Women's Rights Reformer
At one time Angelina wanted to be a man so she could speak to audiences. She
never thought she would get a chance as a woman, but she did (Birney 165). Soon
Angelina was lecturing on women’s rights as well as abolition (Birney 186).
Theodore Dwight Weld, a great abolitionist orator (Birney 115) and Angelina’s
future husband, wanted Angelina to think of abolition first and then to fight
for women’s rights (Birney 207-12). He felt that supporting women’s rights
distracted from the abolitionist movement because it took the focus off the main
cause (South Carolina 199). Angelina refused to yield and became the
first person to make the question of women’s rights a reform issue. She
believed women had a “moral obligation” to society that was not confined to
their homes (Birney 174). This can be seen in the fact that she called on women
first to help abolish slavery. She wanted to get women involved in the
antislavery movement and through this to advocate women’s rights. The first
Female Anti-Slavery Society meeting was one of the first foundations laid for
women’s rights (Birney 164). Angelina and her sister Sarah challenged the old
Puritan way of looking at the sexes’ roles (Birney 182). Angelina believed
that there was no distinction of the sexes in Christ. “Whatever is morally
right for a man to do is morally right for a woman to do” she contested. “I
recognize no rights but human rights” (Birney 188-89). This line of belief
brought Angelina under attack from many different organizations in society, both
Christian and non-Christian. She was attacking an established way of life, which
was threatening to people. Angelina responded in particular to the charge that
women disgraced God and man by being independent. The reaction was a call to
women by Angelina’s opposition to remember that God had made women dependent
on men and when they were independent they rejected God and His authority.
Angelina responded to this charge that women disgraced God and man by proving
the claims unfounded (Birney 185-86). If challenging social norms were not
enough to incite the public hostility, Angelina began speaking to audiences
including men (Birney 179-80). It originally started when a man hid himself away
in the first meeting of the Female Anti-Slavery Society meeting (Birney 164).
From then on, men could be found trying to pass into meetings unaware to hear
this daring abolitionist. She soon set another first for women when she held a
public debate with a young man about slavery (South Carolina 178).
Angelina’s renown as an abolitionist orator finally opened the door for a
major step in the women’s movement. She was the first woman to be invited to
speak to the Massachusetts Legislature on behalf of abolition (Birney 228). This
eventually lead into another political and women’s rights statement when she
was among the first to lead women to the polls to vote in Massachusetts. The
votes were not counted (Birney 296-97). She set many firsts for women and broke
down many walls that had previously existed for women in public life.
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Last updated March 2, 2001