1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,119 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody. We are so excited that we are about 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: to set out on our very first tour. In augusten 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: we will be in Atlanta, Georgia, Raleigh, North Carolina, Summerville, Massachusetts, Brooklyn, 4 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:17,319 Speaker 1: New York, and Washington, d C. Then in October we 5 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: will be in Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles 6 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: and San Francisco, California. We're hoping that this will go 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: really well and we can come to other cities and 8 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: places that don't end in the word coast sometime maybe 9 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: next year. You can find out more information and get 10 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: the links to buy tickets at missed in History dot 11 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: com slash tour That's missed in History dot com slash tour. 12 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Missed in History class from how 13 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 14 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy you Wilson, and today 15 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: we're actually recording in studio an episode that we actually 16 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 1: prepared for a live show at the Women's Rights National 17 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:12,039 Speaker 1: Historical Park as part of their Convention Days programming. As 18 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,399 Speaker 1: sometimes happens, live show recordings do not go according to plan, 19 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,759 Speaker 1: so we can't bring you the original version of that 20 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: as it happened live. But that means that those people 21 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: in attendance sort of get, you know, their memories of 22 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,679 Speaker 1: that special thing that unfortunately nobody else gets to share in. 23 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:32,559 Speaker 1: So let that be lesson to you come to live show. Also, 24 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: if you listen to our Road to the Declaration of 25 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: Sentiments episode that we did at the end of a 26 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:39,959 Speaker 1: little bit of this is going to sound familiar, there's 27 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 1: not a whole lot of overlap. And that episode was 28 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: actually catalyzed by then Chief Technology Officer of the United 29 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: States Megan Smith, reaching out to the podcast to raise 30 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: awareness of the missing women's rights document, the Declaration of Sentiments, 31 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: and we gave a brief version of Lucretia Mott's life 32 00:01:57,440 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: and a quick rundown of how she and Elizabeth Katie 33 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: Damn met at the World Anti Slavery Convention. Today's show 34 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: is going to focus on Lucretia Mott in much more detail. 35 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: But even so, her life is so well documented and 36 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: she was such an important public figure in her time 37 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 1: that we're really just hitting some of the highlights. So, 38 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: for example, in eighteen sixty four, she helped found Swarthmore 39 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: College in Pennsylvania as a co educational institution. But we're 40 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: not even going to get into that because we're focusing 41 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: instead a lot more on her activism. And she was 42 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,919 Speaker 1: a whole lot of activists packed into a diminutive frame. 43 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: And while she advocated for peace, she was, in her 44 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: own words, no advocate of passivity. Lucretia Mott was born 45 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: Lucretia Coffin on January three, seventeen ninety three, on the 46 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: island of Nance Huckett in Massachusetts. Her father, Thomas Coffin, 47 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 1: was a sea captain. Her mother, Anna Folger, was related 48 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: to Benjamin Franklin. Because Thomas was often at sea, Anna 49 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,359 Speaker 1: was managing things at home and she ran us Malch 50 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: store with Lucretia's help as Lucretia got older. Lucretia was 51 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: their second child, and they eventually had five children. The 52 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: Coffin family were Quakers, and the Quaker religion believed slavery 53 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: was evil and had a particularly progressive view of women's 54 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 1: equality for the time, so it is not surprising that 55 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 1: Lucresia went on to campaign for women's rights, abolition, and 56 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: social reform. When she was ten, her parents decided on 57 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: a change for the whole family. Thomas left his job 58 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:32,679 Speaker 1: as a mariner, and the family moved to Boston, where 59 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: he became a merchant, all with the intent of creating 60 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: a much more stable family life. In addition to how 61 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: he was away all the time as a sea captain, 62 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: that was also an incredibly dangerous job. Yeah, there was 63 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 1: always the chance that he would not come back, uh, 64 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: and they didn't want to live with that risk anymore. 