Editing Seneca Falls Convention (section)

== First day ==

On July 19, 1848, the morning of the first day of convention, the organizing committee arrived at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel shortly before ten o'clock on a hot, sunny day to find a crowd gathered outside and the church doors locked—an overlooked detail.<ref name=McMillen90/> Stanton's young nephew Daniel was lifted through an open window so that he could unbar the doors from the inside. Even though the first session had been announced as being exclusively for women, some young children of both sexes had been brought by their mothers, and about 40 men were there expecting to attend. The men were not turned away, but were asked to remain silent. Mary Ann M'Clintock Jr., 26 years old, was appointed secretary, to take notes.<ref name=McMillen90/>

=== Morning session ===

[[File:Mott Lucretia Painting Kyle 1841.jpg|thumb|[[Lucretia Mott]] was described as "the moving spirit of the occasion".<ref name=McMillen90/>]]

Starting at 11 o'clock, [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]] spoke first, exhorting each woman in the audience to accept responsibility for her own life, and to "understand the height, the depth, the length, and the breadth of her own degradation."<ref name=McMillen90/> [[Lucretia Mott]] then spoke, encouraging all to take up the cause. Stanton read the Declaration of Sentiments in its entirety, then re-read each paragraph so that it could be discussed at length, and changes incorporated. The question of whether men's signatures would be sought for the Declaration was discussed, with the vote looking favorable for including men, but the motion was tabled until the following day when men themselves could participate.<ref name=Wellman195>Wellman, 2004, p. 195.</ref> The first session adjourned at 2:30&nbsp;p.m.<ref>McMillen, 2008, p. 91.</ref>

=== Afternoon session ===

After a pause for refreshment in the 90° heat,<ref name=Wellman195/> an afternoon session began with Stanton and then Mott addressing the audience. The Declaration of Sentiments was read again and more changes were made to it. The resolutions, now numbering eleven with Stanton's addition of women's suffrage, were read aloud and discussed. Lucretia Mott read a humorous newspaper piece written by her sister Martha Wright in which Wright questioned why, after an overworked mother completed the myriad daily tasks that were required of her but not of her husband, ''she'' was the one upon whom written advice was "so lavishly bestowed."<ref name=McMillen92>McMillen, 2008, p. 92.</ref> Twenty-seven-year-old Elizabeth W. M'Clintock then delivered a speech, and the first day's business was called to a close.<ref>{{Cite web|title=National Park Service. Women's Rights. Report of the Woman's Rights Convention, July 19–20, 1848.|url=https://www.nps.gov/wori/learn/historyculture/report-of-the-womans-rights-convention.htm|website=National Park Service|access-date=2020-05-08}}</ref>

=== Evening speech ===

In the evening, the meeting was opened to all persons, and Lucretia Mott addressed a large audience.<ref name=NatReformer>''National Reformer'', Auburn, Thursday, August 3, 1848. [https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/vc006196.jpg ''Woman's Rights Convention.''] Retrieved on April 27, 2009.</ref> She spoke of the progress of other reform movements and so framed for her listeners the social and moral context for the struggle for women's rights. She asked the men present to help women gain the equality they deserved.<ref name=McMillen92/> The editor of the ''National Reformer'', a paper in [[Auburn, New York]], reported that Mott's extemporaneous evening speech was "one of the most eloquent, logical, and philosophical discourses which we ever listened to."<ref name=NatReformer/>