU AT THIS TIME, HAVING NEVER SPOKEN IN PUBLIC, WERE I NOT SERVED BY A SENSE OF RIGHT AND DUTY, DID I NOT FEEL THAT THE TIME HAD COME FOR THE QUESTION OF WOMAN'S WRONGS TO BE LAID BEFORE THE PUBLIC, DID I NOT BELIEVE THAT WOMAN HERSELF MUST DO THIS WORK, FOR WOMAN ALONE UNDERSTANDS THE HEIGHT, THE DEPTH, THE LENGTH, AND THE BREADTH OF HER DEGRADATION... Narrator: THEN SHE BEGAN TO READ HER DECLARATION: Stanton: WHEN, IN THE COURSE OF HUMAN EVENTS... Wellman: AND SO SHE STOOD UP AND SHE BEGAN READING, "WHEN, IN THE COURSE OF HUMAN EVENTS IT BECOMES NECESSARY, ETC..." AND HER AUDIENCE KNEW THOSE WORDS BY HEART.

THEY HAD MEMORIZED THEM.

THEY HAD HEARD THEM EVERY FOURTH OF JULY SINCE THEY WERE KIDS, SO EVEN THE SMALLEST CHANGE IN THAT DECLARATION IS GOING TO BE STARTLING TO THEM.

Stanton: WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT: THAT ALL MEN AND WOMEN ARE CREATED EQUAL; THAT THEY ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN INALIENABLE RIGHTS; THAT AMONG THESE ARE LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS... Wellman: AND THAT PHRASE JOLTED THE PEOPLE AT THE CONVENTION, THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTRY, AND STILL CALLS TO US TODAY.

Narrator: EMBOLDENED, STANTON WENT ON.

SHE CHARGED THAT MEN HAD SYSTEMATICALLY DEPRIVED WOMEN OF THEIR RIGHTS, KEPT THEM FROM EQUAL EDUCATION AND THE PROFESSIONS, AND BARRED WIVES FROM OBTAINING DIVORCE AND THE CUSTODY OF THEIR CHILDREN.

LATE THAT AFTERNOON, 68 WOMEN AND 32 MEN FIXED THEIR SIGNATURES TO THE DECLARATION OF RIGHTS AND SENTIMENTS.

STANTON NEXT OFFERED 11 ADDITIONAL RESOLUTIONS FOR THE CONVENTION TO RATIFY.

10 PASSED WITHOUT DISSENT.

THE LAST WAS THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY; IT DEMANDED THAT WOMEN BE GIVEN THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

Griffith: THE RESOLUTIONS FROM THE DECLARATION ARE PRESENTED, AND THERE'S A HUSH AND A KIND OF GASP IN THE AUDIENCE, THAT SHE COULD BE SO BOLD AS TO SUGGEST THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

PEOPLE DIDN'T THINK THEY WERE SMART ENOUGH TO DO IT, THAT THEY WERE POWERFUL ENOUGH TO DO IT.

SOME PEOPLE DISMISSED THEM AS, BECAUSE THEY HAD MALE PROTECTORS THEY DIDN'T NEED TO DO IT: THEIR VOTE WOULD BE EXACTLY LIKE A MALE VOTE.

IT'S HARD IN THIS CENTURY, I THINK, TO EVEN IMAGINE HOW STARTLING THIS WAS.

ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS.

Narrator: STANTON'S HUSBAND HENRY HAD FAVORED THE DECLARATION, BUT THOUGHT ASKING FOR THE VOTE WOULD MAKE THE WHOLE PROCEEDING "A FARCE."

EVEN LUCRETIA MOTT WAS CONCERNED.

"LIZZIE," SHE TOLD STANTON, "THOU WILT MAKE THE CONVENTION RIDICULOUS."

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON WOULD NOT BACK DOWN.

"THE RIGHT TO VOTE IS OURS," SHE SAID BRAVELY.

"HAVE IT WE MUST.

USE IT WE WILL."

BUT PRIVATELY SHE FEARED SHE WOULD BE UNABLE TO PERSUADE THE CROWD TO RALLY TO HER CAUSE.

THEN A MAN IN THE AUDIENCE ASKED TO BE RECOGNIZED.

HE ROSE TO HIS FEET.

IT WAS THE FORMER SLAVE AND ABOLITIONIST ORATOR FREDERICK DOUGLASS.

WITHOUT THE VOTE, HE THUNDERED, WOMEN WOULD BE UNABLE TO CHANGE THE LAWS THAT TREATED THEM UNJUSTLY.

Douglass: ALL THAT DISTINGUISHES MAN AS AN INTELLIGENT AND ACCOUNTABLE BEING IS EQUALLY TRUE OF WOMAN, AND IF THAT GOVERNMENT ONLY IS JUST WHICH GOVERNS BY THE FREE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED, THERE CAN BE NO REASON IN THE WORLD FOR DENYING TO WOMAN THE EXERCISE OF THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE.

OUR DOCTRINE IS THAT "RIGHT IS OF NO SEX."

Narrator: DOUGLASS' ELOQUENCE HELPED CARRY THE DAY.

THE RESOLUTION SUPPORTING A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO VOTE PASSED, AND THE CONVENTION ADJOURNED.

NOW, SMALL GROUPS OF WOMEN AND A SCATTERING OF SYMPATHETIC MEN BEGAN TO MEET IN OTHER NEW YORK TOWNS-- AND IN OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, AND MASSACHUSETTS-- GALVANIZED BY STANTON'S DECLARATION.

Woman: LIVING IN THE COUNTRY, WHERE THE POPULATION IS SPARSE, WE ARE CONSEQUENTLY FEW, BUT HOPE TO MAKE UP IN ZEAL AND ENERGY FOR OUR LACK OF NUMBERS.

I SUMMONED A FEW WOMEN IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD TOGETHER AND FORMED AN EQUAL SUFFRAGE SOCIETY AND SENT PETITIONS TO OUR LEGISLATURE.

IT WAS RECEIVED BY THE LEGISLATURE AS SOMETHING ABSURDLY RIDICULOUS.

EMILY COLLINS.

Narrator: PREACHERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY DENOUNCED THE CONVENTION AS UNSEEMLY.

EDITORIAL WRITERS RIDICULED THE WHOLE IDEA OF WOMEN ACTING ON THEIR OWN.

Man: THE WOMEN FOLKS HAVE JUST HELD A CONVENTION UP IN NEW YORK AND PASSED A SORT OF "BILL OF RIGHTS," AFFIRMING IT THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE, TO BECOME TEACHERS, LEGISLATORS, LAWYERS, DIVINES, AND DO ALL AND SUNDRY THE "LORDS" NOW DO.

THEY SHOULD HAVE RESOLVED AT THE SAME TIME THAT IT WAS OBLIGATORY FOR THE "LORDS" AFORESAID TO WASH DISHES, HANDLE THE BROOM, DARN STOCKINGS, WEAR TRINKETS, LOOK BEAUTIFUL, AND BE AS FASCINATING AS THOSE BLESSED MORSELS OF HUMANITY WHOM GOD GAVE TO PRESERVE THAT ROUGH ANIMAL MAN, IN SOMETHING LIKE REASONABLE CIVILIZATION.

LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS COURIER.

Narrator: THE SENECA FALLS DECLARATION HAD COME 72 YEARS AFTER THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

IT WOULD BE 72 MORE YEARS BEFORE WOMEN ATTAINED THE FULL CITIZENSHIP THAT ELIZABETH CADY STANTON DECLARED TO BE THEIR BIRTHRIGHT.

