"..All men and women are created equal..."
-Declaration of Sentiments
The Seneca Falls Convention took place from July 19 through July 20, in 1848, at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, NY. Over 300 people, including 40 men, attended the convention coming from as far away as 5 miles. Though James Mott, husband of Lucretia Mott, led the convention, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Stanton were the women who organized and thought up the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women's rights convention ever held in the US. Mott and Stanton met at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, England in 1840, when both of them along with all the other women who wanted to attend were not allowed to enter based entirely on their gender. After 8 years, Stanton and Mott reconvened with 3 other women (Martha Wright, Mary Ann McClintock, and Jane Hunt), to start making plans for their women's rights convention. Their plan was to have the convention last for two days, the first day (Wednesday, July 19) would be a meeting for only women, where they would discuss the Declaration of Sentiments and Grievances. The second day (Thursday, July 20) men were invited as well, and around 40 men did come, and that day they adopted the Declaration of Sentiments, with only part agreed upon by majority rather than unanimously. One famous man who attended the Seneca Falls Convention was Fredrick Douglass, a man who freed himself from slavery, and became a strong spokesman for human rights. The ninth point of the Declaration, "it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves the right to the elective franchise" (meaning the right to vote), was the one area where there was some debate. Fredrick Douglass, the powerful speaker that he was, was able to convince others that the women's right to vote was important, and "the resolution was passed", although the convention was later ridiculed for the idea. However, two years later the first national women's rights convention was held in Worcester, Massachusetts.