Many individualscite the Seneca Falls Convention held in Seneca Falls, New York to be the beginning of the women's movement in America. However, the idea for the convention came about at another protest meeting: the in London. At that convention, the female delegates were not allowed to participate in the debates. wrote in her diary that even though the convention was titled a 'World' convention, "that was mere poetical license." She had accompanied her husband to London, but had to sit behind a partition with other ladies such as . They took a dim view of their treatment, or rather mistreatment, and the idea of a women's convention was born.

很多人把在纽约州塞内加瀑布召开的塞内卡瀑布大会引证为美国妇女运动的开始。然而，这次大会的思想是却在另一次抗议集会上形成的，那就是1840年在伦敦举行的世界反奴隶制大会。在那次会上，妇女代表不允许参加辩论。柳克丽霞?莫特在她的日记中写道，即使这次大会被冠为“世界大会”，“也不过是一张富于诗意的特许证”。她是陪着自己的丈夫去伦敦的，但她不得不与伊丽沙白?凯蒂?斯坦顿那样的女士坐在一个隔板后。她们对自己受到的待遇，或毋宁说虐待，感到悲观和沮丧，举办妇女大会的想法由此诞生。

In the interim between the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention and the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton composed the , a document declaring the rights of women modeled on the . It is worth noting that upon showing her Declaration to her husband, Mr. Stanton was less than pleased. He stated that if she read the Declaration at the Seneca Falls Convention, he would leave town.

在1840年世界反奴隶制大会和1848年塞内加瀑布大会之间的时期，伊丽莎白?凯蒂?斯坦顿整理出《感情宣言》的思想。它是以《独立宣言》为范本的宣布妇女权利的文件。值得注意的是，她刚把自己的宣言展示给丈夫，斯坦顿先生就显得不甚愉快。他表示，如果她在塞内卡瀑布大会上宣读此宣言，他就离开这个小城。

The contained several resolutions including that a man should not withhold a woman's rights, take her property or refuse to allow her to vote. The 300 participants spent July 19th and 20th arguing, refining and voting on the Declaration. Most of the resolutions received unanimous support. However, the right to vote had many dissenters including one very prominent figure, Lucretia Mott.

《感情宣言》包括几项决议，包括：男人不应该剥夺妇女的权利，不能占有他们的财产、不许拒绝妇女参加选举。7月19日和20日，300名与会者对宣言进行了辩论、润色和投票。所有决议都获得一致的支持。但在妇女选举权问题上，很多人持有异议，其中包括著名人物柳克丽霞?莫特。

The convention was treated with scorn from all corners. The press and religious leaders denounced the happenings at Seneca Falls. However, a positive report was printed at the office of The North Star, Frederick Douglass' newspaper.

这次大会遭到四面八方的嘲笑。报社和宗教领袖谴责了塞内卡瀑布发生的事情。但是，弗雷德里克?道戈拉斯的报纸《北方之星》的办公室印发了一篇正面的报导。

Many leaders of the Women's Movement were also leaders in the Abolitionist Movement and vice-versa. However, the two movements while occurring at approximately the same time were in fact very different. While the abolitionist movement was fighting a tradition of tyranny against the African-American, the women's movement was fighting a tradition of protection.

很多妇女运动的领导者也是废奴运动的领袖，反之亦然。但是，虽然这两个运动大约同时兴起，但实质上迥然不同。废奴主义者是反对针对美国黑人的专制主义传统而战，而妇女运动是为反对（针对妇女的）防范传统而战。

Many men and women felt that each sex had its own place in the world. Women were to be protected from such things as voting and politics. The difference between the two movements is emphasized by the fact that it took women 50 more years to achieve suffrage than it did African-American men.

许多男人和妇女觉得两性在这个世界上各有位置。妇女被排除在诸如选举和政治之外。两个运动的不同之处，因以下事实得到进一步彰显：妇女比黑人男子晚五十年才获得选举权。

历史理解要点：

1．美国建立至内战爆发前，特别是19世纪40年代，随着奴隶制问题的激化，妇女的政治权利问题随之也逐渐凸现出来，而且两者有相互重合的趋势。

2．但因政治、社会和宗教等原因，美国社会早已形成一种防止妇女参与政治的强大传统。甚至普通的妇女大众们，自己都认为妇女天生就不应参与政治，否则便超越了自己的社会角色。这些阻力造成的后果是：妇女获得选举权这一重要的政治权利，比黑人男子还要晚半个世纪。

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