Stanton as a Leader
Leadership is an exercise in power. The quality of leadership depends on the individual’s ability to use it. Everyone at some point and time in life experiences failure. Just the mere thought of failure can prevent some people from attempting things in their lifetime. Stanton embraced the importance and value of having a true purpose in life and remained dedicated to realizing this purpose. Elizabeth Cady Stanton had the ability to lead a group of women and develop a women’s organization through demanding, changing and unprecedented conditions. She uncovered the deeper levels of her purpose and vision and this sustained her through times when it seemed impossible to go on. Elizabeth Stanton’s vision was driven by her imagination. It colored the landscape of her day to day existence and provided an outlet for her passion and creativity. Without imagination one cannot feel empathy or sorrow for another person’s circumstances.
Sadler (1997) described challenges in a leader’s early life that appear to be a pattern present in the majority of leaders. These challenges include childhood isolation and a stressed relationship with the parents fostering a strong sense of self-reliance and a strong drive to achieve. Stanton came from a complex familial situation. Her father once admitted to her that he had wanted a boy, and her mother’s constant childbearing precluded much affection for her.
At the turn of the last century a leader was considered rigid, patriarchal, and often oppressive. Stanton was none of these things. Stanton knew her group. She was part of the group and she led her group. The image of a bold, charismatic leader is ingrained in our national psyche, but it may well be that those who lead through the force of their personality can only do so when the people needing leadership seek such a powerful leader. Stanton was a great fit with the time, place and needs of her group. Her leadership style fit the needs and values of her group.
Baker discusses in her book, Sisters: The Lives of America’s Suffragists that these women leaders all demonstrated qualities of leadership, optimism, stamina, and remarkable longevity and their activities shaped the goals of the first wave of feminism, (Baker, 2005). Stanton emerged as the most complex of these figures. Stanton projected the capacity to respond in an adaptive manner to emergent, dynamic and complex situations. Perhaps this was due to her feminine personality and feminine response to leadership.
“The term personality has two different meanings, and it is important to keep them separate. On the one hand, it refers to an individual’s social reputation and to the manner in which she is perceived by others. This is personality from the observer’s perspective, and it concerns the amount of esteem, regard, or status that the person has within his or her reference groups. On the other hand, personality can also refer to intrapersonal structures, dynamics, processes, and propensities that explain why a person behaves in a certain way,” (Pratch & Jacobowitz, 1997, p.1).
Stanton was an effective leader because she understood the values and opinions of her followers. Rather than assuming absolute authority she conducted dialogue with her followers about what the group embodied and stood for.
Stanton had the ability to change prevailing mental models and was able to foster more systematic patterns of thinking. She used empathy and emotional intelligence to achieve this result. Empathy involves the notion of identification (Horn, 1997). It means one can identify with another, can see the world from their perspective, and identify with the feelings they are having. Horn describes empathy as an other-oriented gesture that creates a sense of commonality between you and the other person. Leaders tend to be more effective when they move between the two poles of empathy and focus, (Horn, 1997).
Emotional Intelligence is a term first coined by Daniel Goleman. Emotional Intelligence is a person’s ability to read other people empathetically and perceptively (Horn, 1997). Well developed emotional intelligence enables a leader to be empathic with followers yet still focused on the goals and tasks involved.
“The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls, (Stanton 1890, Quotations Page).
Stanton had the mental skills to create a compelling vision. She had a sound awareness of the women’s problem of her time, and the practical ability to carry out certain actions which led to the vision becoming a reality.
Was she a successful leader? Yes. I and countless other women stand in testimony to Stanton today. If it were not for Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her vision become reality, I would not be in this class today.
References
Baker, J. H. (2005). Sisters: The Lives of America’s Suffragists. New York:
Hill & Wang.
Bennis, W. (2003). On Becoming A Leader. New York: Basic Books.
Horn, A. (1997). Gifts of Leadership: Team Building Through Focus and
Empathy. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing.
Murphy, J. P. M. (1999). Library: Modern Documents: Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Retrieved February 12, 2009 from http://www.infidels.org/library/
Modern/john-murphy/Stanton.html
Pratch, L. & Jacobowitz, J. (1997). The Psychology of Leadership in Rapidly
Changing Conditions: A Structural Psychological Approach. Genetic,
Social and General Psychology Monographs, 123 (2), May. 169-198.
Quotations Page, The (2009). Quotations by Author. Retrieved from http: www.