65 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: When she was thirteen, Lucretia began attending a Quaker boarding 66 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: school in Poughkeepsie, New York called Nine Partners School, along 67 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: with one of her sisters, Eliza, and Lucretia did really 68 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: well there, so much so that she became an assistant teacher. 69 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: When she aged out of the available curriculum, Lucretia was 70 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: then shortly thereafter promoted into a teaching position, and this 71 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: meant that sort of in an in kind trade on 72 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: her work, that another one of her sisters could then 73 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:18,599 Speaker 1: attend the school. And it was during this time that, 74 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: even though she was at a Quaker school where equality 75 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: was being taught, Lucretia got a really harsh dose of reality. Later, 76 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,720 Speaker 1: she wrote of women in education, quote, I learned at 77 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,800 Speaker 1: school that their education cost the same as that of men, 78 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 1: while they received as teachers but half the salary. While 79 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: she was at nine partners, Lucretia made the acquaintance of 80 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: a young teacher named James Mott, who was the son 81 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: of the school superintendent. The two of them grew close, 82 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,159 Speaker 1: and then they fell deeply in love, and the Coffins 83 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: moved once again in eighteen o nine, this time to Philadelphia. 84 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: Lucretia and James Mott joined them there, and James was 85 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: invited by Lucretia's father, Thomas, to become a partner in 86 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:02,840 Speaker 1: his merchant business. Lucretia married James Mott on April tenth, 87 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: eighteen eleven. She was eighteen at the time and he 88 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: was five years older. It seems to have been a 89 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 1: very good match. They had similar ideologies when it came 90 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,600 Speaker 1: to equality for women. They were both abolitionists. They had 91 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: a passionate and devoted relationship, which Lucretia referred to as 92 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: a perfect love. Four years after Lucretia and James were married, 93 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 1: Thomas Coffin died. This was not only an emotional blow, 94 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: it created a very real financial problem for Lucretia's mother, Anna, 95 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: who was suddenly burdened with Thomas's extensive debt, and also 96 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 1: for James Mott, due to his involvement in Thomas's business 97 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: and Coffin, had made some pretty bad business decisions and 98 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: he was thousands of dollars in debt when he died. 99 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: Among other things, he had loaned money to people he 100 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: should not have, and he also had a lawsuit pending 101 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: against him. Lucretia, James, and Anna all worked together to 102 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: address this problem. They chipped away at the financial obligations 103 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,799 Speaker 1: that Thomas had behind. Anna went back to work, returning 104 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: to her former vocation of running a store. Lucretia worked 105 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: as a teacher, and James worked as a bookkeeper, and 106 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: the trio really managed to make some very real progress 107 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: on this problem. But just as they were getting their 108 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: feet back under them, there was another tragedy. Both Lucretia 109 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: and her third child, two year old Thomas, became very 110 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: ill with fever, and Lucretia recovered, but Thomas did not. 111 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:30,480 Speaker 1: He died and Lucretia was naturally heartbroken. Despite her grief, 112 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: though she returned to her teaching job not long after 113 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:36,160 Speaker 1: the loss, and that loss of her son made her 114 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: even more devoted to her Quaker faith. In the late 115 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: eighteen twenties, the Society of Friends split into two factions, 116 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:46,280 Speaker 1: the Orthodox Group and the Hickside Group, which was named 117 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: for Quaker abolitionist Elias Hicks. Hicks had actually been one 118 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: of the founding members of the Nine Partner School, where 119 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 1: Lucretia had been a student and a teacher. By this time, 120 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: Lucretia was a Quaker minister, although this was not a 121 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:01,039 Speaker 1: vocation as a Quaker, she was not being paid for 122 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,839 Speaker 1: this work. Yeah. One of the things I had read 123 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: one of the biographies suggested that when she realized that 124 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 1: ministers and other religions got paid to share their sermons, 125 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: she was a little bit mortified. I thought that was 126 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: not something that should be part of a financial transaction. Uh. 127 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: There were a number of issues that led to that 128 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: split within the Society of Friends, which is another UH 129 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: word for the Quakers. Those reasons were both spiritual and 130 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: some were a little bit more