BUT THE STRUGGLE FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS HAD BEGUN.

Stanton: STRANGE AS IT MAY SEEM TO MANY, WE NOW DEMAND OUR RIGHT TO VOTE ACCORDING TO THE DECLARATION OF THE GOVERNMENT UNDER WHICH WE LIVE.

TO HAVE DRUNKARDS, IDIOTS, HORSERACING RUM-SELLING ROWDIES, IGNORANT FOREIGNERS, AND SILLY BOYS FULLY RECOGNIZED WHILE WE ARE OURSELVES THRUST OUT FROM ALL THE RIGHTS THAT BELONG TO CITIZENS IS TOO GROSSLY INSULTING TO BE LONGER QUIETLY SUBMITTED TO.

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.

Narrator: THE SENECA FALLS CONVENTION MADE ELIZABETH CADY STANTON FAMOUS, AND SHE CONTINUED TO WRITE, BUT THE DEMANDS OF MARRIAGE AND MOTHERHOOD KEPT HER CLOSE TO HOME.

IF THE MOMENTUM OF THE NEW MOVEMENT WAS TO BE SUSTAINED IN THE WIDER WORLD, SHE WOULD NEED HELP.

ON TUESDAY, MAY 13, 1851, ON A STREET CORNER IN SENECA FALLS, STANTON WAS INTRODUCED TO A YOUNG WOMAN WHO HAD COME TO TOWN TO HEAR AN ANTI-SLAVERY ADDRESS BY WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.

IT WAS SUSAN B. ANTHONY.

Stanton: HOW WELL I REMEMBER THE DAY!

THERE SHE STOOD, WITH HER GOOD, EARNEST FACE AND GENIAL SMILE...

THE PERFECTION OF NEATNESS AND SOBRIETY.

I LIKED HER THOROUGHLY, AND WHY I DID NOT AT ONCE INVITE HER HOME WITH ME TO DINNER I DO NOT KNOW.

Narrator: A FEW WEEKS LATER, STANTON ASKED ANTHONY TO COME AND STAY AT HER HOME FOR A FEW DAYS.

ANTHONY READILY AGREED; SHE'D BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING TO KNOW THE WOMAN WHO HAD HELPED INSPIRE THE NEW MOVEMENT.

WHEN THESE TWO WOMEN MET, THE LIGHTNING BOLTS STARTED TO COME OUT OF THE SKY BECAUSE THAT WAS LITERALLY THE BEGINNING OF THE FORCE OF THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT.

THERE WAS ELIZABETH CADY STANTON: SHORT, PLUMP, A MASS OF CURLS, A BROOD OF CHILDREN.

AND THERE WAS SUSAN B. ANTHONY: TALL, SLIM FOR THE TIME, HER HAIR PULLED BACK INTO A BUN, AND UNMARRIED AND NO CHILDREN.

Gordon: IT'S A LITTLE HARD TO GUESS HOW THE CHEMISTRY WORKED SO FAST WHEN THESE TWO PEOPLE MET BECAUSE THEY DON'T SEEM ON THE SURFACE TO BE VERY MUCH ALIKE.

SOME OF IT'S OPPORTUNISTIC IN A GOOD MEANING OF THAT TERM.

THAT IS, STANTON IS STUCK AT HOME WITH THE CHILDREN, AND HERE'S THIS SINGLE WOMAN WHO'S GOT ITCHY FEET AND WILLING TO TRAVEL AND GUTSY ABOUT GOING INTO ANY SMALL TOWN, AND SO THAT SHE CAN BE THE LEGS FOR STANTON WHO'S CONFINED AT HOME.

AND THE FLIP SIDE OF THAT IS THAT ANTHONY IS SO-- LACKS ANY CONFIDENCE IN HER ABILITY WITH WORDS, AND HERE'S THIS WOMAN THAT'S BURSTING WITH WORDS TRAPPED IN HER HOUSE WITH BABIES, AND ANTHONY CAN GET HER WORDS FROM STANTON, AND STANTON CAN GET HER LEGS FROM ANTHONY.

Narrator: EACH RECOGNIZED SOMETHING IN THE OTHER, AND THEY INSTANTLY BECAME FRIENDS AND ALLIES-- A PERSONAL AND POLITICAL PARTNERSHIP THAT WOULD LAST MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS.

IN OCTOBER OF 1852, WITH SUSAN B. ANTHONY OUT ON THE ROAD, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON GAVE BIRTH TO HER FIFTH CHILD: MARGARET, NAMED FOR HER MOTHER.

IT WAS HER FIRST DAUGHTER.

Stanton: I AM AT LENGTH THE HAPPY MOTHER OF A DAUGHTER.

REJOICE WITH ME, ALL WOMANHOOD, FOR LO!

A CHAMPION OF THE CAUSE IS BORN.

I HAVE DEDICATED HER TO THIS WORK FROM THE BEGINNING.

MAY SHE LEAVE HER IMPRESS ON THE WORLD FOR GOODNESS AND TRUTH.

Narrator: HENRY WAS AWAY AGAIN; HE WAS IN FACT ABSENT AT THE BIRTHS OF ALL HIS CHILDREN.

STANTON HAD HER HANDS FULL: 5 CHILDREN AND A HOUSE TO OVERSEE.

SHE WAS A LOVING PARENT WHO BELIEVED THAT CHILDREN SHOULD BE GIVEN AS MUCH FREEDOM AS POSSIBLE.

SHE REFUSED TO SPANK THEM, REFUSED EVEN TO WAKE THEM IN THE MORNING IN THE HOPE THEY WOULD LEARN TO DISCIPLINE THEMSELVES.

THEY WERE NOT REQUIRED TO ATTEND ANY CHURCH.

HER OFFSPRING--THERE WOULD EVENTUALLY BE 7 OF THEM-- WERE LIVELY, FRACTIOUS, IRREPRESSIBLE.

HENRY HIMSELF CALLED THEM "MISERABLE LITTLE UNDERDEVELOPED VANDALS."

Griffith: I THINK GENUINELY SHE LOVED BEING A MOTHER, AND SHE WAS GOOD AT IT.

BUT SHE ALSO GROWS IN HER IMPATIENCE ABOUT BEING A MOTHER.

I THINK THE AMBIVALENCE OF A LOT OF MOTHERS SURROUNDED BY SMALL CHILDREN WITH AN ABSENT HUSBAND AND NOT VERY MUCH HELP IS THE SENSE OF BEING TRAPPED.

AND SHE TALKS ABOUT BEING A CAGED LION, PACING BETWEEN THE BASSINET AND THE KITCHEN AND THE PLAYPEN, BACK AND FORTH.

AND SHE CANNOT WAIT UNTIL SHE'S FREED FROM DOMESTIC BONDS.

Narrator: ANTHONY SOMETIMES LEFT HER WORK MAKING SPEECHES AND ORGANIZING TO COME AND TAKE OVER THE HOUSEHOLD CHORES SO THAT STANTON COULD WRITE HER ARTICLES AND LETTERS AND SPEECHES WITHOUT INTERRUPTION.

ONE OF HER SONS RECALLED THAT HIS EARLIEST MEMORY WAS "THE TABLEAU OF MOTHER AND AUNT SUSAN SEATED BY "A TABLE COVERED WITH BOOKS AND PAPERS, ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION."

SUSAN STIRRED THE PUDDINGS, "ELIZABETH STIRRED UP SUSAN," HENRY STANTON SAID, "AND THEN SUSAN STIRS THE WORLD!"