Quotationspage.com/quotes/Elizabeth-Cady-Stanton/
Sadler, P. (1997). Leadership: Styles, Role Models, Qualities, Behaviors.
London: Coopers & Lybrand.
Stanton, E. C. (2009). Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Excerpts From Her
Autobiography. Scholastic Teaching Resources. Retrieved February 16,
2009 from Http://www2.scholastic.co/browse article.jsp?id=4962&Full
BreadCrumb=%3Ca=hre%3…
Stanton, E. C., 1895. Elizabeth Cady Stanton Papers. Words and Deeds in
American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript
Division’s First 100 Years. Retrieved February 9, 2009 from http://
Memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mcc@field(DOCID+@lit
(mcc/049)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Stanton Turning Points
Turning Points
Marriage
In 1840, Elizabeth married Henry Stanton, an abolitionist. At Elizabeth Stanton’s wedding service she requested that the words obey be stricken from the ceremony. That same year Henry Stanton was appointed to the World Anti Slavery Convention which was held in London England. The newlyweds’ European tour sparked Elizabeth Stanton’s interest in women’s rights. The usually liberal abolitionists were split over the idea of feminism. Many believed they would lose support if they demanded equality for women as well as freedom for slaves. At the London convention, female delegates had to sit behind a curtain and were forbidden to speak (Murphy, 1999). What an outrage, she wrote, that abolitionists would defend the natural rights of slaves while denying freedom of speech to one-half the people of their own race (Stanton, 1898, Scholastic, 2009).
Her husband, even though an abolitionist, was a man of his day. He did not interfere with Stanton’s writing and lecturing but he still expected her to perform all the housework and childcare. Her seven children inspired many of her speeches. In 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton addressed the first women’s rights convention.
“But we are assembled to protest against a form of government existing without the consent of the governed-to declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support, to have such disgraceful laws as give man the power to chastise and imprison his wife, to take the wages she earns, the property which she inherits, and, in case of separation, the children of her love; laws which make her the mere dependent on his bounty. It is to protest against such unjust laws as these that we are assembled today, and to have them if possible, forever erased from our statute books, deeming them a shame and a disgrace to a Christian republic in the nineteenth century” (Stanton, 1848).
Women’s Movement
Stanton formulated the philosophical basis of the women’s movement. Stanton argued vigorously for women’s right to a higher education, to a professional life, and to a legal identity that included a right to own property and to obtain a divorce (Baker, 2005).
Elizabeth Stanton’s verbal brilliance combined with the organizational ability and mental focus of her lifelong collaborator Susan B. Anthony made the two women a formidable resource to the women’s cause. Anthony often stated that Stanton was the brains of the new association, while she herself was merely its hands and feet. The two women worked well together, for Mrs. Stanton was a master of words and could write and speak to perfection of the things Anthony saw and felt but could not herself express (Baker, 2005).
Elizabeth Cady was educated at an all boys school, where she was permitted to learn Latin, Greek and mathematics. Barred from obtaining a college degree because of her gender, she continued her studies at a girl’s academy where she discovered natural rights philosophy. She read law with her father, Judge Daniel Cady, but was not admitted to the New York Bar because women were excluded. Her legal and philosophical studies and her own experiences convinced her of the discriminatory nature of the laws regarding women and she resolved to work for the reform of those laws.
Stanton is believed to be the driving force behind the 1848 Convention and for the next fifty years played a leadership role in the women’s rights movement. She was the architect and author of the movement’s most important strategies and documents.
Elizabeth Stanton had an early introduction to reform movements, including encounters as a young woman with fugitive slaves at the home of her cousin Gerrit Smith. She met Lucretia Mott, the Quaker teacher who served in many of the associated Temperance, Anti-Slavery, and Women’s Rights organizations with which Stanton is associated. Denied her seat at the World Anti Slavery Convention, as were all women delegates, Mott discussed with Stanton the need for a convention on women’s rights. Stanton, Mott, Wright, Hunt and Mary Ann McClintock made the plan to call the first women’s rights convention in 1848, initiating the women’s rights movement in the United States. Stanton’s role in that convention was as a leader (Stanton, 2009).
Stanton met Susan B. Anthony in 1851. History records the lasting friendship between these two women as well as the strains that resulted from their different roles and priorities. Unwilling to commit to a vigorous travel schedule until her children were grown, Stanton wrote many of her speeches for delivery by Anthony. Through the years Anthony and Stanton remained close however Stanton did split with others over the idea that suffrage for black men after emancipation should take precedence over suffrage for women.
