This is exactly what Elizabeth Cady Stanton was fighting. In the 1800s, women were expected to stay in the home with family and not obtain a real education or pursue a professional career; after a woman married, she did not have the right to own her own property, keep her own wage, or sign a contract. Also, women were denied the right to vote. In Stanton's Declaration, she uses the Declaration of Independence to logically support her claims. "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights: that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." (Stanton 1). By doing this, Stanton is showing all men that what they created should be put to use and not just be unfulfilled words. Just like the Declaration of Independence, Stanton addresses all of the wrongdoings done to women, by men. "In the covenant of marriage, she is becoming, to all intents and purposes, her master – the law giving him power to deprive her of her liberty and to administer chastisement." (Stanton 1-2). Here, she explains how "He" is compared to a woman's master when married. Although, it says in the Declaration of Independence that everyone has the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness why are women treated as though they are slaves and the man is the slave owner? Is it because we are said to be weak, educationally impaired or is it because of the difference in body parts? These are questions that haven't been answered to this day but are important things to think about. Although women were discriminated against, they were not the only ones. African Americans were also brutally treated with inequality.
When Dr. Martin Luther King starts off his speech he says, "I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.