"I FORGED THE THUNDERBOLTS," STANTON WROTE, "SHE FIRED THEM."

Griffith: THEIR SKILLS CLEARLY COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER.

THEIR PERSONALITIES SUITED, THEY GOT ALONG WONDERFULLY WELL, AND THEY BECOME EACH OTHER'S BEST CONFIDANTE.

IT IS A MARRIAGE IN MANY WAYS.

Narrator: DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS, STANTON AND ANTHONY WORKED CEASELESSLY ON A HOST OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS ISSUES-- TEMPERANCE AND DIVORCE REFORM, CO-EDUCATION AND MARRIED WOMEN'S PROPERTY RIGHTS, DRESS REFORM AND EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK.

STANTON WAS BRIMMING OVER WITH INDIGNATION AND IDEAS, AND ANTHONY WAS EAGER FOR ACTION, WILLING TO DO THE NECESSARY FIELD WORK-- RENTING HALLS, RUNNING PETITION CAMPAIGNS, SPEAKING WHEREVER SHE COULD DRUM UP A CROWD-- THAT INTIMIDATED MOST WOMEN OF HER TIME.

EVERYWHERE THEY WENT, THEY WERE VILIFIED AS HERETICS AND VICIOUSLY ATTACKED IN THE PRESS.

WHEN THEIR EQUAL PAY PROPOSAL CAME TO A VOTE AT A STATE TEACHER'S CONVENTION IN ROCHESTER, IT WAS SOUNDLY DEFEATED.

MOST OF THE WOMEN VOTED AGAINST IT.

Stanton: WHAT AN INFERNAL SET OF FOOLS THESE SCHOOL-MARMS MUST BE!

WELL, IF IN ORDER TO PLEASE MEN THEY WISH TO LIVE ON AIR, LET THEM.

THE SOONER THE PRESENT GENERATION OF WOMEN DIE OUT THE BETTER.

WE HAVE JACKASSES ENOUGH IN THE WORLD NOW WITHOUT SUCH WOMEN PROPAGATING ANY MORE.

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.

Narrator: BUT MANY OTHER WOMEN WERE ACTIVE IN THE CAUSE: LUCY STONE, WHO HAD BEEN ONE OF THE FIRST WOMEN TO GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE IN 1847, ORGANIZED A WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION IN MASSACHUSETTS; ANTIONETTE BROWN, THE FIRST WOMAN ORDAINED AS A MINISTER IN AMERICA, SHOCKED AUDIENCES BY SPEAKING OUT ON RELIGIOUS EQUALITY FOR WOMEN; AND MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, A YOUNG MOTHER OF THREE, BECAME ONE OF THE MOVEMENT'S MOST RESPECTED THINKERS.

FRANCES HARPER, A POPULAR POET AND ANTI-SLAVERY ORATOR, TOOK UP THE CAUSE; AND SO DID SOJOURNER TRUTH, THE EX-SLAVE AND FERVENT ABOLITIONIST, WHO BECAME ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE SPEAKERS FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS.

Truth: WE'LL HAVE OUR RIGHTS, SEE IF WE DON'T; AND YOU CAN'T STOP US FROM THEM, SEE IF YOU CAN.

YOU MAY HISS AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE, BUT IT'S COMING.

WE HAVE ALL BEEN THROWN DOWN SO LOW THAT NOBODY THOUGHT WE'D EVER GET UP AGAIN, BUT WE HAVE BEEN LONG ENOUGH TRODDEN NOW; WE WILL COME UP AGAIN, AND NOW I AM HERE.

SOJOURNER TRUTH.

Narrator: IN FEBRUARY OF 1854, SUSAN B. ANTHONY ORGANIZED A WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION AT ALBANY AIMED AT MARSHALING SUPPORT FOR SOMETHING NO ONE HAD EVER TRIED BEFORE: A SYSTEMATIC OVERHAUL OF ALL STATE LAWS THAT DISCRIMINATED AGAINST WOMEN.

ANTHONY AND A GROUP OF SYMPATHETIC FOLLOWERS HAD SCOURED THE STATE, GATHERING SOME 6,000 PETITIONS, DEMANDING THAT THE LEGISLATURE RECOGNIZE THE RIGHT OF MARRIED WOMEN TO OWN PROPERTY AND ANOTHER 4,000 PETITIONS REQUESTING THAT WOMEN BE ALLOWED TO VOTE.

THEY WERE MAKING HISTORY, AND ANTHONY ASKED STANTON TO LEAVE HOME AND COME TO ALBANY AND GIVE VOICE TO THEIR DEMANDS.

BUT STANTON, BACK IN SENECA FALLS, UNEXPECTEDLY REFUSED.

Stanton: SAY NOT ONE WORD TO ME ABOUT ANOTHER CONVENTION.

FOR I SWEAR BY ALL THE SAINTS THAT WHILST I AM NURSING THIS BABY I WILL NOT BE TORMENTED WITH SUFFERING HUMANITY...

THEREFORE, I SAY ADIEU TO THE PUBLIC FOR A TIME.

Narrator: ANTHONY PERSISTED, AND FINALLY, RELUCTANTLY, STANTON GAVE IN TO HER FRIEND AS SHE WOULD DO AGAIN AND AGAIN THROUGHOUT HER LIFE.

"I FIND THERE IS NO SAYING NO TO YOU," SHE WROTE ANTHONY.

ON THE EVENING OF FEBRUARY 14, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON STEPPED TO THE PODIUM IN ALBANY.

SHE WAS SPEAKING TO THE WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION, BUT HER WORDS WERE ADDRESSED TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LAWS THAT DISCRIMINATED AGAINST WOMEN: THE MEN OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE JUST A FEW BLOCKS AWAY.

Stanton: HOW COULD YOU EVER LOOK THUS ON WOMAN?

SHE WHO GAVE THE WORLD A SAVIOR AND WITNESSED ALIKE THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI AND THE AGONIES OF THE CROSS.

HOW COULD SUCH A BEING SO BLESSED AND HONORED EVER BECOME THE IGNOBLE, SERVILE, CRINGING SLAVE?

WOULD TO GOD YOU COULD KNOW THE BURNING INDIGNATION THAT FILLS WOMAN'S SOUL WHEN SHE TURNS OVER THE PAGES OF YOUR STATUTE BOOKS AND SEES THERE HOW LIKE FEUDAL BARONS YOU FREEMEN HOLD OVER YOUR WOMEN.

Narrator: ANTHONY MADE CERTAIN THAT STANTON'S FIERY ADDRESS WAS PLACED ON THE DESK OF EVERY STATE LAW-MAKER.

THE LEGISLATURE REJECTED THE IDEA OF VOTES FOR WOMEN OUT OF HAND, BUT IT TOOK SOME DEMANDS UNDER ADVISEMENT AND WITHIN A MONTH AMENDED TWO LAWS: STRENGTHENING A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO KEEP HER OWN EARNINGS AND GIVING HER SOME MEASURE OF CONTROL OVER THE CUSTODY OF HER CHILDREN.

ANTHONY AND STANTON HAD WON IMPORTANT CONCESSIONS, BUT THEY CAME AT A GREAT PERSONAL COST.

STANTON'S PUBLIC BOLDNESS HAD ALIENATED HER FROM THE MAN WHOSE ADMIRATION SHE HAD ALWAYS WANTED MOST.

Stanton: SEPTEMBER 10, 1855-- MY DEAR SUSAN...