Stanton served as president of the National American Women’s Suffrage Association for a brief period. istorLater in her career Stanton focused increasingly on social reforms related to women’s concerns other than suffrage. Elizabeth Cady Stanton died in 1902 and did not live to see women obtain the right to vote. She is regarded as one of the major forces in the drive toward equal rights for women in the United States.
S
Marriage
In 1840, Elizabeth married Henry Stanton, an abolitionist. At Elizabeth Stanton’s wedding service she requested that the words obey be stricken from the ceremony. That same year Henry Stanton was appointed to the World Anti Slavery Convention which was held in London England. The newlyweds’ European tour sparked Elizabeth Stanton’s interest in women’s rights. The usually liberal abolitionists were split over the idea of feminism. Many believed they would lose support if they demanded equality for women as well as freedom for slaves. At the London convention, female delegates had to sit behind a curtain and were forbidden to speak (Murphy, 1999). What an outrage, she wrote, that abolitionists would defend the natural rights of slaves while denying freedom of speech to one-half the people of their own race (Stanton, 1898, Scholastic, 2009).
Her husband, even though an abolitionist, was a man of his day. He did not interfere with Stanton’s writing and lecturing but he still expected her to perform all the housework and childcare. Her seven children inspired many of her speeches. In 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton addressed the first women’s rights convention.
“But we are assembled to protest against a form of government existing without the consent of the governed-to declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support, to have such disgraceful laws as give man the power to chastise and imprison his wife, to take the wages she earns, the property which she inherits, and, in case of separation, the children of her love; laws which make her the mere dependent on his bounty. It is to protest against such unjust laws as these that we are assembled today, and to have them if possible, forever erased from our statute books, deeming them a shame and a disgrace to a Christian republic in the nineteenth century” (Stanton, 1848).
Women’s Movement
Stanton formulated the philosophical basis of the women’s movement. Stanton argued vigorously for women’s right to a higher education, to a professional life, and to a legal identity that included a right to own property and to obtain a divorce (Baker, 2005).
Elizabeth Stanton’s verbal brilliance combined with the organizational ability and mental focus of her lifelong collaborator Susan B. Anthony made the two women a formidable resource to the women’s cause. Anthony often stated that Stanton was the brains of the new association, while she herself was merely its hands and feet. The two women worked well together, for Mrs. Stanton was a master of words and could write and speak to perfection of the things Anthony saw and felt but could not herself express (Baker, 2005).
Elizabeth Cady was educated at an all boys school, where she was permitted to learn Latin, Greek and mathematics. Barred from obtaining a college degree because of her gender, she continued her studies at a girl’s academy where she discovered natural rights philosophy. She read law with her father, Judge Daniel Cady, but was not admitted to the New York Bar because women were excluded. Her legal and philosophical studies and her own experiences convinced her of the discriminatory nature of the laws regarding women and she resolved to work for the reform of those laws.
Stanton is believed to be the driving force behind the 1848 Convention and for the next fifty years played a leadership role in the women’s rights movement. She was the architect and author of the movement’s most important strategies and documents.
Elizabeth Stanton had an early introduction to reform movements, including encounters as a young woman with fugitive slaves at the home of her cousin Gerrit Smith. She met Lucretia Mott, the Quaker teacher who served in many of the associated Temperance, Anti-Slavery, and Women’s Rights organizations with which Stanton is associated. Denied her seat at the World Anti Slavery Convention, as were all women delegates, Mott discussed with Stanton the need for a convention on women’s rights. Stanton, Mott, Wright, Hunt and Mary Ann McClintock made the plan to call the first women’s rights convention in 1848, initiating the women’s rights movement in the United States. Stanton’s role in that convention was as a leader (Stanton, 2009).
Stanton met Susan B. Anthony in 1851. History records the lasting friendship between these two women as well as the strains that resulted from their different roles and priorities. Unwilling to commit to a vigorous travel schedule until her children were grown, Stanton wrote many of her speeches for delivery by Anthony. Through the years Anthony and Stanton remained close however Stanton did split with others over the idea that suffrage for black men after emancipation should take precedence over suffrage for women.
Stanton served as president of the National American Women’s Suffrage Association for a brief period. istorLater in her career Stanton focused increasingly on social reforms related to women’s concerns other than suffrage. Elizabeth Cady Stanton died in 1902 and did not live to see women obtain the right to vote. She is regarded as one of the major forces in the drive toward equal rights for women in the United States.
