塞尼卡福爾斯感傷宣言與決議
(Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions)
人類的歷史是一部男人對婦女不斷傷害與掠奪的歷史。
十九世紀中葉，婦女只擁有少數一些法權和政治權利，儘管婦女在國家機關、商店、工廠、農場和學校中工作的人數在不斷增加。婦女對自己命運的不滿是美國灌輸民主意識的產物。婦女能夠識字，所以她們閱讀了《獨立宣言》，聽到過廢奴主義者和其他改革者們使用的關於自然、權利、平等、自由等字眼。在一個尊重個人良知的國度裏，不可避免地便有些婦女會大聲疾呼，為什麼婦女在法律上和政治上遭受不平等的待遇。
伊麗莎白‧凱蒂‧斯坦頓(1815─1902)與其他四位婦女籌劃在1848年7月19日至20日召開一次會議，「討論社會、公民、宗教狀況和婦女的權利問題」。在斯坦頓的領導下，小組起草了一個模仿《獨立宣言》的《感傷宣言》。大約一百名婦女和男士聚會在紐約的塞尼卡福爾斯，討論、修改並接受了她們的《宣言》。比起普遍蔑視婦女權利，尤其是蔑視婦女投票權的輿論來，她們要進步得多。
1869年，懷俄明成了美國第一個允許婦女投票的州。首批允許婦女投票的國家是紐西蘭(1893年)、芬蘭(1906年)、挪威(19l 3年)。1920年，美國婦女贏得了投票權，當時批准了對憲法的第19次修正案。
在有關人類事務的發展過程中，當人類家庭的一個部份必須在人們之間依照自然法則和上帝的意旨，接受與婦女迄今不同的地位時，出於對人類輿論的尊重，必須把婦女不得不這樣做的原因予以宣佈。
我們認為下面這些真理是不言而喻的：男人與女人生而平等；造物者賦予她們若幹不可剝奪的權利，其中包括生命權、自由權和追求幸福的權利，為了保障這些權利才建立政府，而政府的正當權力，是經被治理者的同意而產生的。──當任何形式的政府對這些目標具有破壞作用時，受其害的人民便有權拒絕效忠它，要求建立一個新的政府；其賴以奠基的原則，其組織權力的方式，務使人民認為唯有這樣才最可能獲得他們的安全和幸福。為了慎重起見，成立多年的政府，是不應當由於輕微和短暫的原因而予以變更的。過去的一切經驗也都說明，任何苦難，只要是尚能忍受，人類都寧願容忍，而無意為了本身的權益便廢除他們久已習慣了的政府。但是，當追逐同一目標的一連串濫用職權和強取豪奪發生，證明政府企圖把婦女置於專制統治之下時，那麼她們就有義務推翻這個政府，並為她們未來的安全建立新的保障。這就是婦女過去逆來順受的情況，也是她們現在不得不要求得到她們有權得到的地位的原因。
人類的歷史是一部男人對婦女不斷傷害與掠奪的歷史，其直接目的是在婦女之上建立絕對專制暴政。為了證明此言屬實，現將下列事實公諸於公正的世界。
男人從未允許婦女行使其不可剝奪的選舉權。
男人強迫婦女服從那些她無權參與制定的法律。
男人拒絕給予婦女連最無知、最下流的──不論是本國的還是外來的男人都具有的權力。
在剝奪了婦女作為公民的首要權力──選舉權，從而使她在立法機構中沒有任何代表之後，男人從各個方面壓迫婦女。
一旦結婚，在法律意義上，男人便使婦女喪失了公民的權利。
男人被奪了婦女的全部財產權，甚至包括支配她掙得的工資的權利。
男人使婦女成為不負道德責任的人，因為婦女可以犯下許多罪而不受懲罰，只要這些罪是當著她丈夫的面犯下的。在訂立婚約時，婦女被迫發誓聽命
於丈夫，而丈夫，在實質上，則成為她的主人──法律授權男人，允許他褫奪她的自由權、對她行使懲罰權。
男人制定離婚法，規定准於離婚的各種正當理由；規定一旦雙方分離，孩子的監護權必須歸屬於誰；法律完全忽視了婦女的幸福──在任何情況下，它都是建立在男人至上的錯誤假設之上，將所有的權力置於男人之手中。
儘管婦女在婚後被剝奪全部的權利，可是單身並擁有財產的婦女卻被男人課稅來支援政府，然而政府卻僅僅在婦女的財產對其有利可圖的時候才承認婦女。
男人幾乎壟斷了全部有利可圖的職業；在允許婦女從事的職業中，婦女所得到的報酬都是微不足道的。
男人封閉了所有能讓婦女通向財富和名望的途徑，他認為財富與名望是男人最體面的榮耀。婦女從未能成為醫學、法學或神學的教師。
男人拒絕向婦女提供全面教育的便利──所有大學的校門都對婦女關閉著。
男人允許婦女在教會以及政府機構任職，但只能處於附屬地位。男人宣稱，根據使徒教義，婦女不得任牧師，除了個別例外的，婦女還不得在公共場合參與宗教事務。
男人製造了錯誤的公共輿論，因為在他給予世人的道德法典中，男女未能一視同仁。根據這法典，將婦女排斥在社會之外的錯誤不僅僅受到了寬容，而且被認為是無足輕重的。
男人攫取了耶和華的權力，宣稱他有權為婦女規劃出行動的範圍，儘管這種權力僅僅屬於她的良知和上帝。男人竭盡全力試圖摧殘婦女對自己能力的自信，貶低她的自尊，迫使她心甘情願地過聽人擺佈的淒慘生活。
現在，佔國家人口一半的民眾完全沒有選舉權。她們在社會、宗教上受到不公正的待遇。面對上述這些不公正的法律，況且婦女確實感到了她們受到的冤曲、她們蒙受的壓迫和她們最神聖的權力被人用欺騙的手段剝奪了，我們堅決要求立刻給予婦女所有屬於美國公民的權力和特權。
在著手我們眼前的偉大工作時，我們估計將遇到大量的誤解、誤傳和嘲諷。不過，我們仍將竭盡全力實現我們的目標。我們將聘請代理人，散發傳單，向政府和立法機構請願，努力爭取教會與報界的支援。我們希望這次大會之後，在全國各地將召開一系列的大會。
我們堅信，勝利終將屬於正義與真理。今天，我們在此宣言上簽署上我們的名字。
決議：
鑒於「人類必須追求真正的、實質的幸福」公認是自然的偉大法則，布萊克斯通在評論中指出，這條自然法則是與人類同生共存的法則，是上帝欽定的法則；它當然比任何其他法則都具有更高的約束性。在全世界，在所有國家，在任何時候，這條法則都具有約束性。任何人類的法則倘若與此法則相矛盾，便喪失其效力；而具有效力的法律，其全部法力、效力和權威則都是間接地或直接地從這一根源產生的。因此，決議認為，凡是與婦女真正和實質的幸福衝突的法律，不論其形式如何，都是與自然的偉大法則相矛盾的，都是無效的，因為「自然的偉大法則比任何其他法則都具有更高的約束性」。
決議認為，一切阻撓婦女謀取良知而需要的社會地位的法律，一切主張男尊女卑的法律，都是與自然的偉大法則相違背的，因而也是不具備任何法力或權威的。
決議認為，男女平等，是造物主的旨意，人類善之最高境界要求男女平等。