I PASSED THROUGH A TERRIBLE SCOURGING WHEN LAST AT MY FATHER'S.

I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW DEEPLY THE IRON ENTERED MY SOUL.

I NEVER FELT MORE KEENLY THE DEGRADATION OF MY SEX.

TO THINK THAT ALL IN ME OF WHICH MY FATHER WOULD HAVE FELT A PROPER PRIDE HAD I BEEN A MAN IS DEEPLY MORTIFYING TO HIM BECAUSE I AM A WOMAN...

SOMETIMES, SUSAN, I STRUGGLE IN DEEP WATERS.

Narrator: FOR THE NEXT 6 YEARS, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON WOULD CONTINUE HER WORK FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS-- TURNING OUT A FLOOD OF ARTICLES AND SPEECHES, BUT OTHERWISE KEEPING BEHIND THE SCENES.

SHE WOULD FIND HERSELF LIVING VICARIOUSLY THROUGH THE TIRELESS ACTIVITY OF HER CLOSEST FRIEND.

"MY WHOLE SOUL IS IN THE WORK," SHE TOLD SUSAN B. ANTHONY, "BUT MY HANDS BELONG TO MY FAMILY."

Woman: SUSAN B. ANTHONY IS IN TOWN AND SPOKE THIS AFTERNOON.

SHE HAD A LARGE AUDIENCE, AND SHE TALKED PLAINLY ABOUT OUR RIGHTS AND SAID THE WORLD WOULD NEVER GO RIGHT UNTIL THE WOMEN HAD JUST AS MUCH RIGHT TO VOTE AND RULE AS MEN.

SHE ASKED US ALL TO COME UP AND SIGN OUR NAMES WHO WOULD PROMISE TO DO ALL IN OUR POWER TO BRING ABOUT THAT GLAD DAY.

A WHOLE LOT OF US WENT UP AND SIGNED THE PAPER.

CAROLINA COWLES RICHARDS.

Wellman: THERE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A WOMEN'S MOVEMENT PER SE WITHOUT SUSAN B. ANTHONY.

AFTER THE SENECA FALLS CONVENTION, EVERY YEAR EXCEPT ONE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR, THERE WAS A NATIONAL WOMEN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION.

AND IT WAS BECAUSE SUSAN B. ANTHONY ORGANIZED IT, NOT ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.

WITHOUT ANTHONY'S ENERGY, HER ABILITY TO PUT TOGETHER COALITIONS, TO WORK WITH PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS, THERE WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN A WOMEN'S MOVEMENT.

Narrator: SUSAN B. ANTHONY REMAINED CLOSE TO HER OWN FAMILY, BUT HER WORK, HER CAUSE, ALWAYS CAME FIRST, AND IN AN ERA WHEN "RESPECTABLE" WOMEN RARELY LEFT THEIR HOMES WITHOUT AN ESCORT, SHE FEARLESSLY VENTURED OUT ON HER OWN.

IN 1854, SHE LEFT HOME ON CHRISTMAS DAY, DETERMINED TO KEEP UP THE PRESSURE ON THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE TO GRANT MARRIED WOMEN THE RIGHT TO OWN AND INHERIT PROPERTY.

SHE WOULD STAY ON THE ROAD FOR FIVE MONTHS STRAIGHT, CANVASSING EVERY ONE OF THE STATE'S 54 COUNTIES.

SHE CHOSE TO TRAVEL IN THE WINTER BECAUSE FARMERS WERE HOMEBOUND AND THERE WAS LIKELY TO BE LITTLE COMPETITION FROM OTHER SPEAKERS.

TO COVER THE COST OF HER ROOM AND BOARD AND THE SLEIGH AND STAGECOACH RIDES THAT CARRIED HER THROUGH THE SNOW AND BITTER COLD, SHE CHARGED A 25-CENT ENTRY FEE.

Anthony: JANUARY 14, HALF PAST 12 P.M. WELL, WELL, GOOD FOLKS AT HOME, THESE SURELY ARE THE TIMES THAT TRY WOMEN'S SOULS.

AT OLEAN, NOT A CHURCH OR SCHOOLHOUSE COULD BE OBTAINED FOR THE LECTURE AND IT WOULD HAVE HAD TO BE ABANDONED HAD NOT THE LANDLORD, MR. COMSTOCK, GIVEN US THE USE OF HIS DINING ROOM.

AT ANGELICA, A YOUNG METHODIST MINISTER GAVE HIS NAME FOR THE PETITION, BUT ONE OF HIS WEALTHY PARISHIONERS TOLD HIM HE SHOULD LEAVE THE CHURCH UNLESS IT WAS WITHDRAWN.

AT CORNING, NONE OF THE MINISTERS WOULD GIVE NOTICE OF OUR MEETING.

VERILY, I AM EMBARKED IN AN UNPOPULAR CAUSE AND MUST BE CONTENT TO ROW UPSTREAM.

Narrator: SOME PEOPLE TURNED OUT TO SEE HER MERELY FOR THE NOVELTY OF IT.

THEY HAD NEVER HEARD A WOMAN SPEAK IN PUBLIC BEFORE.

SOME WERE OPENLY HOSTILE.

ONE MINISTER TOLD HER, "MISS ANTHONY, YOU ARE TOO FINE A PHYSICAL SPECIMEN OF WOMAN "TO BE DOING SUCH WORK AS THIS.

YOU OUGHT TO MARRY AND HAVE CHILDREN."

BUT OTHERS HAD THEIR MINDS CHANGED; HER TIRELESS SPEAKING YIELDED THOUSANDS OF PETITIONS TO THE LEGISLATURE.

ANTHONY WAS SO EFFECTIVE AND SO UNFLAGGING IN HER DEVOTION TO HER CAUSE THAT WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON EVENTUALLY HIRED HER AS THE PRINCIPAL NEW YORK AGENT FOR HIS UNCOMPROMISING ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.

"OVERTHROW THIS GOVERNMENT," ANTHONY TOLD CROWDS ALL ACROSS THE STATE.

"COMMIT ITS BLOODSTAINED CONSTITUTION TO THE FLAMES; BLOT OUT EVERY VESTIGE OF THAT GUILTY BARGAIN OF THE FATHERS."

HALLS WERE CLOSED TO HER; SHE FACED DOWN ANGRY MOBS, WAS PELTED WITH ROTTEN EGGS AND BURNED IN EFFIGY.

AT ALBANY, ONLY THE APPEARANCE OF THE MAYOR ON THE PLATFORM WITH A LOADED REVOLVER IN HIS LAP WOULD KEEP THE CROWD FROM ATTACKING HER.

SUSAN B. ANTHONY WAS PROUD OF HER ABILITY TO JUGGLE THE DEMANDS OF SERVING SO MANY CAUSES, BUT SHE OFTEN FELT ALONE, AND STANTON'S CONTINUAL CHILD-BEARING IRRITATED HER, COMPLICATING THEIR FRIENDSHIP.

ANTHONY WROTE A FRIEND, WHEN SHE LEARNED THAT STANTON WAS TO HAVE A SIXTH CHILD, "I ONLY SCOLD THAT FOR A MOMENT'S PLEASURE TO HERSELF OR HER HUSBAND, "SHE SHOULD THUS INCREASE THE LOAD OF CARES UNDER WHICH SHE ALREADY GROANS, BUT THERE IS NO REMEDY NOW."

Anthony: DEAR MRS. STANTON, I PRAY YOU, GIVE HEED TO MY PRAYER.

THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE THE TALENT TO DO HONOR TO POOR WOMANKIND, HAVE ALL GIVEN YOURSELF OVER TO BABY-MAKING; AND LEFT POOR BRAINLESS ME TO DO BATTLE ALONE.

IT IS A SHAME.

SUCH A BODY AS I MIGHT BE SPARED TO ROCK CRADLES.

BUT IT IS A CRIME FOR YOU AND LUCY AND ANTOINETTE BROWN TO BE DOING IT.

Narrator: ANTHONY WAS EXASPERATED WHEN TWO OF HER STRONGEST ALLIES IN THE MOVEMENT-- WHO HAD PROMISED HER NEVER TO MARRY-- LEFT THE FIELD FOR A TIME.

LUCY STONE STUNNED HER FRIENDS BY MARRYING AN OHIO ABOLITIONIST, HENRY BLACKWELL.

THEN, THE REVEREND ANTOINETTE BROWN FOLLOWED SUIT AND MARRIED BLACKWELL'S BROTHER, SAMUEL.

"GET A GOOD HUSBAND," SHE TOLD ANTHONY, "THAT'S ALL, DEAR."

Stanton: DEAR SUSAN... LET LUCY AND ANTOINETTE REST AWHILE IN PEACE AND QUIETNESS AND THINK GREAT THOUGHTS FOR THE FUTURE.

IT IS NOT WELL TO BE IN THE EXCITEMENT OF PUBLIC LIFE ALL THE TIME.

YOU NEED REST TOO, SUSAN.

LET THE WORLD ALONE AWHILE.

WE CANNOT BRING ABOUT A MORAL REVOLUTION IN A DAY OR YEAR.

Anthony: DEAR MRS. STANTON...

I HAVE VERY WEAK MOMENTS-- AND LONG TO LAY MY WEARY HEAD SOMEWHERE AND NESTLE MY FULL SOUL CLOSE TO THAT OF ANOTHER IN FULL SYMPATHY.

SOMETIMES, I FEAR THAT I, TOO, SHALL FAINT BY THE WAYSIDE AND DROP OUT OF THE RANKS OF THE FAITHFUL FEW.

HOW I DO LONG TO BE WITH YOU THIS VERY MINUTE-- OH, MRS. STANTON, HOW MY SOUL LONGS TO SEE YOU IN THE GREAT BATTLEFIELD.

IF YOU COME NOT TO THE RESCUE, WHO SHALL?

WITH BEST LOVE, SUSAN B. ANTHONY.

Stanton: OH, SUSAN, I WILL DO ANYTHING TO HELP YOU ON.

I GLORY IN YOUR PERSEVERANCE.

COURAGE, SUSAN, THIS IS MY LAST BABY AND SHE WILL BE TWO YEARS OLD IN JANUARY.

TWO YEARS MORE AND TIME WILL TELL WHAT!

YOU AND I HAVE THE PROSPECT OF A GOOD, LONG LIFE.

WE SHALL NOT BE IN OUR PRIME BEFORE 50, AND AFTER THAT, WE SHALL BE GOOD FOR 20 YEARS AT LEAST.

Griffith: FEMALE FRIENDSHIP IN THE 19th CENTURY IS A WHOLE OTHER SUBJECT.

IT'S MUCH MORE INTIMATE, THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE IS USED IN THE LETTERS BETWEEN THE TWO WOMEN.

IT'S A VERY AFFECTIONATE SISTERHOOD BOND.

THEY DEPEND ENORMOUSLY ON EACH OTHER PSYCHOLOGICALLY.

THEY ARE SAFE FOR EACH OTHER.

Narrator: DESPITE HER PLEDGE TO SUSAN NOT TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY, ROBERT LIVINGSTON STANTON, HER SEVENTH CHILD, WAS BORN IN 1859.

STANTON WAS 44 YEARS OLD AND CONFINED TO HER BED FOR A MONTH AFTERWARD, DEPRESSED AND DEPLETED.

THERE WOULD BE NO MORE CHILDREN.

AND NOW, OUTSIDE EVENTS CROWDED IN ON HER.

IN OCTOBER, 1859, THE ABOLITIONIST ZEALOT JOHN BROWN WAS CAPTURED AT HARPER'S FERRY, VIRGINIA, AFTER TRYING TO LEAD A SLAVE REBELLION.

HE WAS HUNG FOR TREASON.

TO STANTON, BROWN WAS A HERO, A MARTYR TO A SACRED CAUSE.

GERRIT SMITH, THE COUSIN IN WHOSE HOME STANTON HAD FIRST HEARD TALK OF ABOLITION, HAD HELPED FINANCE BROWN'S RAID.

NOW, IN THE FACE OF CHARGES THAT HE HAD COMMITTED TREASON, SMITH SUFFERED A BREAKDOWN AND WAS COMMITTED TO AN INSANE ASYLUM.

THEN, ON THE LAST DAY OF OCTOBER, STANTON'S FATHER DIED AT THE AGE OF 86.

SHE HAD NEVER FULLY RECONCILED WITH HIM, HAD NEVER RECEIVED THE UNQUALIFIED APPROVAL FOR WHICH SHE HAD YEARNED SINCE SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL.

SHE WAS DISTRAUGHT.

Griffith: 1859 IS A TURNING POINT FOR STANTON.

ALL OF THE PARTS OF HER LIFE ARE COMING TOGETHER INTO CONFLICT.

HER FATHER DIES, PLUNGING HER INTO A DEPRESSION ABOUT HAD SHE EVER COME TO TERMS WITH HIM.

SHE AND HENRY ARE NOT SPENDING TIME TOGETHER.

ANTHONY IS NAGGING HER TO GO OUT AND GIVE SPEECHES.

ALL THESE PIECES ARE PULLING AT HER.

SHE'S NEVER BEEN SO UNBALANCED.

I WOULD CALL IT A MID-LIFE CRISIS, A MAJOR DEPRESSION.

IT'S A CLEAR TURNING POINT WHEN YOU LOOK AT HER LIFE.

Narrator: SHE TURNED TO HER CLOSEST FRIEND FOR HELP.

Stanton: DEAR SUSAN... WHERE ARE YOU?

SINCE A WEEK AGO LAST MONDAY, I HAVE LOOKED FOR YOU EVERY DAY.

I HAD THE WASHING PUT OFF, WE COOKED A TURKEY, SENT MY FIRST-BORN TO THE DEPOT AND PUT CLEAN APRONS ON THE CHILDREN, BUT LO!

YOU DID NOT COME.

AND IT WOULD DO ME SUCH GREAT GOOD TO SEE SOME REFORMERS JUST NOW.

THE DEATH OF MY FATHER, THE WORSE THAN DEATH OF MY DEAR COUSIN GERRIT, THE MARTYRDOM OF THAT GRAND AND GLORIOUS JOHN BROWN-- ALL THIS CONSPIRES TO MAKE ME REGRET MORE THAN EVER MY DWARFED WOMANHOOD.

Narrator: FINALLY, IN 1860, STANTON FELT FREE TO REJOIN ANTHONY ON THE POLITICAL BATTLEFIELD.

IN MARCH, SHE ADDRESSED-- IN PERSON THIS TIME-- THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE OF THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE AND DEMANDED THAT WOMEN BE TREATED AS CITIZENS, NOT SLAVES.

HER ELOQUENCE, TOGETHER WITH THE THOUSANDS OF PETITIONS ANTHONY AND HER FELLOW WORKERS HAD BEEN GATHERING FOR THE PAST 6 YEARS, HELPED PASS THE MARRIED WOMAN'S PROPERTY ACT.