S
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Leaders are made not born and they are made more by themselves than by any external means (Bennis, 2003). Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the most famous freethinking woman of her day. Although most often identified as a suffragist, Stanton participated in a variety of reform initiatives during the course of her life. She focused her efforts on women’s emancipation and equality in all arenas, political, economic, religious and social and she viewed suffrage as an important goal but not the only goal. Even more controversial than Stanton’s position on these issues were her views on religion and on the Church’s role in limiting women’s progress. In her lifetime Stanton had objected to religious teachings on slavery, marriage, divorce, and women’s status as well as supporting dress reform and women’s health issues. She suspected Christianity to be a religious agent of patriarchy and thus intrinsically hostile to feminism. In 1895 she was one of seven women authors who published The Women’s Bible, Part I. Although the Women’s Bible was never accepted as a major work of Biblical scholarship, it was a bestseller (Stanton, 1895).
Elizabeth Stanton was raised as a Quaker to believe that men and women were equals. She sought to inform people and rectify the injustice women suffered under the law. As a young girl, Elizabeth loved to visit her father’s office. He was a successful lawyer and judge. It was during one of these visits while browsing through his books she discovered there were no laws to protect the rights of women. In most states a married woman could not own property or sign contracts. Any wages she earned belonged to her husband. Owing to the fact that women could not vote, they had no power to change these laws or to create new ones. “The tears and complaints of the women who came to my father for legal advice touched my heart and drew my attention to the injustice and cruelty of the laws. I could not understand why my father could not alleviate the sufferings of these women. So, in order to enlighten me, he would take down his books and show me statutes” (Stanton, 1898, Scholastic, 2009).
When Elizabeth was a young girl she learned there was not a single college in America that accepted women students. This event focused her attention on receiving an education. Elizabeth then attended Emma Willard’s Female Seminary in Troy, New York. It was not college, but it was the best education a woman could obtain at that time. Elizabeth had great expectations for herself and she had a determination to reach all her goals.
Turning Points
Marriage
In 1840, Elizabeth married Henry Stanton, an abolitionist. At Elizabeth Stanton’s wedding service she requested that the words obey be stricken from the ceremony. That same year Henry Stanton was appointed to the World Anti Slavery Convention which was held in London England. The newlyweds’ European tour sparked Elizabeth Stanton’s interest in women’s rights. The usually liberal abolitionists were split over the idea of feminism. Many believed they would lose support if they demanded equality for women as well as freedom for slaves. At the London convention, female delegates had to sit behind a curtain and were forbidden to speak (Murphy, 1999). What an outrage, she wrote, that abolitionists would defend the natural rights of slaves while denying freedom of speech to one-half the people of their own race (Stanton, 1898, Scholastic, 2009).
Her husband, even though an abolitionist, was a man of his day. He did not interfere with Stanton’s writing and lecturing but he still expected her to perform all the housework and childcare. Her seven children inspired many of her speeches. In 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton addressed the first women’s rights convention.
“But we are assembled to protest against a form of government existing without the consent of the governed-to declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support, to have such disgraceful laws as give man the power to chastise and imprison his wife, to take the wages she earns, the property which she inherits, and, in case of separation, the children of her love; laws which make her the mere dependent on his bounty. It is to protest against such unjust laws as these that we are assembled today, and to have them if possible, forever erased from our statute books, deeming them a shame and a disgrace to a Christian republic in the nineteenth century” (Stanton, 1848).
Women’s Movement
Stanton formulated the philosophical basis of the women’s movement. Stanton argued vigorously for women’s right to a higher education, to a professional life, and to a legal identity that included a right to own property and to obtain a divorce (Baker, 2005).
Elizabeth Stanton’s verbal brilliance combined with the organizational ability and mental focus of her lifelong collaborator Susan B. Anthony made the two women a formidable resource to the women’s cause. Anthony often stated that Stanton was the brains of the new association, while she herself was merely its hands and feet. The two women worked well together, for Mrs. Stanton was a master of words and could write and speak to perfection of the things Anthony saw and felt but could not herself express (Baker, 2005).
Elizabeth Cady was educated at an all boys school, where she was permitted to learn Latin, Greek and mathematics. Barred from obtaining a college degree because of her gender, she continued her studies at a girl’s academy where she discovered natural rights philosophy. She read law with her father, Judge Daniel Cady, but was not admitted to the New York Bar because women were excluded. Her legal and philosophical studies and her own experiences convinced her of the discriminatory nature of the laws regarding women and she resolved to work for the reform of those laws.