決議認為，應當開導我國的婦女，使她們對制約她們生活的法律有更多的瞭解；這樣她們就不至於對婦女當前的地位表示滿意，從而表現出自己的低下；她們也不至於聲稱已經擁有自己想要的一切權利，從而表現出自己的無知。
決議認為，既然男人宣稱他在智力上具有優越性，並且承認婦女在道德方面具有優越性，那麼男人的一個突出的責任就是鼓勵婦女暢所欲言、教書講學，正如婦女在所有宗教團體中有機會做到的那樣。
決議認為，在社會上，在道德和舉止談吐溫文爾雅等方面，對男士也應當提出對婦女一樣的要求。男女若犯同樣性質的罪，應當受到同樣嚴厲的制裁。
婦女在公開場合發表演說，常常招致某些人有失典雅端莊之類的攻擊，而這些人卻以親自光臨的方式慫恿婦女登臺演出，舉行音樂會或在馬戲院出場獻技。決議認為，這種攻擊是非常不得體的。
婦女安於各種限制已經太久了。這些限制是由腐敗的習俗和對聖經的肆意曲解為婦女設置的。決議認為：現在是婦女步入偉大的造物主賦予她的更廣闊的天地的時候了。
決議認為，確保婦女神聖的選舉權是我國婦女的職責。
決議認為，人權的平等是人人能力與責任相同這一事實的必然結果。
因此，決議認為，由於造物主賦予男女相同的能力和運用這些能力的相同的責任感，所以男女顯然都有相同的權利和責任，利用一切正義的手段促進一切正義的事業；尤其在道德和宗教這些重大的問題上，不言而喻，婦女有權同她的兄弟一道，在私下和公開的場合，通過文章和演講，運用任何合適的手段、在任何合適的集會上，開宗名義地宣講。這是不言自明的真理，它是從紮根在人類本性的神聖原則中產生的，任何與之相違背的習俗和權威，不論是現代的還是被磨損得蒼白的古老法則，都將被視作不言而喻的謬誤，是違背人類利益的。
決議認為，我們事業的早日成功，取決於男人與婦女的熱忱和執著的努力，推翻教會的獨裁，確保在各行各業和社交活動中婦女享有與男子同樣的參與權。
Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and
Resolutions
When, in the
course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of
man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which
they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of nature's
God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes that impel them to such a course.
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; that to secure these
rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent
of the governed.--Whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it,
and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on
such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem
most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate
that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient
causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by
abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of
abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to
reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their duty to throw off such
government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been
the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the
necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are
entitled.
The
history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part
of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute
tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has
never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise.
He has
compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.
He has
withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded
men--both natives and foreigners.
Having
deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby
leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed
her on all sides.
He has
made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead.
He has
taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns.