mundane. They had to 131 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: do with power struggles that were going on. But the 132 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,440 Speaker 1: primary reason that was cited for the fracture was the 133 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 1: Hicksite focus on the inward light as the guiding of faith, 134 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: whereas the Orthodox group favored biblical authority above all other influences, 135 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: and this split began at the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, and 136 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: the Mots, along with approximately two thirds of their fellow Quakers, 137 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: went with the Hicksites. That is a very paired down 138 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: an extremely basic version of the schism, which of course 139 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: had a lot more nuanced than at but in relation 140 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: to the Moths that had a very real impact. The 141 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,559 Speaker 1: Hicksites wanted to sever any possible connections to the slave trade, 142 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 1: and as a consequence, James shifted his textile business away 143 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: from selling cotton cloth, which was made with raw materials 144 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: that had come from slave labor, the transition to selling 145 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: wool instead. The Mots and many Hicksites emphasized the importance 146 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: of so called free goods and produced, meaning that they 147 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: had been produced or grown without the use of slave labor. 148 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: In the eighteen thirties, Mott was a member of the 149 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: American Anti Slavery Society founded by William Lloyd Garrison, and 150 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 1: that inspired her in eighteen thirty three to found a 151 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:42,679 Speaker 1: women's group within the movement, the Philadelphia Female Anti Slavery Society, 152 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: and there was to be clear plenty of controversy around 153 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: Mott's outspoken nature in the abolitionist cause. While she had 154 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: been raised in a household and a culture that treated 155 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:56,320 Speaker 1: women as more or less equal, her passionate oration was 156 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,680 Speaker 1: not always well regarded in non Quaker circles, and sometimes 157 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 1: even within the Society of Friends. There were some members 158 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: who were not entirely comfortable with her direct and impassioned 159 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: rhetoric on abolition and kind of hoped she might leave 160 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,640 Speaker 1: the group rather than continue to stir up controversy. And 161 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: there was also a very real danger in being a 162 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: public vocal abolitionist. But Lucretia drew a great deal of 163 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: strength from her faith, and when she spoke to groups 164 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 1: about slavery, that strength really helped her to make her 165 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: position clear, and it helped her to sway people to 166 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: her cause. People who heard her speak described her as 167 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: being eloquent, calm, and very persuasive, and her use of 168 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: logic to condemn the practice of slavery. Coming up who 169 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:44,040 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about a particularly frightening week for 170 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 1: the abolitionist movement in Philadelphia. But before that, we are 171 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 1: going to pause and have a little sponsor break. In 172 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: May eight, Lucretia Mott participated in a series of events 173 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,880 Speaker 1: at Pennsylvania Hall in her hometown of Philadelphia. That hall 174 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: was brand new. It had been designed by Thomas Somerville Stewart, 175 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: a Scott's Irish architect living in Philadelphia, as a meeting 176 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: place where abolitionists could engage in free discussion, and its 177 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:17,680 Speaker 1: opening was a really high profile event. The hall could 178 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: hold three thousand attendees, and in the first few days 179 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: the hall's use, both black and white abolitionists sat in 180 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:28,439 Speaker 1: the audience. Journalists and abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison made a note, however, 181 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 1: that there were no black speakers on the stage, which 182 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: he claimed was the result of either prejudice or fear. 183 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 1: I would point out that it could also have been 184 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 1: related to prejudice, that the white organizers just not even 185 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 1: considering that that would be a thing. Yeah, there could 186 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 1: easily have been thoughtlessness in the mix as well, um, 187 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 1: but there was definitely cause for fear. The opening of 188 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:56,720 Speaker 1: the hall had set off anti abolitionist agitators. Pennsylvania was 189 00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:59,960 Speaker 1: a free state, but the issues of slavery in equality 190 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:05,080 Speaker 1: were still topics of strife. Signs began appearing in Philadelphia 191 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:09,080 Speaker 1: urging people to rise up against these abolitionists. And one 192 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: red quote, whereas a