Stanton is believed to be the driving force behind the 1848 Convention and for the next fifty years played a leadership role in the women’s rights movement. She was the architect and author of the movement’s most important strategies and documents.
Elizabeth Stanton had an early introduction to reform movements, including encounters as a young woman with fugitive slaves at the home of her cousin Gerrit Smith. She met Lucretia Mott, the Quaker teacher who served in many of the associated Temperance, Anti-Slavery, and Women’s Rights organizations with which Stanton is associated. Denied her seat at the World Anti Slavery Convention, as were all women delegates, Mott discussed with Stanton the need for a convention on women’s rights. Stanton, Mott, Wright, Hunt and Mary Ann McClintock made the plan to call the first women’s rights convention in 1848, initiating the women’s rights movement in the United States. Stanton’s role in that convention was as a leader (Stanton, 2009).
Stanton met Susan B. Anthony in 1851. History records the lasting friendship between these two women as well as the strains that resulted from their different roles and priorities. Unwilling to commit to a vigorous travel schedule until her children were grown, Stanton wrote many of her speeches for delivery by Anthony. Through the years Anthony and Stanton remained close however Stanton did split with others over the idea that suffrage for black men after emancipation should take precedence over suffrage for women.
Stanton served as president of the National American Women’s Suffrage Association for a brief period. istorLater in her career Stanton focused increasingly on social reforms related to women’s concerns other than suffrage. Elizabeth Cady Stanton died in 1902 and did not live to see women obtain the right to vote. She is regarded as one of the major forces in the drive toward equal rights for women in the United States. istoryH
Stanton as a Leader
Leadership is an exercise in power. The quality of leadership depends on the individual’s ability to use it. Everyone at some point and time in life experiences failure. Just the mere thought of failure can prevent some people from attempting things in their lifetime. Stanton embraced the importance and value of having a true purpose in life and remained dedicated to realizing this purpose. Elizabeth Cady Stanton had the ability to lead a group of women and develop a women’s organization through demanding, changing and unprecedented conditions. She uncovered the deeper levels of her purpose and vision and this sustained her through times when it seemed impossible to go on. Elizabeth Stanton’s vision was driven by her imagination. It colored the landscape of her day to day existence and provided an outlet for her passion and creativity. Without imagination one cannot feel empathy or sorrow for another person’s circumstances.
Sadler (1997) described challenges in a leader’s early life that appear to be a pattern present in the majority of leaders. These challenges include childhood isolation and a stressed relationship with the parents fostering a strong sense of self-reliance and a strong drive to achieve. Stanton came from a complex familial situation. Her father once admitted to her that he had wanted a boy, and her mother’s constant childbearing precluded much affection for her.
At the turn of the last century a leader was considered rigid, patriarchal, and often oppressive. Stanton was none of these things. Stanton knew her group. She was part of the group and she led her group. The image of a bold, charismatic leader is ingrained in our national psyche, but it may well be that those who lead through the force of their personality can only do so when the people needing leadership seek such a powerful leader. Stanton was a great fit with the time, place and needs of her group. Her leadership style fit the needs and values of her group.
Baker discusses in her book, Sisters: The Lives of America’s Suffragists that these women leaders all demonstrated qualities of leadership, optimism, stamina, and remarkable longevity and their activities shaped the goals of the first wave of feminism, (Baker, 2005). Stanton emerged as the most complex of these figures. Stanton projected the capacity to respond in an adaptive manner to emergent, dynamic and complex situations. Perhaps this was due to her feminine personality and feminine response to leadership.
“The term personality has two different meanings, and it is important to keep them separate. On the one hand, it refers to an individual’s social reputation and to the manner in which she is perceived by others. This is personality from the observer’s perspective, and it concerns the amount of esteem, regard, or status that the person has within his or her reference groups. On the other hand, personality can also refer to intrapersonal structures, dynamics, processes, and propensities that explain why a person behaves in a certain way,” (Pratch & Jacobowitz, 1997, p.1).
Stanton was an effective leader because she understood the values and opinions of her followers. Rather than assuming absolute authority she conducted dialogue with her followers about what the group embodied and stood for.
Stanton had the ability to change prevailing mental models and was able to foster more systematic patterns of thinking. She used empathy and emotional intelligence to achieve this result. Empathy involves the notion of identification (Horn, 1997). It means one can identify with another, can see the world from their perspective, and identify with the feelings they are having. Horn describes empathy as an other-oriented gesture that creates a sense of commonality between you and the other person. Leaders tend to be more effective when they move between the two poles of empathy and focus, (Horn, 1997).
