The Political Thought of Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Women's Rights and the American Political Traditions

by Sue Davis

Overview

2009 Choice Outstanding Academic Title
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) was not only one of the most important leaders of the nineteenth century women’s rights movement but was also the movement’s principal philosopher. Her ideas both drew from and challenged the conventions that so severely constrained women’s choices and excluded them from public life.
In The Political Thought of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sue Davis argues that Cady Stanton’s work reflects the rich tapestry of American political culture in the second half of the nineteenth century and that she deserves recognition as a major figure in the history of political ideas. Davis reveals the way that Cady Stanton’s work drew from different political traditions ranging from liberalism, republicanism, inegalitarian ascriptivism, and radicalism. Cady Stanton’s arguments for women’s rights combined approaches that in contemporary feminist theory are perceived to involve conflicting strategies and visions. Nevertheless, her ideas had a major impact on the development of the varieties of feminism in the twentieth century.
Thoroughly researched and engagingly written, The Political Thought of Elizabeth Cady Stanton draws on a wide variety of primary and secondary sources and promises to fill a gap in the literature on the history of political ideas in the United States as well as women’s history and feminist theory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814719985
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	04/01/2008
Pages:	309
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 6.00(d)

About the Author

Sue Davis is Professor of Political Science at the University of Delaware. She is the author of American Political Thought: Four Hundred Years of Ideas and Ideologies, Understanding the Constitution, and Justice Rehnquist and the Constitution.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
1 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Multiple Traditions
2 Seneca Falls and Beyond: Attacking the Cult of Domesticity with Equality and Inalienable Rights
3 The 1850s: Married Women’s Property Rights, Divorce, and Temperance
4 Gatherings of Unsexed Women: Separate Spheres and Women’s Rights
5 The Civil War Years: Breaking Down Boundaries Between Public and Private
6 The Postwar Years: Reconstruction and Positivism
7 The Postwar Years: The New Departure, the Alliance with Labor, and the Critique of Marriage
8 Not the Word of God But the Work of Men: Cady Stanton’s Critique of Religion
9 “In the Long Weary March, Each One Walks Alone”: Evolution and Anglo-Saxonism at Century’s End
10 Multiple Feminisms and Multiple Traditions: Elizabeth Cady Stanton in American
Political Thought
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Davis does a brilliant job of analyzing (while not excusing) the political tactics—and often, political Machiavelliism—that the early feminist employed during her long, active life.”
-Feminist Review

,

“Scholars of American political thought have often failed to appreciate the significance of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Scholars of Cady Stanton have often not been deeply immersed in broader studies of American political thought. Davis’s outstanding book rectifies both these deficiencies in ways that will have enduring value.”
-Rogers M. Smith,author of Stories of Peoplehood: The Politics and Morals of Political Membership

“Davis admirably succeeds in this book that integrates the conceptual and political legacy of Elizabeth Cady Stanton with current scholarship on heritage of the American liberal state. A must-read for students of American political development, women’s rights, and legal theory.”
-Eileen McDonagh,author of Breaking the Abortion Deadlock

“Elizabeth Cady Stanton was open to any idea she encountered—old or new, conventional or innovated—except male supremacy. Davis’s admirable book shows that this great feminist’s adaptability was both her best and worst characteristic.”
-Judith Baer,author of Our Lives before the Law: Constructing a Feminist Jurisprudence

“In this thoroughly researched, well-written, and engaging study, Davis reveals how Cady Stanton drew upon liberalism, republicanism, ascriptive forms of Americanism, and radicalism in advancing the cause of women's rights. Davis’s historical institutionalist approach to the topic is most suited for demonstrating not only the way in which Cady Stanton, as a political actor, adjusted her arguments because of strategic consideration of the way they were received, but also the normative theoretical commitments that shaped the thinking of Cady Stanton as a political philosopher. The book is a must read for scholars of the history of political thought, feminist theory, and women's studies who wish to understand the full significance of Cady Stanton’s intellectual and political legacy for American political thought. . . . Highly recommended.”
-Choice

Editorial Reviews

"Davis's monograph is a valuable resource not only for scholars across the humanities...but also for those who wish to better understand American political culture and the history of ideas."

Rhetoric & Public Affairs - Kristan Poirot

"Scholars of American political thought have often failed to appreciate the significance of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Scholars of Cady Stanton have often not been deeply immersed in broader studies of American political thought. Daviss outstanding book rectifies both these deficiencies in ways that will have enduring value."

Rogers M. Smith

"Davis does a brilliant job of analyzing (while not excusing) the political tacticsand often, political Machiavelliismthat the early feminist employed during her long, active life."

Feminist Review

"Davis admirably succeeds in this book that integrates the conceptual and political legacy of Elizabeth Cady Stanton with current scholarship on heritage of the American liberal state. A must-read for students of American political development, womens rights, and legal theory."

Eileen McDonagh

"In this thoroughly researched, well-written, and engaging study, Davis reveals how Cady Stanton drew upon liberalism, republicanism, ascriptive forms of Americanism, and radicalism in advancing the cause of women's rights. Daviss historical institutionalist approach to the topic is most suited for demonstrating not only the way in which Cady Stanton, as a political actor, adjusted her arguments because of strategic consideration of the way they were received, but also the normative theoretical commitments that shaped the thinking of Cady Stanton as a political philosopher. The book is a must read for scholars of the history of political thought, feminist theory, and women's studies who wish to understand the full significance of Cady Stantons intellectual and political legacy for American political thought. . . . Highly recommended."

Choice

"Elizabeth Cady Stanton was open to any idea she encounteredold or new, conventional or innovatedexcept male supremacy. Daviss admirable book shows that this great feminists adaptability was both her best and worst characteristic."

Judith Baer

"A convincing case for Stanton’s significance as a central figure in the American political tradition."

Women’s Review of Books

In this thoroughly researched, well-written, and engaging study, Davis reveals how Cady Stanton drew upon liberalism, republicanism, ascriptive forms of Americanism, and radicalism in advancing the cause of women's rights. Davis’s historical institutionalist approach to the topic is most suited for demonstrating not only the way in which Cady Stanton, as a political actor, adjusted her arguments because of strategic consideration of the way they were received, but also the normative theoretical commitments that shaped the thinking of Cady Stanton as a political philosopher. The book is a must read for scholars of the history of political thought, feminist theory, and women's studies who wish to understand the full significance of Cady Stanton’s intellectual and political legacy for American political thought. . . . Highly recommended.”
-Choice

“Davis does a brilliant job of analyzing (while not excusing) the political tactics—and often, political Machiavelliism—that the early feminist employed during her long, active life.”
-Feminist Review

“Scholars of American political thought have often failed to appreciate the significance of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Scholars of Cady Stanton have often not been deeply immersed in broader studies of American political thought. Davis’s outstanding book rectifies both these deficiencies in ways that will have enduring value.”
-Rogers M. Smith,author of Stories of Peoplehood: The Politics and Morals of Political Membership

“A convincing case for Stanton’s significance as a central figure in the American political tradition.”
-Women’s Review of Books

“Elizabeth Cady Stanton was open to any idea she encountered—old or new, conventional or innovated—except male supremacy. Davis’s admirable book shows that this great feminist’s adaptability was both her best and worst characteristic.”
-Judith Baer,author of Our Lives before the Law: Constructing a Feminist Jurisprudence

From the Publisher

"A convincing case for Stanton’s significance as a central figure in the American political tradition."

Women’s Review of Books