IT GAVE A WIFE THE RIGHT TO OWN PROPERTY WITHOUT INTERFERENCE FROM HER HUSBAND, TO KEEP ALL OF HER OWN EARNINGS, TO SUE IN A COURT OF LAW, AND TO SHARE CUSTODY OF HER OWN CHILDREN.

IT WAS A GREAT TRIUMPH FOR AMERICAN WOMEN.

NOW, WOMEN IN OTHER STATES SOUGHT COPIES OF THE NEW LAW AND BEGAN PRESSURING THEIR LEGISLATURES TO FOLLOW SUIT.

BUT ANTHONY AND STANTON CONSIDERED IT ONLY A BEGINNING.

IN MAY, IN NEW YORK CITY, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON DARED CHALLENGE THE SACRED INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE ITSELF.

SPEAKING BEFORE THE NATIONAL WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION AT COOPER UNION, SHE DEMANDED THE RIGHT TO DIVORCE AND OFFERED A RESOLUTION DECLARING THAT MARRIAGE SHOULD BE A PURELY LEGAL CONTRACT, AND THAT EITHER PARTY SHOULD BE FREE TO END IT IN CASE OF DRUNKENNESS, DESERTION, OR CRUELTY.

Griffith: IF YOU CONSIDER THAT WOMEN COULD NOT LEAVE A HUSBAND, NO MATTER HOW ABUSIVE, YOU CAN UNDERSTAND HOW HAVING A RIGHT TO DIVORCE WOULD BE ENORMOUSLY IMPORTANT.

IT WAS VIEWED AS CONTROVERSIAL, BECAUSE IF YOU DIVORCED, THEN YOU MIGHT REMARRY, SO THAT MEANT YOU HAD SEX WITH MORE THAN ONE MAN.

SHOCKING.

Narrator: AS CURRENTLY CONSTITUTED, STANTON SAID, MARRIAGE WAS "NOTHING MORE THAN LEGALIZED PROSTITUTION."

Stanton: THERE IS ONE KIND OF MARRIAGE THAT HAS NOT BEEN TRIED, AND THAT IS A CONTRACT MADE BY EQUAL PARTIES TO LEAD AN EQUAL LIFE, WITH EQUAL RESTRAINTS AND PRIVILEGES ON EITHER SIDE.

THUS FAR, WE HAVE HAD MAN MARRIAGE AND NOTHING MORE.

Narrator: MOST OF THE DELEGATES AT THE CONVENTION, INCLUDING LUCY STONE, WERE HORRIFIED.

THEIR OLD ABOLITIONIST ALLY, WENDELL PHILLIPS, CALLED FOR STANTON'S RESOLUTION TO BE EXPUNGED FROM THE RECORD.

"THIS CONVENTION IS NO MARRIAGE CONVENTION," HE SAID.

"I, AS A MAN, HAVE EXACTLY EQUAL INTEREST IN THE ESSENTIAL QUESTION OF MARRIAGE AS A WOMAN HAS."

EVEN THE REVEREND ANTOINETTE BROWN BLACKWELL INSISTED THAT MARRIAGE WAS ORDAINED BY GOD-- "PERMANENT AND INDISSOLUBLE."

ANTHONY VIGOROUSLY DEFENDED STANTON, BUT THE CONVENTION ADJOURNED WITHOUT EVER VOTING ON THE RESOLUTION.

HER FRIEND'S RADICAL VIEWS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE WOULD REMAIN A SOURCE OF CONTENTION AND DISUNION WITHIN THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT FOR DECADES.

STANTON RETURNED TO SENECA FALLS, UNSHAKEN IN HER CONVICTIONS.

"THIS MARRIAGE QUESTION," SHE INSISTED, "LIES AT THE VERY FOUNDATION OF ALL PROGRESS."

AT 4: 30 A.M., ON THE 12th OF APRIL, 1861, CONFEDERATE GUNNERS OPENED FIRE ON FORT SUMTER IN CHARLESTON HARBOR.

THE CIVIL WAR HAD BEGUN.

THE NEWS THAT THE WAR HAD STARTED, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON SAID, WAS "MUSIC TO MY EARS, A SIMULTANEOUS CHORUS FOR FREEDOM."

STANTON URGED ANTHONY TO CANCEL THE NATIONAL WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION SCHEDULED FOR MAY.

SHE WAS SURE THAT IF WOMEN WHOLEHEARTEDLY SUPPORTED THE UNION, A GRATEFUL UNION WOULD FINALLY REWARD THEM WITH THE VOTE THEY'D BEEN ASKING FOR SINCE SENECA FALLS.

ANTHONY VEHEMENTLY DISAGREED WITH STANTON'S STRATEGY.

Anthony: ALL OF OUR REFORMERS SEEM SUDDENLY TO HAVE GROWN POLITIC.

ALL ALIKE SAY "HAVE NO CONVENTION AT THIS CRISIS!"

GARRISON, PHILLIPS, MRS. MOTT, MRS. STANTON, ETC.

SAY, "WAIT UNTIL THE WAR EXCITEMENT ABATES."

I AM SICK AT HEART, BUT CANNOT CARRY THE WORLD AGAINST THE WISH AND WILL OF OUR BEST FRIENDS.

Barry: WHEN YOU SUSPEND A MOVEMENT, IT TAKES AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF TIME TO REVIVE IT, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHEN YOU SUSPEND A MOVEMENT, YOU ARE SAYING THAT SOMETHING ELSE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR OWN MOVEMENT.

AND A SELF-DETERMINATION MOVEMENT OF ANY PEOPLE CANNOT DO THAT.

Narrator: ANTHONY WAS AFRAID THAT BY SUSPENDING THE WOMEN'S RIGHTS MOVEMENT, THE GAINS ALREADY MADE WOULD BE REVERSED.

SHE WAS RIGHT.

WITHOUT A VIGILANT WOMAN'S RIGHTS ASSOCIATION AT WORK, THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE BEGAN TO CHIP AWAY AT THE MARRIED WOMAN'S PROPERTY ACT, FOR WHICH STANTON AND ANTHONY HAD FOUGHT SO HARD JUST TWO YEARS EARLIER.

Anthony: WELL, WELL...

WHILE THE OLD GUARD SLEEP, THE YOUNG DEVILS ARE WIDE-AWAKE.

WE DESERVE TO SUFFER FOR OUR CONFIDENCE IN MAN'S SENSE OF JUSTICE.

Narrator: ANTHONY RELUCTANTLY RETURNED TO HER FAMILY FARM OUTSIDE ROCHESTER.

THERE, SHE FOUND INACTION UNBEARABLE.

Anthony: TRIED TO INTEREST MYSELF IN A SEWING SOCIETY; BUT LITTLE INTELLIGENCE AMONG THEM.

ATTENDED PROGRESSIVE FRIENDS MEETING; TOO MUCH NAMBY-PAMBYISM.

WENT TO COLORED CHURCH TO HEAR FREDERICK DOUGLASS.

HE SEEMS WITHOUT SOLID BASIS.

SPEAKS ONLY POPULAR TRUTHS.

QUILTED ALL DAY, BUT SEWING NO LONGER SEEMS TO BE MY CALLING.

I STAINED AND VARNISHED THE LIBRARY BOOKCASE TODAY, AND SUPERINTENDED THE PLOWING OF THE ORCHARD.

WASHED EVERY WINDOW IN THE HOUSE TODAY.