Emotional Intelligence is a term first coined by Daniel Goleman. Emotional Intelligence is a person’s ability to read other people empathetically and perceptively (Horn, 1997). Well developed emotional intelligence enables a leader to be empathic with followers yet still focused on the goals and tasks involved.
“The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls, (Stanton 1890, Quotations Page).
Stanton had the mental skills to create a compelling vision. She had a sound awareness of the women’s problem of her time, and the practical ability to carry out certain actions which led to the vision becoming a reality.
Was she a successful leader? Yes. I and countless other women stand in testimony to Stanton today. If it were not for Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her vision become reality, I would not be in this class today.
References
Baker, J. H. (2005). Sisters: The Lives of America’s Suffragists. New York:
Hill & Wang.
Bennis, W. (2003). On Becoming A Leader. New York: Basic Books.
Horn, A. (1997). Gifts of Leadership: Team Building Through Focus and
Empathy. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing.
Murphy, J. P. M. (1999). Library: Modern Documents: Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Retrieved February 12, 2009 from http://www.infidels.org/library/
Modern/john-murphy/Stanton.html
Pratch, L. & Jacobowitz, J. (1997). The Psychology of Leadership in Rapidly
Changing Conditions: A Structural Psychological Approach. Genetic,
Social and General Psychology Monographs, 123 (2), May. 169-198.
Quotations Page, The (2009). Quotations by Author. Retrieved from http: www.
Quotationspage.com/quotes/Elizabeth-Cady-Stanton/
Sadler, P. (1997). Leadership: Styles, Role Models, Qualities, Behaviors.
London: Coopers & Lybrand.
Stanton, E. C. (2009). Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Excerpts From Her
Autobiography. Scholastic Teaching Resources. Retrieved February 16,
2009 from Http://www2.scholastic.co/browse article.jsp?id=4962&Full
BreadCrumb=%3Ca=hre%3…
Stanton, E. C., 1895. Elizabeth Cady Stanton Papers. Words and Deeds in
American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript
Division’s First 100 Years. Retrieved February 9, 2009 from http://
Memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mcc@field(DOCID+@lit
(mcc/049)
Leaders are made not born and they are made more by themselves than by any external means (Bennis, 2003). Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the most famous freethinking woman of her day. Although most often identified as a suffragist, Stanton participated in a variety of reform initiatives during the course of her life. She focused her efforts on women’s emancipation and equality in all arenas, political, economic, religious and social and she viewed suffrage as an important goal but not the only goal. Even more controversial than Stanton’s position on these issues were her views on religion and on the Church’s role in limiting women’s progress. In her lifetime Stanton had objected to religious teachings on slavery, marriage, divorce, and women’s status as well as supporting dress reform and women’s health issues. She suspected Christianity to be a religious agent of patriarchy and thus intrinsically hostile to feminism. In 1895 she was one of seven women authors who published The Women’s Bible, Part I. Although the Women’s Bible was never accepted as a major work of Biblical scholarship, it was a bestseller (Stanton, 1895).
Elizabeth Stanton was raised as a Quaker to believe that men and women were equals. She sought to inform people and rectify the injustice women suffered under the law. As a young girl, Elizabeth loved to visit her father’s office. He was a successful lawyer and judge. It was during one of these visits while browsing through his books she discovered there were no laws to protect the rights of women. In most states a married woman could not own property or sign contracts. Any wages she earned belonged to her husband. Owing to the fact that women could not vote, they had no power to change these laws or to create new ones. “The tears and complaints of the women who came to my father for legal advice touched my heart and drew my attention to the injustice and cruelty of the laws. I could not understand why my father could not alleviate the sufferings of these women. So, in order to enlighten me, he would take down his books and show me statutes” (Stanton, 1898, Scholastic, 2009).
When Elizabeth was a young girl she learned there was not a single college in America that accepted women students. This event focused her attention on receiving an education. Elizabeth then attended Emma Willard’s Female Seminary in Troy, New York. It was not college, but it was the best education a woman could obtain at that time. Elizabeth had great expectations for herself and she had a determination to reach all her goals.