convention for the avowed purpose of 193 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: affecting the immediate abolition of slavery in the Union is 194 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: now in session in this city, it behooves all citizens 195 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: who entertain a proper respect for the rights of property 196 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 1: and the preservation of the Constitution of the United States, 197 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:31,640 Speaker 1: to interfere forcibly if they must, and prevent the violation 198 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:35,320 Speaker 1: of these pledges heretofore held sacred. There was also the 199 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: ongoing issue of women's equality in the mix. With all 200 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: of this, some abolitionists felt that open meetings with men 201 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:45,640 Speaker 1: and women, both black and white, all gathered together in 202 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:48,800 Speaker 1: the hall would seem inappropriate. At one point during the 203 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:52,359 Speaker 1: Wednesday evening of the week's events, Mott addressed the assembled 204 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:55,320 Speaker 1: mixed crowd and said she was not speaking on behalf 205 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 1: of the women's Convention, but that she hoped that the 206 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 1: quote false notions of delic see and propriety would soon 207 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:04,360 Speaker 1: be a thing of the past. Yes, she really just 208 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: wanted everybody to be able to come together and discuss 209 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 1: these issues and not get watted up on what they 210 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: thought was proper or not. And during some of the 211 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: speeches in those first few days, Um there were bricks 212 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:19,240 Speaker 1: thrown through the windows of the hall by anti abolitionist protesters. 213 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: There are different versions of that story. John Greenleaf Whittier 214 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 1: wrote a biographical sketch of Lucretia Mott right after she died, 215 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,360 Speaker 1: and in his version, he suggests that that was happening 216 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: while she was speaking. I did not find indications that 217 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 1: that was the case anywhere else. Other versions of the 218 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: story of this hall suggests that it happened during other lectures. 219 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: Others indicated happened after the fact. We do not know 220 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: exactly the timing, but there was some scary stuff going on. 221 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,320 Speaker 1: An angry mob had steadily grown in numbers over the 222 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: course of several days, and even as the crowd surged 223 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 1: and threatened to enter the building. Mott, who was a 224 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: very tiny woman. We said he was diminutive, but to 225 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: be clear, she was about five feet tall. She weighed 226 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:06,720 Speaker 1: between ninety and a hundred pounds, and while she was 227 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:10,320 Speaker 1: speaking to her fellow abolitionists in the Anti Slavery Convention 228 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: of American Women who were meeting at the time, she 229 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 1: urged them to remain true to the cause and to 230 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,640 Speaker 1: continue their work. Meanwhile, all of this scary stuff was 231 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: going on literally feet from them, right outside the building. 232 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 1: So when people describe Lucretia Mott as a fierce abolitionist, 233 00:13:26,679 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: which is a phrase you will often see in relation 234 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 1: to her, they are really not kidding. As the women 235 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:34,480 Speaker 1: were leaving, the danger to the black women that had 236 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:37,479 Speaker 1: attended as they walked through this crowd was just obvious. 237 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:40,640 Speaker 1: Mott and the other white women in the group linked 238 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 1: arms with them as a way to help them move 239 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 1: through the angry protesters while trying to also maintain their 240 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 1: physical safety. They did still have to endure the racist 241 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 1: epithets that were being yelled at them as they adjourned, 242 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: but they were kept physically safe. Yeah, she was pretty 243 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:01,080 Speaker 1: clear that she believed that these protesters, we're not going 244 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 1: to have the gall to come after, for example, in 245 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 1: her case, a tiny white woman. So she was willing 246 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:09,559 Speaker 1: to put her body physically in the way to prevent 247 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:13,160 Speaker 1: black citizens from being hurt. And the next day, the 248 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:15,520 Speaker 1: threat of violence was so great that all of the 249 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 1: scheduled events were canceled. The mob had grown to a 250 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:23,760 Speaker 1: reported fifteen thousand people in Pennsylvania. Hall, described as one 251 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: of the most commodious and splendid buildings in the city 252 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,000 Speaker 1: was burned to the ground after the protesters broke in 253 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 1: and lit a fire on the stage. The thing was 254 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: like less than a week old at this point, right, Yeah, 255 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: that's like the fourth day was when it was burned down. 256 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: So there was ongoing violence over the next two days. 257 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 1: The Mots home was in danger as a target because 258 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: of Lucresha's high profile and the abolitionist movement. Their home 259 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: was spared at the end, but the mob turned its 260 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: ire towards black schools and churches. The following month, the 261 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 1: Philadelphia Female Anti Slavery Society, led by Lucretia Mott, hosted 262 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,120 Speaker 1: another anti slavery convention, and Mott once again reiterated the 263 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 1: importance of their mission. The World Anti Slavery Convention in 264 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:12,360 Speaker 1: eighteen forty was a significant event in Lucretia Mott's life. 265 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:15,440 Speaker 1: That event took place in London, and when Mott arrived 266 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: as a delegate, it became clear that she was not 267 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 1: going to be allowed to participate because she was a woman. 268 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: No women were being admitted to the proceedings. Mott was 269 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 1: certainly not the only woman who had traveled to London 270 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,320 Speaker 1: with the intent of attending the World Anti Slavery Convention, 271 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: all of the women there were told that they could 272 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:39,480 Speaker 1: not participate. Heated debate among the delegates arose over this issue, 273 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 1: and the women were eventually granted admission, but this was 274 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 1: not exactly a win. They had to sit in a 275 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: special women's section at the back of the hall, and 276 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 1: they were not allowed to participate in any way. They 277 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:55,800 Speaker 1: were allowed to observe, and to observe only. William Lloyd 278 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: Garrison was so angry about this situation, as were other men, 279 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:02,080 Speaker 1: that he withdrew as a delegate and he opted to 280 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 1: share observer only status with the women abolitionists, so he 281 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:07,480 Speaker 1: and several other men actually went back and sat in 282 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: their section. But it was in that women's section that 283 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: Lucretia Mott met the woman who would become one of 284 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: her greatest allies, Elizabeth Katie Stanton, who had made the 285 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:20,400 Speaker 1: trip to London as her honeymoon with her new husband, 286 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,640 Speaker 1: Henry Brewster Stanton. I love that they did this on 287 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: their honeymoon. It is quite charming. Uh Stanton made a 288 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:32,880 Speaker 1: description of Lucretia Mott at this convention, and I wanted 289 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:35,600 Speaker 1: to include this because there is a photograph of Lucretia Mott. 290 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: That is probably the most commonly seen in the modern era. 291 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: And it is a photograph taken when she was older, 292 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:42,960 Speaker 1: and she looks a little dour, And I think that 293 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: people have in their heads that she must have been 294 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: a very sour woman. But in fact she was by 295 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: all accounts, really lovely. She was described as a very 296 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,160 Speaker 1: vivacious youth. But I wanted to read Stanton's description of 297 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:56,840 Speaker 1: her during the convention quote she was then in her prime, 298 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: small in stature, slightly built, with a large head, high 299 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:06,679 Speaker 1: square forehead, remarkably fine face, regular features, dark hair and eyes. 300 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:10,000 Speaker 1: She was gentle and refined in her manners, and she 301 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:14,679 Speaker 1: conversed with earnestness and ease, commiserating over their anger how 302 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,879 Speaker 1: women abolitionists for being treated at the convention. Mott and 303 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 1: Stanton decided that when they were both back in the 304 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:23,919 Speaker 1: United States, they should arrange a women's rights convention. Was 305 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: five years in the making, but they were true to 306 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: their words. On July fourteenth, eight forty eight, the following 307 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: announcement ran in the Seneca County Courier under the headline 308 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:38,760 Speaker 1: Women's Rights Convention, a convention to discuss the social civil 309 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,879 Speaker 1: and Religious Condition and Rights of Women will be held 310 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 1: in the Wesleyan Chapel at Seneca Falls, New York, on 311 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 1: Wednesday and Thursday, the nineteenth and twentie of July current, 312 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 1: commencing at ten o'clock a m. During the first day, 313 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,120 Speaker 1: the meeting will be exclusively for women, which all are 314 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:59,199 Speaker 1: earnestly invited to attend. The public generally are invited to 315 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,800 Speaker 1: be present on this second day, when Lucretia Mott of 316 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 1: Philadelphia and others, both ladies and gentlemen, will address the convention. 