Directions: Use the themes, questions and video clips below to teach and learn with portions of C-SPAN's American Writers program featuring Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Declaration of Sentiments from the Seneca Falls Conference. Link to the complete video clip list to identify clip descriptions and create your own lessons. Each theme contains questions and video clips appropriate for varying grade levels.
Lesson Credit:Curriculum Advisory Team member, Axel Ramirez.

1. What were the "spheres" for men and women during the time period? What were the consequences for women who tried to take on a traditionally male role? Consider the same questions for men and women today.
2. What kind of legal discrimination existed prior to the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments?
3. Why was Elizabeth Cady Stanton's choice of marriage vows and her choice to keep her own name so radical for the times? How did a woman's status change after marriage?
4. How did Elizabeth Cady Stanton serve as a role model for women? Could some of her actions and views be considered radical or subversive?
5. Evaluate the status of women's roles in society today. Consider social, economic and political circumstances.

1. Why were the words of the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments so closely aligned to the Declaration of Independence? What was the strategy for achieving women's rights?
2. How did the passage of the 15th amendment affect the women's rights movement?
3. What role did African-American women play in the suffrage movement?
4. Why were women in the western U.S. the first to get the right to vote?
5. How did the second wave of the suffrage movement (1890s-1920s) differ from the first?

1. What conditions in the 19th century led to the rise in reform movements? What opposition did reformers face?
2. How was the abolitionist movement related to women's suffrage? How was the move towards temperance related to the suffragist movement?
3. What did Stanton mean by "suffrage is not enough?" What was her ideal vision of society?
4. Is the Equal Rights Amendment a direct legacy of the original suffrage movement? Explain.
5. What factors determine the success or failure of reform movements? Was Stanton successful? In what ways did she fail?