He has
made her, morally, an irresponsible being, as she can commit many crimes with
impunity, provided they be done in the presence of her husband. In the covenant
of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he becoming,
to all intents and purposes, her master--the law giving him power to deprive her
of her liberty, and to administer chastisement.
He has so
framed the laws of divorce, as to what shall be the proper causes of divorce; in
case of separation, to whom the guardianship of the children shall be given; as
to be wholly regardless of the happiness of women--the law, in all cases, going
upon the false supposition of the supremacy of man, and giving all power into
his hands.
After
depriving her of all rights as a married woman, if single and the owner of
property, he has taxed her to support a government which recognizes her only
when her property can be made profitable to it.
He has
monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those she is
permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration.
He closes
against her all avenues to wealth and distinction, which he considers most
honorable to himself. As a teacher of theology, medicine, or law, she is not
known.
He has
denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education--all colleges being
closed against her.
He allows
her in Church as well as State, but a subordinate position, claiming Apostolic
authority for her exclusion from the ministry, and, --with some exceptions, from
any public participation in the affairs of the Church.
He has
created a false public sentiment, by giving to the world a different code of
morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies which exclude women from
society, are not only tolerated but deemed of little account in man.
He has
usurped the prerogative of Jehovah himself, claiming it as his right to assign
for her a sphere of action, when that belongs to her conscience and her God.
He has
endeavored, in every way that he could to destroy her confidence in her own
powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependant
and abject life.
Now, in
view of this entire disfranchisement of one-half the people of this country,
their social and religious degradation,--in view of the unjust laws above
mentioned, and because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and
fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have
immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as
citizens of these United States.
In
entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount of
misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we shall use every
instrumentality within our power to effect our object. We shall employ agents,
circulate tracts, petition the State and national Legislatures, and endeavor to
enlist the pulpit and the press in our behalf. We hope this Convention will be
followed by a series of Conventions, embracing every part of the country.
Firmly
relying upon the final triumph of the Right and the True, we do this day affix
our signatures to this declaration. Resolutions
Whereas,
the great precept of nature is conceded to be, "that man shall pursue his own
true and substantial happiness." Blackstone, in his Commentaries, remarks, that
this law of Nature being coeval with mankind, and dictated by God himself, is of
course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in
all countries, and at all times; no human laws are of any validity if contrary
to this, and such of them as are valid, derive all their force, and all their
validity, and all their authority, mediately and immediately, from this origin;
Therefore,
Resolved,
That such laws as conflict, in any way, with the true and substantial happiness
of woman, are contrary to the great precept of nature, and of no validity; for
this is "superior in obligation to any other."
Resolved,
That all laws which prevent women from occupying such a station in society as
her conscience shall dictate, or which place her in a position inferior to that
of man, are contrary to the great precept of nature, and therefore of no force
or authority.
Resolved,
That woman is man's equal--was intended to be so by the Creator, and the highest
good of the race demands that she should be recognized as such.
Resolved,
That the women of this country ought to be enlightened in regard to the laws
under -which they live, that they may no longer publish their degradation, by
declaring themselves satisfied with their present position, nor their ignorance,
by asserting that they have all the rights they want.
Resolved,
That inasmuch as man, while claiming for himself intellectual superiority, does
accord to woman moral superiority, it is pre-eminently his duty to encourage her
to speak, and teach, as she has an opportunity, in all religious assemblies.
Resolved,
That the same amount of virtue, delicacy, and refinement of behavior, that is
required of woman in the social state, should also be required of man, and the
same transgressions should be visited with equal severity on both man and woman.
Resolved,
That the objection of indelicacy and impropriety, which is so often brought
against woman when she addresses a public audience, comes with a very ill grace
from those who encourage, by their attendance, her appearance on the stage, in
the concert, or in the feats of the circus.
Resolved,
That woman has too long rested satisfied in the circumscribed limits which
corrupt customs and a perverted application of the Scriptures have marked out
for her, and that it is time she should move in the enlarged sphere which her
great Creator has assigned her.
Resolved,
That it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their
sacred right to the elective franchise.
Resolved,
That the equality of human rights results necessarily from the fact of the
identity of the race in capabilities and responsibilities.
Resolved,
therefore, That, being invested by the Creator with the same capabilities, and
the same consciousness of responsibility for their exercise, it is demonstrably
the right and duty of woman, equally with man, to promote every righteous cause,
by every righteous means; and especially in regard to the great subjects of
morals and religion, it is self-evidently her right to participate with her
brother in teaching them, both in private and in public, by writing and by
speaking, by any instrumentalities proper to be used, and in any assemblies
proper to be held; and this being a self-evident truth, growing out of the
divinely implanted principles of human nature, any custom or authority adverse
to it, whether modern or wearing the hoary sanction of antiquity, is to be
regarded as self-evident falsehood, and at war with the interests of mankind.
Resolved,
That the speedy success of our cause depends upon the zealous and untiring
efforts of both men and women, for the overthrow of the monopoly of the pulpit,
and for the securing to woman an equal participation with men in the various
trades, professions and commerce.
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