Suggested Documents:

• Declaration of Independence
• Declaration of Rights and Sentiments
• Fifteenth Amendment
• Nineteenth Amendment
• Twenty-sixth Amendment
• Constitution of the United States

There are many others available in sourcebooks and on the Internet that involve the suffrage movement.

The Declaration of Rights and Sentiments along with the Declaration of Independence and the amendments can be found at the website of the National Archives and Records administration.

Other Resources to have on hand:

• Dictionaries
• Biographical Texts
• Encyclopedias
• Computers for access to the internet

Basic Exposure and Introduction of the Documents:

1. Distribute copies of the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments to each student. Have the students read the document carefully and critically. Ask them to look up any unfamiliar words.
2. Ask the students to determine the tone of the document. What is their reaction to the document?
3. Have the students note any ideas that raise questions in their minds. Have the students write a question they feel was not answered within the document. What does the document suggest about how women are treated by men?
4. Does the document resemble another important American historical document? Why does it resemble the Declaration of Independence? Compare and contrast both documents and determine the similarities and differences. Create a chart illustrating the similarities with concrete examples from each document.
5. Have the students determine what was the purpose of writing the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments. Who was the primary author? When was the document written? For what audience?
6. Why was the Declaration of Independence used as a model?
7. Using the library/internet resources, have the students investigate who the original signatories were. Are any of the signatories familiar? Do any of the names come as a surprise? Were there any male signatories?

Development and Writing

1. Share with students or assign research on the historical background of the women's rights movement. Can the students provide a scenario of what a woman's life was like in the early nineteenth century.
2. The Declaration of Rights and Sentiments contains a specific list of grievances that the authors believed allowed men to exercise complete control or tyranny over women. Have the students make a list of grievances listed in both documents and compare and contrast them. Are they the same in each? How do they differ? What is the most important grievance in each document? What is the most important grievance that women might have today?
3. Have the students either individually or in small groups respond to the statement, that "today women have equal rights that are guaranteed to them under the constitution of the United States."
4. Note the use of the word "fact" in the document. Which facts are listed in the document that can be supported or verified?
5. Ask students to summarize the main points made during the in-class discussion.

Additional Suggested Activities:

1. Suggest that students create a cartoon, poem, or song lyrics using the words and ideas they circled when they first read the documents.
2. Have the students write their own Declaration of Sentiments, but from another point of view, i.e. students rights or rights of sophomores v. seniors.
3. Encourage students to research the history of voting rights in America including the passage of the 14th, 19th, and 26th amendments. When did women gain the right to vote in national elections?
4. Research the Seneca Falls convention and design a classroom simulation. See attached document.
5. Ask the students to write a response to the document: a newspaper editorial evaluating the impact of the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, or a speech or sermon taking the position of someone who lived at the time the document was written.
6. Research the lives and works of key personalities in the women's suffrage movement. Describe the roles each played in the movement and how their lives expanded democratic participation in our nation.