Lasting Impressions

Published July 4, 1776, Thomas Jefferson’s “The Declaration of Independence” was written in response to the tyranny and oppression of Great Britain that the colonists of America, at the time, were facing. Not only did the declaration justify war with their mother country, it completely asserted and affirmed full independence from that country as well. Nearly seventy-five years later, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who was a strong activist for women’s rights, decided to produce a declaration of her own. Much like “The Declaration of Independence” wanted to make known the tyrannies and subjugation Britain was placing on America, Stanton’s “The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” wanted to bring to light the tyrannies and subjugation Men were placing on Women. With a closer look, both declarations present certain similarities with each other as well as certain differences in relations to both their overall structure and tone and also their lasting impressions on America as a whole.
Both “The Declaration of Independence” and “The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” are speaking to one particular group of people about the establishment of their own human rights and civil liberties. Both are sincere and definitely defiant in tone, each accusing their oppressor of certain injustices, and differ only in audiences. “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these states. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world” (p. 192). Defiantly stated. Because Stanton’s declaration is a mimic of Jefferson’s declaration, she too uses this line, only with hers she attacks the male population stating, “The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward women,” and that men have established “an absolute tyranny over [woman]” (p. 380). Also defiantly stated.
Both also have had lasting... [continues]

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