Reformers who tried to change America: abolition, women's rights, schools and hospitals

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Seneca Falls, 1848 (cards A to D). Card A, the Declaration of Sentiments (National Park Service text): "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal;" "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 denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education - all colleges being closed against her." "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." For comparison, the Declaration of Independence of 1776 (National Archives): "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal". Card B, a summary in our words from the National Park Service: on July 9, 1848, five women met in Waterloo, New York, and decided to hold a convention, and they published a "call" in the local newspaper. The convention was held on July 19 and 20 at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls and drew over 300 people. One hundred women and men signed the Declaration. The page says: "This event was not the first time the rights of women had been discussed in American society." The vote was only one of many demands, among them equal educational opportunities, the right to property and earnings, and the right to custody of children. Card C, our count of the names under the Declaration on the National Park Service page: 68 women and 32 men, including Frederick Douglass. Card D, a summary in our words from the National Park Service page on Charlotte Woodward: of the 68 women who signed, only one, Charlotte Woodward Pierce, lived to see the 19th Amendment in 1920. She was 18 or 19 in 1848 and 92 in 1921. The page draws on a 1920 interview with her by the historian Rheta Childe Dorr. She was ill on election day, 1920. "I'm too old," she said. "I'm afraid I'll never vote." As far as the park knows, she never did.

2. 1.

   Card A is the Declaration of Sentiments, written by the convention's organizers. What is it best evidence for, Ari asks?

   • How the 19th Amendment was won in the year 1920
   • What the organizers demanded and how they argued their case
   • How many people crowded into the chapel on the second day of the convention
   • What most American women wanted in the year 1848
3. 2.

   Card A copies the 1776 sentence but says "men and women." What does the change claim, Bo asks?

   • The 1776 sentence is copied exactly, with no change of any kind
   • Women are included in the equality the 1776 text claimed for men
   • Men are removed from the equality the 1776 text claimed for the nation
   • Women are claimed to be more equal than men in the new wording
4. 3.

   A student says: "The Seneca Falls convention asked only for the vote." How strong is that claim, given cards A and B, Esme asks?

   • Strong: card A mentions the elective franchise as a first right
   • Weak: because sixty-eight women signed the Declaration of Sentiments in July of 1848
   • Strong: the vote is the most famous demand in the Declaration
   • Weak: cards A and B also ask for education, property and custody of children
5. 4.

   Card C counts 68 women and 32 men among the signers. What share of the signers were women, Jun asks?

   • 68 percent of the people who attended the convention were women
   • 68 percent of the signers were women
   • 6.8 percent of the signers were women, a very small share
   • 32 percent of the signers were women, as card C counts them
6. 5.

   Cards A and B give the steps from planning to the signing. Which chain is best supported, Luz asks?

   • The signatures came first, and the meeting to plan the convention came afterward
   • The 19th Amendment led the women to publish the call in the local newspaper
   • Frederick Douglass called the convention in the town of Seneca Falls
   • A July 9 meeting, a newspaper call, the July 19-20 convention, then signatures
7. 6.

   Card B says one hundred signed. Cards C and D count 68 women, and card C counts 32 men. Do they agree, Milo asks?

   • No: 68 women plus 32 men make 90, which does not match card B
   • Yes, which is enough to conclude that each name on the park's list is correct
   • Yes: 68 women plus 32 men make the 100 in card B, and card D also says 68
   • No: card D counts men and women together, so its 68 is too low
8. 7.

   Card D draws on an interview with Charlotte Woodward Pierce in 1920 by a historian. What does that mean for the evidence, Noah asks?

   • It is a government record made at the convention, so each detail is exact
   • It is worthless, because the interview was taken so long afterward
   • It is her own written diary from 1848, so each detail is firsthand
   • It is partly second-hand, a historian's account, so details need checking
9. 8.

   A student says: "All 68 women signers lived to vote in 1920." How strong is that claim, given card D, Ren asks?

   • Weak: only one lived to see 1920, and she did not vote
   • Weak: card D says none of the 68 women signers lived past 1848
   • Strong: Woodward lived to see the amendment, so the others did too
   • Strong: card D says the 19th Amendment passed in the year 1920
10. 9.

    Card A says the writers expect "misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule." What does that show about how they saw the public, Tala asks?

    • They expected the public to attack the convention with force and violence in the town
    • They expected the public to agree at once, so they planned nothing more to do
    • They treated the public as unimportant and wrote for their own circle alone
    • They expected mockery and planned to answer with tracts, petitions and the press
11. 10.

    A student says: "Seneca Falls was the first time anyone discussed women's rights in America." How strong is that claim, given card B, Zee asks?

    • Strong: card B calls it a formal beginning of a movement in the country of the time
    • Weak: card B says it was not the first time women's rights were discussed
    • Weak: card B says no convention was held at Seneca Falls in 1848
    • Strong: the movement grew rapidly in the years before the Civil War