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Born in Paris in 1805, Tocqueville was a member of the petite noblesse. He was sent to the United States by his family to avoid the turmoil resulting from the Revolution of 1830, with his friend Gustave de Beaumont. While the stated purpose of his visit was to study the American penal system, Tocqueville did much more during his nine-month journey (May 11,1831 February 20, 1832) that took him from Boston in the east to Green Bay in the west, Sault Ste. Marie in the north and New Orleans in the south. His account of this visit has become a classic work of social commentary and political philosophy

From The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty

John Stuart Mill was born in London on May 20, 1806, and was the eldest of son of James Mill. He was educated entirely by his father, James Mill, and was deliberately shielded from association with other boys of his age. From his earliest years, he was subjected to a rigid system of intellectual discipline. As a result of this system, according to his own account, he believed this gave him an advantage of a quarter of a century over his contemporaries....His Considerations on Representative Government belongs to the year 1860; and in 1863 (after first appearing in magazine form) came his Utilitarianism. In the Parliament of 1865-68, he sat as Radical member for Westminister. He advocated three major things in the House of Commons: women suffrage, the interests of the laboring classes, and land reform in Ireland.

From The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

The American political experiment was founded on the principle of white male suffrage. Indeed, originally not all white males were included in the electorate. Most of the new states had property qualifications for voting and even stricter property qualifications for holding office. Almost immediately Americans began to agitate for reform. State after state reduced property qualifications. Some eliminated them altogether. Europeans watched these developments with a combination of curiosity, amusement, and wonder. Why all this mania for reforming things? The Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, was one of many European observers of the strange customs of Americans: perhaps he was the most astute and inciteful of his era. Download this excerpt of his classical study Democracy in America, to see how he comes to consider that equality makes a reform temperament nearly inevitable.

Broadening the suffrage to include a greater number of white males did not require much change in the way people thought. Extending the suffrage to women, on the other hand was a revolutionary idea. John Stuart Mill was one of the earliest to recognize the inequities which marked the treatment of women, and he wrote about them with a combination of passion and cold logic. In the sections of his essay printed in your reader, I would like to have you consider the following:

Mill remarks that opposition to women's rights is rooted in the feelings, and this makes changing person's minds far more difficult. Understand his reasoning on this point. Why is evidence so ineffectual in changing person's minds?

What is the relationship between "universal custom" and what seems "natural" or "unnatural"?

Mill suggests (p. 116) that there is a certain ambiguity in men's attitude towards women. Not only do men want women to be in subjection like slaves, but they want something more. What is it, and how does that complicate the relationship between them and women?

Does Mill think men "understand" women? Why or why not?

What are Mill's arguments in favor of women's suffrage?

Sarah and Angelina Grimke eloquently fought the injustices of slavery, racism and sexism during the mid-19th century....The Grimke sisters were pioneering women. Among the first female abolitionists, they were the first women to speak publicly against slavery, an important political topic. Faced with criticism from clergy and others that they were threatening "the female character," they continued their crusade. In 1838, Angelina became the first woman to address a legislative body when she spoke to the Massachusetts State Legislature on women's rights and abolition.

From The National Women's Hall of Fame

I think we are all aware that Law is quite conscious of history. When issues arise, the first thing lawyers and judges ask is "what are the precedents?" Because the American political and legal systems arose from the English one, English precedent rules where there is no specific American law to the contrary. This is why Sarah Grimke looks to Sir William Blackstone , the great English jurist, in her analysis of "legal disabilities" under which women lived in the first part of the nineteenth century. The sections in italics are quotes from Blackstone, the rest of the text her analysis of what these actually mean, in daily life. Note that legal disabilities (differences between men and women under the rule of law) have practical consequences in many areas of life, including economics and personal safety.

As you read the letters on equality, note that Sarah Grimke calls men "guardians"... this can be interpreted in the Kantian sense: but it is also a legal term. We'll discuss Ms. Grimke's considerations of the way the social relationships between men and women are corrupted by legal differences and by stereotypes and custom. You will want to see if any of her observations still hold true today.

The text and the form of the Seneca falls Declaration will have a startlingly familiar ring to them. (The publication month is significant). I will want to discuss the tactic the women are using in crafting this declaration. I will also want to explore some of the implications of resolutions. There are eleven of them. Please number them in the margins so we can move through them efficiently. The ones which will be of special interest are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9. Resolution four is the most sweeping, and resolution 9 is the most straightforward. The others will take a little work to understand the implications.