317 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,959 Speaker 1: Of course, famously, the Declaration of Sentiments was signed at 318 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 1: this convention. That's a document that was modeled after the 319 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:17,719 Speaker 1: Declaration of Independence that outlined eighteen injuries to women and 320 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: was accompanied by eleven resolutions. Mott was one of the 321 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,920 Speaker 1: writers of this document. The most controversial of the eleven 322 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,439 Speaker 1: resolutions was getting women the right to vote. This is 323 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:32,080 Speaker 1: sometimes cited as the moment when the US suffrage movement 324 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:35,879 Speaker 1: was born. As a quick note slash reminder, the topic 325 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: of the show we did in Seneca Falls last year 326 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,440 Speaker 1: was Frederick Douglas, and he also attended the Seneca Falls 327 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:44,919 Speaker 1: Convention and was also one of the signers of the 328 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: Declaration of Sentiments. But perhaps surprisingly, Lucretia Mott was one 329 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: of the people who was not a supporter of the 330 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:55,640 Speaker 1: Resolution for the right to vote for women. She felt 331 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 1: that politics was inherently really flawed in immoral system, in 332 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 1: part due to its connection with slavery. So she thought 333 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:06,480 Speaker 1: women really did not need to dirty themselves with that grossness. 334 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: But she did sign the Declaration of Sentiments, and she 335 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:13,719 Speaker 1: did also managed to reconcile her concerns in a speech 336 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 1: that was later published by Mott as Discourse on Woman. 337 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,560 Speaker 1: She said the following, It is with reluctance that I 338 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:22,280 Speaker 1: make the demand for the political rights of women, because 339 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:26,120 Speaker 1: this claim is so distasteful to the age woman shrinks, 340 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: in the present state of society from taking any interest 341 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 1: in politics. Who knows but that if woman acted her 342 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:35,399 Speaker 1: part in governmental affairs there might be an entire change 343 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:39,119 Speaker 1: in the turmoil of political life. It becomes man to 344 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,440 Speaker 1: speak modestly of his ability to act without her. If 345 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:46,159 Speaker 1: woman's judgment were exercised, why might she not aid in 346 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,879 Speaker 1: making the laws by which she has governed? Far be 347 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: it from me to encourage woman to vote or to 348 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: take an active part in politics. In the present state 349 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,400 Speaker 1: of our government. Her right to the elective franchise, however, 350 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,280 Speaker 1: is the same and should be yielded to her, whether 351 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 1: she exercises that right or not. And we're going to 352 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:06,719 Speaker 1: talk next about the Fugitive Slave Act of eighteen fifty, 353 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:08,840 Speaker 1: but first we are going to pause for a little 354 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: sponsor break. When the Fugitive Slave Act of eighteen fifty 355 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:22,399 Speaker 1: was passed, Lucretia and James Mott protested vehemently against it. 356 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: That act has come up with some regularity on the show, 357 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:29,280 Speaker 1: but just for a reminder, it required that enslaved people 358 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:32,199 Speaker 1: who ran away to non slave states had to be 359 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 1: captured and returned to their enslavers, and that aiding a 360 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: person who had escaped enslavement was a crime. The Fugitive 361 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,639 Speaker 1: Slave Act caused a lot of strife even within the 362 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 1: abolitionist movement. For one thing, there was the debates between 363 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:50,919 Speaker 1: following the law and following the principles of equality. Additionally, 364 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:55,280 Speaker 1: even non abolitionist Pennsylvanians were angry that this act took 365 00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 1: precedence over the state's personal liberty laws and instances where 366 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:03,760 Speaker 1: people who had been enslaved were retaken by force Pacifist 367 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:07,440 Speaker 1: abolitionists grappled with their own principles of non violence as 368 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:10,400 Speaker 1: they came into conflict with their desire to protect formerly 369 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:13,920 Speaker 1: enslaved people, and one of the things that Mott continued 370 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 1: to do during this time was to continue to use 371 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:20,120 Speaker 1: her physical presence for the abolitionist cause. She knew, as 372 00:21:20,119 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 1: I said, that as a white woman, she would likely 373 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:25,480 Speaker 1: be treated more respectfully or at least more gently than 374 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:27,720 Speaker 1: a white man or a person of color, making the 375 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 1: kinds of statements that she made. In one instance, she 376 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,040 Speaker 1: rode in a carriage with a woman named Jane Johnson, who, 377 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:37,760 Speaker 1: in the course of fleeing enslavement, actually appeared to testify 378 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,719 Speaker 1: in court that the abolitionists who had helped her had 379 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 1: not kidnapped her, but she had gone of her own volition. 