Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Stanton is as a very intelligent woman. She was one of the few to recognize in public that women are oppressed by men. Tons of obstructions to women's rights but she is one of the first in America to press through those long standing obstacles. She talks about the underlying hypocrisy in the Declaration of Independence and how its words do not apply to women. Accordingly she takes some of the format of the great document for her own calling it 'The Declaration of Sentiments'. Putting her paper in this way draws on the already great standing of The Declaration of Independence and creates both validity and intrigue for her cause.Thomas Jefferson
Freedom of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness were the words Jefferson immortalized forever for democracy. However, many argue the hypocrisy of his words due to most of the white population at the time owning slaves. I disagree. Slavery was the main driver of the economy of that time, especially in the south. In addition to that slavery was ingrained in the minds of whites as a just thing and as an obligation to civilize those they enslaved. They viewed them as 'heathens' who needed to be turned to the proper and real god. All this culminated in the justification of the system in the collective mind of most of the world at the time, including the colonies. I think that it would be wrong of us to judge them based on our values today as it would be wrong of them to do likewise. It is no more hypocritical than those who claim to be religious but yet support war and the death penalty. We realize that it is hypocritical but as we view our world right now, deem it necessary.
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