Turning Points
Marriage
In 1840, Elizabeth married Henry Stanton, an abolitionist. At Elizabeth Stanton’s wedding service she requested that the words obey be stricken from the ceremony. That same year Henry Stanton was appointed to the World Anti Slavery Convention which was held in London England. The newlyweds’ European tour sparked Elizabeth Stanton’s interest in women’s rights. The usually liberal abolitionists were split over the idea of feminism. Many believed they would lose support if they demanded equality for women as well as freedom for slaves. At the London convention, female delegates had to sit behind a curtain and were forbidden to speak (Murphy, 1999). What an outrage, she wrote, that abolitionists would defend the natural rights of slaves while denying freedom of speech to one-half the people of their own race (Stanton, 1898, Scholastic, 2009).
Her husband, even though an abolitionist, was a man of his day. He did not interfere with Stanton’s writing and lecturing but he still expected her to perform all the housework and childcare. Her seven children inspired many of her speeches. In 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton addressed the first women’s rights convention.
“But we are assembled to protest against a form of government existing without the consent of the governed-to declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support, to have such disgraceful laws as give man the power to chastise and imprison his wife, to take the wages she earns, the property which she inherits, and, in case of separation, the children of her love; laws which make her the mere dependent on his bounty. It is to protest against such unjust laws as these that we are assembled today, and to have them if possible, forever erased from our statute books, deeming them a shame and a disgrace to a Christian republic in the nineteenth century” (Stanton, 1848).
Women’s Movement
Stanton formulated the philosophical basis of the women’s movement. Stanton argued vigorously for women’s right to a higher education, to a professional life, and to a legal identity that included a right to own property and to obtain a divorce (Baker, 2005).
Elizabeth Stanton’s verbal brilliance combined with the organizational ability and mental focus of her lifelong collaborator Susan B. Anthony made the two women a formidable resource to the women’s cause. Anthony often stated that Stanton was the brains of the new association, while she herself was merely its hands and feet. The two women worked well together, for Mrs. Stanton was a master of words and could write and speak to perfection of the things Anthony saw and felt but could not herself express (Baker, 2005).
Elizabeth Cady was educated at an all boys school, where she was permitted to learn Latin, Greek and mathematics. Barred from obtaining a college degree because of her gender, she continued her studies at a girl’s academy where she discovered natural rights philosophy. She read law with her father, Judge Daniel Cady, but was not admitted to the New York Bar because women were excluded. Her legal and philosophical studies and her own experiences convinced her of the discriminatory nature of the laws regarding women and she resolved to work for the reform of those laws.
Stanton is believed to be the driving force behind the 1848 Convention and for the next fifty years played a leadership role in the women’s rights movement. She was the architect and author of the movement’s most important strategies and documents.
Elizabeth Stanton had an early introduction to reform movements, including encounters as a young woman with fugitive slaves at the home of her cousin Gerrit Smith. She met Lucretia Mott, the Quaker teacher who served in many of the associated Temperance, Anti-Slavery, and Women’s Rights organizations with which Stanton is associated. Denied her seat at the World Anti Slavery Convention, as were all women delegates, Mott discussed with Stanton the need for a convention on women’s rights. Stanton, Mott, Wright, Hunt and Mary Ann McClintock made the plan to call the first women’s rights convention in 1848, initiating the women’s rights movement in the United States. Stanton’s role in that convention was as a leader (Stanton, 2009).
Stanton met Susan B. Anthony in 1851. History records the lasting friendship between these two women as well as the strains that resulted from their different roles and priorities. Unwilling to commit to a vigorous travel schedule until her children were grown, Stanton wrote many of her speeches for delivery by Anthony. Through the years Anthony and Stanton remained close however Stanton did split with others over the idea that suffrage for black men after emancipation should take precedence over suffrage for women.
Stanton served as president of the National American Women’s Suffrage Association for a brief period. istorLater in her career Stanton focused increasingly on social reforms related to women’s concerns other than suffrage. Elizabeth Cady Stanton died in 1902 and did not live to see women obtain the right to vote. She is regarded as one of the major forces in the drive toward equal rights for women in the United States. istoryH
Stanton as a Leader
Leadership is an exercise in power. The quality of leadership depends on the individual’s ability to use it. Everyone at some point and time in life experiences failure. Just the mere thought of failure can prevent some people from attempting things in their lifetime. Stanton embraced the importance and value of having a true purpose in life and remained dedicated to realizing this purpose. Elizabeth Cady Stanton had the ability to lead a group of women and develop a women’s organization through demanding, changing and unprecedented conditions. She uncovered the deeper levels of her purpose and vision and this sustained her through times when it seemed impossible to go on. Elizabeth Stanton’s vision was driven by her imagination. It colored the landscape of her day to day existence and provided an outlet for her passion and creativity. Without imagination one cannot feel empathy or sorrow for another person’s circumstances.