380 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:45,919 Speaker 1: She did that knowing that the marshals were going to 381 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,439 Speaker 1: pursue her afterwards, so once she finished her testimony, she 382 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:52,440 Speaker 1: and Mott made a hasty exit from the court, and 383 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,359 Speaker 1: Mott helped Jane Johnson slip away from the authorities. With 384 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,639 Speaker 1: a bit of misdirection. They wrote in a carriage around 385 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:00,719 Speaker 1: the streets. They ended up at the front of the 386 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:03,960 Speaker 1: Mott home they both got out, went through the house. 387 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:06,119 Speaker 1: Jane left out the back door and picked up another 388 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,480 Speaker 1: carriage there with a little meal that Lucretia had handed her, 389 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: and then she took off in that other carriage and 390 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:16,280 Speaker 1: fortunately was not apprehended, while Lucretia could be like, I 391 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: don't know what you're talking about when the marshals got 392 00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 1: to the house. Um In another instance, when a black 393 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:25,919 Speaker 1: man named Daniel Webster was captured in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and 394 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:28,960 Speaker 1: accused of being a runaway from a Virginia slave plantation, 395 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:32,480 Speaker 1: that was a case of mistaken identity. Lucretia Mott sat 396 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 1: as near as she could to the defendants throughout his 397 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:38,159 Speaker 1: court case. She would sit there, knitting or sewing, but 398 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:42,119 Speaker 1: always simply being a presence, making it keenly apparent that 399 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: an abolitionist was watching. And Webster was eventually declared a freeman. 400 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: When the Civil War began, it was already a difficult 401 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:52,920 Speaker 1: time for the Mots. They weren't young by this point. 402 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 1: Both of them were in failing health. James was losing 403 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:58,399 Speaker 1: his vision and Lucretia would read to him, but she 404 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:02,399 Speaker 1: was having dizzy spells and frequent digestive issues. And on 405 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:05,800 Speaker 1: top of that, even though this battle over slavery was 406 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:09,879 Speaker 1: obviously important and abolition had been a driving force in 407 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:13,920 Speaker 1: Mott's license, she was a young girl. Her pacifism made 408 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,800 Speaker 1: this entire war extremely upsetting. She really had hoped that 409 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 1: they could win over the hearts and minds of people 410 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,919 Speaker 1: through talking about the issue. In fact, she once wrote, quote, 411 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 1: the cause of peace has had a share of my efforts, 412 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 1: leading to the ultra non resistance ground that no Christian 413 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:36,760 Speaker 1: can consistently uphold and actually engage in and support a 414 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 1: government based on the sword after the Emancipation Proclamation. The 415 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:45,760 Speaker 1: Philadelphia Female Antislavery Society works to help formerly enslaved people 416 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 1: transition into freedom. We did an episode on the Civil 417 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: War contraband camps two years ago. We talked about the 418 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:54,920 Speaker 1: Union's gap in their plans when it came to actually 419 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:59,200 Speaker 1: helping newly freed men and women make new lives. Lucretia's 420 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 1: group attempt did to help fill that gap by raising 421 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 1: funds and helping to provide basic needs like clothing, and 422 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:09,000 Speaker 1: also offering educational assistance. But as the war came to 423 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:13,160 Speaker 1: a close, Lucretia's forty year old daughter, Elizabeth moved back home. 424 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,760 Speaker 1: This was not a joyous occasion. Elizabeth was terminally ill. 425 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: She was somewhat estranged from her husband, and the Mots 426 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 1: at that point had already lost two grandchildren, including Elizabeth's 427 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,720 Speaker 1: son Henry, just before Elizabeth became ill, and so while 428 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 1: Lucretia continued to stay informed about current events and keep 429 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,160 Speaker 1: an eye on what was going on at the war, 430 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:37,159 Speaker 1: her attentions were really split between her struggling family and 431 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: the struggling nation. After the war, the issues of black 432 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: suffrage and women's suffrage became the subject of debate for 433 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 1: many abolitionists and women's rights advocates. While some women's rights advocates, 434 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,359 Speaker 1: including Elizabeth Katie Stanton, thought that the two causes should 435 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:57,359 Speaker 1: be promoted together, my was concerned early on that things 436 00:24:57,359 --> 00:24:59,679 Speaker 1: were still really