FITTED OUT A FUGITIVE SLAVE FOR CANADA WITH THE HELP OF HARRIET TUBMAN.

I WISH THE GOVERNMENT WOULD MOVE QUICKLY, PROCLAIM FREEDOM TO EVERY SLAVE AND CALL ON EVERY ABLE-BODIED NEGRO TO ENLIST IN THE UNION ARMY.

HOW NOT TO DO IT SEEMS THE WHOLE STUDY AT WASHINGTON.

TO FOREVER BLOT OUT SLAVERY IS THE ONLY POSSIBLE COMPENSATION FOR THIS MERCILESS WAR.

Narrator: ON JANUARY 1, 1863, ABRAHAM LINCOLN SIGNED THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.

IT DECLARED FREE ONLY THOSE SLAVES LIVING WITHIN THE CONFEDERACY.

BOTH STANTON AND ANTHONY WERE APPALLED BY ITS NARROW SCOPE.

THEY HURLED THEMSELVES BACK INTO POLITICAL LIFE, FORMING THE WOMEN'S LOYAL NATIONAL LEAGUE, COMMITTED TO WINNING FREEDOM FOR ALL SLAVES, THEY SAID, EVERYWHERE.

Gordon: THE WOMEN'S LOYAL NATIONAL LEAGUE TOOK WOMEN INTO POLITICAL ACTIVITY THAT THEY HAD NOT BEFORE SEEN ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL.

STANTON AND ANTHONY ARE SUDDENLY DEALING WITH SENATORS IN WASHINGTON, NOT JUST SENATORS IN ALBANY.

AND IT ATTRACTED WOMEN INTO THE MOVEMENT WHO HAD NOT YET EVER HAD A REASON OR AN OCCASION TO LEARN ABOUT THE WOMEN'S RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

Narrator: STANTON HAD LEFT SENECA FALLS AND WAS NOW LIVING IN NEW YORK CITY, WHERE HENRY HAD BEEN REWARDED BY THE NEW REPUBLICAN PARTY WITH A PATRONAGE JOB AT THE CUSTOMS HOUSE.

ANTHONY MOVED IN WITH THE STANTONS, AND FROM THERE, THE TWO WOMEN DIRECTED A NATIONWIDE PETITION CAMPAIGN IN SUPPORT OF A NEW 13th AMENDMENT THAT WOULD FINALLY FREE EVERY SLAVE.

THEIR FIRST FORAY INTO NATIONAL POLITICS WAS A TRIUMPH.

SENATOR CHARLES SUMNER LAVISHED PRAISE ON STANTON AND ANTHONY.

THE 400,000 SIGNATURES THEY AND THE LOYAL LEAGUE HAD GATHERED, HE SAID, CAME FROM "THE HEART" OF THE COUNTRY.

THEY HAD DONE "NOBLE WORK."

IN JANUARY OF 1865, THE 13th AMENDMENT PASSED, ABOLISHING SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.

3 MONTHS LATER, THE CIVIL WAR ENDED, WITH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY FIRMLY IN CONTROL OF CONGRESS.

NOW, SURELY, THE MEN WHO HAD TALKED FOR YEARS OF THE NATURAL RIGHTS OF HUMAN BEINGS WOULD GRANT WOMEN THE VOTE THEY DESERVED.

STANTON AND ANTHONY HELPED THEIR PROGRESSIVE ALLIES FORM THE AMERICAN EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION, DEDICATED TO VOTING RIGHTS FOR WOMEN AND MEN, BLACKS AND WHITES.

"NO COUNTRY EVER HAS HAD OR EVER WILL HAVE PEACE UNTIL EVERY CITIZEN HAS A VOICE IN THE GOVERNMENT," STANTON DECLARED.

"NOW, LET US TRY UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE."

Stanton: DEAR SUSAN, I HAVE ARGUED CONSTANTLY WITH THE WHOLE FRATERNITY, BUT I FEAR ONE AND ALL WILL FAVOR ENFRANCHISING THE NEGRO WITHOUT US.

WOMAN'S CAUSE IS IN DEEP WATER.

THERE IS PRESSING NEED OF OUR WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION... COME BACK AND HELP.

THERE WILL BE A ROOM FOR YOU.

I SEEM TO STAND ALONE.

AFTER THE WAR, SUSAN B. ANTHONY HAD GONE WEST TO LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS, TO VISIT HER BROTHER, DANIEL.

SHE WAS IN HIS OFFICE ONE DAY IN AUGUST OF 1865, WHEN SHE READ DISTURBING NEWS FROM WASHINGTON.

A PROPOSED 14th AMENDMENT, PUT FORWARD BY THE REPUBLICANS, "PROMISED" CITIZENSHIP TO "ALL PERSONS BORN OR NATURALIZED IN THE UNITED STATES."

BUT FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE CONSTITUTION WOULD ALSO INCLUDE THE WORD "MALE."

ONLY MEN, IT SEEMED TO SAY, WERE CITIZENS.

ONLY MEN COULD VOTE.

Barry: SHE WAS FURIOUS.

SHE HAD THE ANGER OF ANYONE WHO KNOWS THAT THEIR CAUSE IS RIGHT, IS GOOD, IS JUST, AND HAS BEEN SLAPPED IN THE FACE WITH THE WORST KIND OF INJUSTICE.

Narrator: ANTHONY PACKED HER BAGS AND BOARDED THE NEXT TRAIN FOR HOME.

SHE AND STANTON WERE ABOUT TO RUN INTO COLD POLITICAL REALITY.

Gordon: IN VERY FEW PLACES WAS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY SUCH A STRONG MAJORITY IN THE NORTH AS TO BE ABLE TO IGNORE POLITICAL REALITIES AND BE A PARTY PURELY OF IDEALISM, AND SAY, "YES, EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL."

THEY HAD TO PLAY AND WATCH, AND RESPOND TO PUBLIC OPINION.

THE WOMEN ARE THE EASIEST TO DISPOSE OF BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE ANY VOTES.

IT IS THE FINAL DILEMMA OF THE WHOLE HISTORY OF THE WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO AFFECT POLITICAL OUTCOMES WITHOUT HAVING THE CURRENCY THAT CONTROLS POLITICAL OUTCOMES.

Narrator: STANTON AND ANTHONY LOBBIED HARD TO HAVE THE LANGUAGE OF THE AMENDMENT CHANGED.

"IF THAT WORD MALE BE INSERTED AS NOW PROPOSED," STANTON CONFIDED TO A FRIEND, "IT WILL TAKE US A CENTURY TO GET IT OUT AGAIN."

THEY EXPECTED THEIR MALE FRIENDS IN THE MOVEMENT TO SUPPORT THEM, BUT WENDELL PHILLIPS POINTEDLY TOLD STANTON THAT WOMEN SHOULD BE PATIENT; THEIR TIME WOULD COME.

"THIS HOUR," HE SAID, "BELONGS TO THE NEGRO."

SUSAN B. ANTHONY AND ELIZABETH CADY STANTON HAD BEEN BETRAYED.

Stanton: CHARLES SUMNER, GERRIT SMITH AND WENDELL PHILLIPS, WITH ONE CONSENT, BID THE WOMEN OF THE NATION STAND ASIDE AND BEHOLD THE SALVATION OF THE NEGRO.

WENDELL PHILLIPS SAYS, "ONE IDEA FOR A GENERATION," TO COME UP IN THE ORDER OF THEIR IMPORTANCE.

FIRST, NEGRO SUFFRAGE, THEN TEMPERANCE, THEN WOMAN SUFFRAGE.