Sadler (1997) described challenges in a leader’s early life that appear to be a pattern present in the majority of leaders. These challenges include childhood isolation and a stressed relationship with the parents fostering a strong sense of self-reliance and a strong drive to achieve. Stanton came from a complex familial situation. Her father once admitted to her that he had wanted a boy, and her mother’s constant childbearing precluded much affection for her.
At the turn of the last century a leader was considered rigid, patriarchal, and often oppressive. Stanton was none of these things. Stanton knew her group. She was part of the group and she led her group. The image of a bold, charismatic leader is ingrained in our national psyche, but it may well be that those who lead through the force of their personality can only do so when the people needing leadership seek such a powerful leader. Stanton was a great fit with the time, place and needs of her group. Her leadership style fit the needs and values of her group.
Baker discusses in her book, Sisters: The Lives of America’s Suffragists that these women leaders all demonstrated qualities of leadership, optimism, stamina, and remarkable longevity and their activities shaped the goals of the first wave of feminism, (Baker, 2005). Stanton emerged as the most complex of these figures. Stanton projected the capacity to respond in an adaptive manner to emergent, dynamic and complex situations. Perhaps this was due to her feminine personality and feminine response to leadership.
“The term personality has two different meanings, and it is important to keep them separate. On the one hand, it refers to an individual’s social reputation and to the manner in which she is perceived by others. This is personality from the observer’s perspective, and it concerns the amount of esteem, regard, or status that the person has within his or her reference groups. On the other hand, personality can also refer to intrapersonal structures, dynamics, processes, and propensities that explain why a person behaves in a certain way,” (Pratch & Jacobowitz, 1997, p.1).
Stanton was an effective leader because she understood the values and opinions of her followers. Rather than assuming absolute authority she conducted dialogue with her followers about what the group embodied and stood for.
Stanton had the ability to change prevailing mental models and was able to foster more systematic patterns of thinking. She used empathy and emotional intelligence to achieve this result. Empathy involves the notion of identification (Horn, 1997). It means one can identify with another, can see the world from their perspective, and identify with the feelings they are having. Horn describes empathy as an other-oriented gesture that creates a sense of commonality between you and the other person. Leaders tend to be more effective when they move between the two poles of empathy and focus, (Horn, 1997).
Emotional Intelligence is a term first coined by Daniel Goleman. Emotional Intelligence is a person’s ability to read other people empathetically and perceptively (Horn, 1997). Well developed emotional intelligence enables a leader to be empathic with followers yet still focused on the goals and tasks involved.
“The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls, (Stanton 1890, Quotations Page).
Stanton had the mental skills to create a compelling vision. She had a sound awareness of the women’s problem of her time, and the practical ability to carry out certain actions which led to the vision becoming a reality.
Was she a successful leader? Yes. I and countless other women stand in testimony to Stanton today. If it were not for Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her vision become reality, I would not be in this class today.
References
Baker, J. H. (2005). Sisters: The Lives of America’s Suffragists. New York:
Hill & Wang.
Bennis, W. (2003). On Becoming A Leader. New York: Basic Books.
Horn, A. (1997). Gifts of Leadership: Team Building Through Focus and
Empathy. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing.
Murphy, J. P. M. (1999). Library: Modern Documents: Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Retrieved February 12, 2009 from http://www.infidels.org/library/
Modern/john-murphy/Stanton.html
Pratch, L. & Jacobowitz, J. (1997). The Psychology of Leadership in Rapidly
Changing Conditions: A Structural Psychological Approach. Genetic,
Social and General Psychology Monographs, 123 (2), May. 169-198.
Quotations Page, The (2009). Quotations by Author. Retrieved from http: www.
Quotationspage.com/quotes/Elizabeth-Cady-Stanton/
Sadler, P. (1997). Leadership: Styles, Role Models, Qualities, Behaviors.
London: Coopers & Lybrand.
Stanton, E. C. (2009). Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Excerpts From Her
Autobiography. Scholastic Teaching Resources. Retrieved February 16,
2009 from Http://www2.scholastic.co/browse article.jsp?id=4962&Full
BreadCrumb=%3Ca=hre%3…
Stanton, E. C., 1895. Elizabeth Cady Stanton Papers. Words and Deeds in
American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript
Division’s First 100 Years. Retrieved February 9, 2009 from http://
Memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mcc@field(DOCID+@lit
(mcc/049)
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