Women today have the right to vote, have the same jobs and educational opportunities as men, and are represented in the government. But consider what life was like back in the 1800s and earlier: women had no rights at all compared to men. They weren't allowed to vote, go to college, or have the same jobs, let alone be elected governor or senator.

Finally, a few women living in the 19th century realized how horrible it was to live this way and decided to do something about it. Among these bright souls was Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a talented writer held back by her family but who wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Writing speeches for her good friend and partner, Susan B. Anthony, there was nothing she couldn't accomplish. A vital member of the women's rights movement, it's safe to say that Elizabeth Cady Stanton contributed to the intellectual growth of our new nation.

Elizabeth's path in life was not only heavily influenced by her strong will but also by her childhood. She was born on November 12, 1815 in Johnstown, New York, a community Elizabeth soon found out favored men over women. She was Scotch Presbyterian - a religion that favored depravity of the human soul, something Elizabeth wasn't all that happy with. And her career probably started before she knew it was happening. Looking through her father's law books, she discovered many laws that were unfair to women.

Early in Elizabeth's life, tragedy struck when her brother Eleazer, the only male child in her family, died. Soon after, Elizabeth's father became very depressed. Because of that, Elizabeth became determined to show her father that girls could be just as good as boys. So she went to school and excelled. One day, she won a prize in Greek and hurried home to show her father.

Would he be proud? Would he be excited? Would he even care? Though her father did care, he didn't act excited or proud. When Elizabeth broke the news to him, all he said was, "Oh, I wish you were a boy!" Elizabeth soon realized that it would be impossible to convince him that she was as good a person as Eleazer had been. These important incidents throughout Elizabeth's childhood set the stage for her grand and fulfilling life as an adult.

Although Elizabeth's life as a child was very eventful, when she became an adult Elizabeth steered the nation to a higher level of intellectual growth with the Seneca Falls convention. Elizabeth and others decided to hold a women's rights convention in Seneca Falls in July of 1848. For the convention, Elizabeth wrote a piece called the "Declaration of Sentiments" and twelve resolutions to go along with it. The document was closely modeled after the Declaration of Independence and stated, "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men and women are created equal."

At the convention, Elizabeth read her speech and the twelve resolutions. When she got to the resolution that said women should have the right to vote, the crowd was outraged. In those days, this type of rebellion was just unheard of! Would the resolution be accepted? No, not at first, anyway. Then Elizabeth and Frederick Douglass made convincing speeches in hopes that the group would change their votes this time. Amazingly, it worked - the crowd accepted all of Elizabeth's ideas! All of her hard work had paid off, and that wasn't all: Seneca Falls had just opened the door to the women's rights movement. Other women were fighting for the cause and weren't going to just sit around anymore. Seneca Falls was a huge turning point in history and a huge part of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's life.

After the women's rights movement started with a bang, Elizabeth wrote many speeches that influenced the country's way of thinking. Two of her speeches were "The Degradation of Self" and "The Solitude of Self," both written in 1892. Her speeches tended to be controversial; after all, this type of revolution was just unheard of in those days.

After writing her speeches Elizabeth spoke all over New York state, as well as revisiting Seneca Falls. But Elizabeth didn't always give her own speeches. Many a time she'd write them for her partner, a very familiar name from the women's rights movement. This woman was Susan B. Anthony. Susan B. Anthony was a general while Elizabeth was more of a philosopher and writer. The two met after an anti-slavery meeting in Seneca Falls, and the rest was history. So Elizabeth could write her speeches, Susan would travel around collecting facts and newspaper clippings, and then return to Elizabeth, who would translate the information into a speech. Susan would then travel again so she could deliver the speeches, and the process began again. The two worked together on issues such as temperance, abolition, and women's rights. While both were focused on suffrage, Elizabeth also wanted to have divorce reform, religious reform, the same educational opportunities as men, the same jobs as men, and no taxes if women weren't represented in the government. Susan was primarily focused on suffrage. Elizabeth's many speeches were very helpful to the growth of America.

Later in Elizabeth's life, she helped the nation grow even more towards where we are now. She kept speaking around NY state, and worked with Susan B. Anthony more. In 1868, she started a weekly women's rights magazine called "The Revolution." Elizabeth was co-editor of this periodical. The price was kept low so all working class women could afford it. One year later, in 1869 Elizabeth founded the National Woman Suffrage Association with Susan B. Anthony. Elizabeth was president until 1890.

Elizabeth didn't only want equal rights for women - she wanted to help slaves as well. During the Civil War, she worked with abolitionists to abolish slavery. However, she broke away from them when they started favoring voting rights for blacks over women. In 1878, Elizabeth bumped the power up a notch by persuading Aaron A. Sargent, the senator of California at the time, to sponsor an amendment on women's suffrage to the Constitution. That amendment was re-introduced every year until Congress approved it in 1919 when it became the 19th amendment in 1920, although Elizabeth herself never lived to see the day when she would be able to vote.

From 1881 - 1886, she spent her time writing the first three volumes of A History of Woman Suffrage with Susan B. Anthony. In the 1890s, Elizabeth wrote her autobiography, 80 Years and More, as well as The Degradation of Self and The Solitude of Self. Although Elizabeth's body was aging, her mind and soul never once stopped working toward her goal of equal rights for women.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was truly a trooper. She never once reconsidered her ideas, always keeping a positive attitude and never giving up. Because of Elizabeth's contributions to this nation, women are now getting the respect they deserve. It wouldn't be a lie to say we couldn't have done it without her, although other people definitely contributed. The intellectual growth of our new nation grew and grew as Elizabeth's life went on, and, most importantly, it grew for the better. Although Elizabeth died in 1902, her spirit lives on, in our minds, our hearts, and our souls. Elizabeth Cady Stanton is a soul to remember, and everyone should pay attention to the woman behind the curtain, a woman whose iron will opened doors.