THREE GENERATIONS HENCE, WOMAN SUFFRAGE WILL BE IN ORDER!

WHAT AN INSULT TO THE WOMEN WHO HAVE LABORED 30 YEARS FOR THE EMANCIPATION OF THE SLAVE, NOW, WHEN HE IS THEIR POLITICAL EQUAL, TO PROPOSE TO LIFT HIM ABOVE THEIR HEADS.

Narrator: THE 14th AMENDMENT WAS RATIFIED WITHOUT CHANGE IN JULY OF 1868.

6 MONTHS LATER, A 15th AMENDMENT, AIMED AT STRENGTHENING THE 14th, WAS PROPOSED.

IT SAID THAT NO ONE SHOULD BE DENIED THE VOTE "ON ACCOUNT OF RACE, COLOR, OR PREVIOUS CONDITION OF SERVITUDE."

STANTON AND ANTHONY FOUGHT DESPERATELY TO HAVE THE WORD "SEX" ADDED TO THAT LIST, AND WHEN IT WASN'T, THEY OPENLY OPPOSED THE AMENDMENT.

"I WOULD RATHER CUT OFF MY RIGHT HAND," SAID ANTHONY, "THAN ASK THE BALLOT FOR THE BLACK MAN AND NOT FOR WOMAN."

EVERYTHING CAME TO A HEAD IN NEW YORK IN MAY OF 1869, AT THE ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION.

FRUSTRATED, FURIOUS, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON DENIGRATED THE FORMER SLAVES, WHOSE FREEDOM SHE HAD CHAMPIONED ALL HER LIFE, AND SHE SUGGESTED THAT EMPOWERING PEOPLE CHARACTERIZED BY "IGNORANCE AND DEGRADATION," WOULD CREATE "FEARFUL OUTRAGES" AGAINST WOMANHOOD.

"SAMBO," SHE SAID, LIKE THE IMMIGRANT NEWCOMER, "WASN'T READY FOR THE VOTE."

AS HE HAD 21 YEARS BEFORE IN SENECA FALLS, FREDERICK DOUGLASS ASKED TO BE HEARD.

Douglass: WHEN THERE WERE FEW HOUSES IN WHICH THE BLACK MAN COULD HAVE PUT HIS HEAD, THIS WOOLLY HEAD OF MINE FOUND REFUGE IN THE HOUSE OF MRS. ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.

THERE IS NO NAME GREATER THAN HERS IN THE MATTER OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND EQUAL RIGHTS, BUT THE EMPLOYMENT OF CERTAIN NAMES SUCH AS SAMBO, THAT I CANNOT COINCIDE WITH.

Narrator: DOUGLASS CALLED UPON THE DELEGATES TO RALLY BEHIND THE PROPOSED 15th AMENDMENT, WITHOUT CHANGE.

HE WAS ASKING STANTON AND ANTHONY TO DEFER THEIR DREAMS ONCE AGAIN.

Douglass: I MUST SAY THAT I DO NOT SEE HOW ANYONE CAN PRETEND THAT THERE IS THE SAME URGENCY IN GIVING THE BALLOT TO WOMAN AS TO THE NEGRO.

WHEN WOMEN, BECAUSE THEY ARE WOMEN, ARE HUNTED DOWN THROUGH THE CITIES OF NEW YORK AND NEW ORLEANS; WHEN THEY ARE DRAGGED FROM THEIR HOUSES AND HUNG UPON LAMP-POSTS; WHEN THEY ARE THE OBJECT OF INSULT AND OUTRAGE AT EVERY TURN; WHEN THEIR CHILDREN ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER SCHOOLS; THEN THEY WILL HAVE AN URGENCY TO OBTAIN THE BALLOT EQUAL TO OUR OWN.

Narrator: NOW, SUSAN B. ANTHONY ROSE TO SPEAK.

Anthony: IS THAT NOT ALL TRUE ABOUT BLACK WOMEN?

Douglass: YES, YES, YES.

IT IS TRUE OF THE BLACK WOMAN, BUT NOT BECAUSE SHE IS A WOMAN, BUT BECAUSE SHE IS BLACK.

Anthony: WHEN MR.DOUGLASS TELLS US THAT THE CAUSE OF THE BLACK MAN IS SO PERILOUS, I TELL HIM THAT WRONGED AND OUTRAGED AS THEY ARE BY THIS HATEFUL AND MEAN PREJUDICE AGAINST COLOR, HE WOULD NOT TODAY EXCHANGE HIS SEX AND COLOR, WRONGED AS HE IS, WITH ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.

Narrator: THE CONVENTION WAS THROWN INTO TURMOIL.

LUCY STONE WAS APPALLED BY WHAT STANTON AND ANTHONY HAD SAID.

BLACK WOMEN DELEGATES THEMSELVES WERE SHARPLY DIVIDED.

SOJOURNER TRUTH SUPPORTED ANTHONY AND STANTON, WHILE FRANCES HARPER SIDED WITH DOUGLASS.

IN THE END, THE EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION, FOUNDED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE, VOTED OVERWHELMINGLY TO SUPPORT THE 15th AMENDMENT.

IT WAS AN AGONIZING MOMENT FOR STANTON AND ANTHONY.

Woman: THIS EXPERIENCE GAVE BIRTH TO WHAT I UNDERSTAND TO BE THE DEEPEST FEMINIST CONVICTION FOR BOTH OF THEM, AND THAT'S THE UNDERSTANDING THAT ONLY A MOVEMENT RUN BY WOMEN CAN GO THE FULL LENGTH OF THE WAY.

SO IT'S THAT POINT, AS STANTON SAYS WITH GREAT SORT OF SADNESS IN HER WORDS, THAT WE "GAVE UP THE COUNSELS OF MEN FOREVER" AND KNEW WE COULD ONLY RELY ON OURSELVES TO WIN THESE RIGHTS.

SO IT'S THAT POINT AT WHICH THE WOMEN'S RIGHTS MOVEMENT BECOMES A WOMEN'S MOVEMENT.

Narrator: STANTON AND ANTHONY GATHERED THEIR DISCOURAGED FOLLOWERS AND ANNOUNCED THE FORMATION OF A RADICAL NEW ORGANIZATION, THE NATIONAL WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION.

MEN WERE NOT PERMITTED TO SERVE AS OFFICERS.

BUT, WITHIN A FEW MONTHS, LUCY STONE, JOINED BY A FAR LARGER NUMBER OF WOMEN AND MEN, FORMED A MORE CONSERVATIVE, RIVAL ORGANIZATION; THE AMERICAN WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION.

OLD FRIENDS WERE BECOMING BITTER ENEMIES, AND THE STRUGGLE FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS WAS SPLITTING IN TWO.

Barry: THE SPLIT IN THE MOVEMENT WAS ONE OF THE SADDEST AND MOST DAMAGING THINGS THAT HAPPENED.

YOU NEED A UNIFIED MOVEMENT.

A MOVEMENT THAT LOSES ITS RADICALISM LOSES ITS VISION AND ITS FUTURE.

A MOVEMENT THAT IS ONLY RADICAL LOSES ITS MASS BASE.

Gordon: BUT THE REAL STORY IS YOU WOULDN'T HAVE NEEDED A SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT IF MEN HAD GIVEN WOMEN THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

IT IS A MOVEMENT ABOUT MEN DENYING WOMEN THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

AND IT TAKING WOMEN NEARLY A CENTURY TO BACK THEM DOWN.