American Women Fight for Their Own Independence

The Declaration of Independence inspired many American women to demand their rights, a movement that picked up cultural resonance after the nation’s first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in July 1848. By the 100th anniversary of the nation’s independence, leaders such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Staton created a stir at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia on July 4, 1876 – but it was still nearly half a century before women could vote.