How Did Feminism Start?

Mr. Beat and Sami from US101 explain how the modern feminist movement began. Be sure to subscribe to Sami's channel at

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On January 21, 2017, millions around the world marched to promote legislation and policies supporting women’s rights, among other things. The main event was in Washington, D.C., known as the Women’s March on Washington. It featured over half a million people, and was the largest political demonstration in D.C. since the anti-Vietnam War protests of the 1960s and 1970s.

The Women’s March is evidence that feminism is alive and well. Just so we’re clear, feminism is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. Feminists who protest think we are not there yet.

But how did feminism begin? Obviously, in this video I will tell you, and I’ll have a little help from my new friend Sami from US 101. Be sure to check out his YouTube channel. It’s pretty much amazing.

Most historians agree that the modern feminist movement began on July 19th and 20th, 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York. It became known as the Seneca Falls Convention. Organizers advertised it as “a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman.”

Ok, so that was a bit grammatically incorrect, but you get the idea.

The convention’s two main organizers were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, who became friends 8 years prior at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840. Stanton had earned a reputation as an influential activist for years, known first as a leading abolitionist and then later as a leading proponent of women’s suffrage. Mott was known for the same but also for being a powerful speaker and a Quaker, a branch of Christianity strongly tied to many of the major reforms of the 1800s, like the temperance movement.

At that anti-slavery convention, the men forced the women sit in a separate area. This really upset Stanton and Mott, and the two talked about the possibility of starting a women’s rights convention.

Flash forward 8 years later, and Stanton was now living in Seneca Falls. Meanwhile, Mott was visiting her sister, Martha Coffin Wright, in nearby Waterloo. When Mott and her sister went to hang out with Stanton, along with Mary Ann McClintock and Jane Hunt, the five of them had decided that the time was right. Five days later, the Seneca Falls Convention took place. It was the first women’s rights convention in history. There wasn’t a lot of people there, most because it wasn’t really advertised that well. Of the 300 in attendance, 40 were men.

While the Seneca Falls Convention featured some lectures and discussions and the usual convention type stuff, it’s most famous contribution was the signing of the Declaration of Sentiments. Elizabeth Cady Stanton mostly wrote the document, modeling it after the Declaration of Independence. It summarized the injustices women regularly encountered and offered 11 resolutions to give women equality. Over two days at the convention, the leaders of the convention read and debated these resolutions.