precarious. She thought that they might need 437 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:02,360 Speaker 1: to see one cause through to the end and then 438 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 1: focus on the other. In eighteen sixty six, the American 439 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:10,600 Speaker 1: Equal Rights Association formed with a goal of quote universal suffrage, 440 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,120 Speaker 1: and Lucretia Mott was its first president, and she took 441 00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:17,840 Speaker 1: that position somewhat tentatively, based largely on her loyalty to 442 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Katie Stanton, who had asked her to take that role, 443 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:24,840 Speaker 1: and she ultimately found this job really trying and unfulfilling 444 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,440 Speaker 1: because she spent most of the time trying to mediate 445 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,840 Speaker 1: the ongoing arguments among the members about where their focus 446 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:34,679 Speaker 1: should lie. They really were not getting into any actual activism. 447 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,920 Speaker 1: And when Stanton and Susan B. Anthony sought backing from 448 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:42,439 Speaker 1: Democrat entrepreneur George Francis Train, that became the last straw 449 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:46,359 Speaker 1: for Mott because Train supported women's suffrage, but he was 450 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:50,400 Speaker 1: a racist. Matt the news of this alliance, A horrified 451 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 1: William Lloyd Garrison wrote to Susan B. Anthony begging her 452 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:58,080 Speaker 1: not to tie up her cause with Train. He wrote, quote, 453 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:01,160 Speaker 1: the colored people and their advocates have not more abusive 454 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:05,760 Speaker 1: assailant than this same train. He is as destitute of 455 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,560 Speaker 1: principle as he is of sense. He may be of 456 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,680 Speaker 1: use and drawing an audience, but so would a kangaroo, 457 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:16,119 Speaker 1: a gorilla, or a hippopotamus. William Lloyd Garrison ended this 458 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,200 Speaker 1: letter by telling Anthony he thought she was just infatuated 459 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 1: with Train. That could be a whole other podcast, and 460 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:25,760 Speaker 1: I kind of want to do one on Train, because 461 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,679 Speaker 1: he is sort of gross and horrifying, but also very fascinating. 462 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:33,479 Speaker 1: So Mott's colleagues at this point wanted to prioritize women's 463 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 1: suffrage over black suffrage and engage the help of this 464 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: white supremacist to do so, and Mott, as a consequence, 465 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,920 Speaker 1: officially withdrew from her office in their organization in May 466 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:47,000 Speaker 1: of eighteen sixty eight. She also recommended that the entire 467 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 1: group be disbanded. Leading up to her resignation, there were 468 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 1: more immediate concerns in Lucrease's life. In January, James, who 469 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:57,840 Speaker 1: was seventy nine, got pneumonia and died suddenly. While he 470 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:00,760 Speaker 1: was mourned by the public as a figure a great regard, 471 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:04,800 Speaker 1: Lucretia felt alone in the world without him. She refused 472 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: to sleep in the bedroom that they had shared and 473 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:09,359 Speaker 1: instead moved into a smaller room in the house that 474 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: they had moved to outside of the city. She wrote 475 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:15,000 Speaker 1: letters to relatives about her very deep sense of loss, 476 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 1: and she stopped going to meetings of the various organizations 477 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 1: that she continued to be a part of, not returning 478 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: to them for several months. Eventually, though, she did return, 479 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 1: and she became president of the Philadelphia Female Anti Slavery Society, 480 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:31,680 Speaker 1: which continued even though slavery was legally abolished. They had 481 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:35,680 Speaker 1: shifted towards focusing on securing the vote for freedmen, and 482 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,760 Speaker 1: while the fourteenth Amendment was passed by Congress, the group 483 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,520 Speaker 1: disparaged the lack of specificity in its language. While it 484 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:46,440 Speaker 1: defined citizenship in a broad sense, it didn't specifically grant 485 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,960 Speaker 1: political rights to black citizens, which they called out as 486 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:53,600 Speaker 1: being a clearly racist move, as it indicated that quote, 487 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: the country and the government belonged to the white man. 488 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,280 Speaker 1: We spoke last year about the opposition that Elizabeth's Katie 489 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:03,439 Speaker 1: Stanton had to the fifteenth Amendment, which stated, quote the 490 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,160 Speaker 1: right of citizens of the United States to vote shall 491 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:08,919 Speaker 1: not be denied or abridged by the United States or 492 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,120 Speaker 1: by any State, on account of race, color, or previous 493 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 1: condition of servitude. It did not grant women the right 494 00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: to vote, and in reaction, Stanton made some really unfortunate 495 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:23,520 Speaker 1: and frankly racist remarks about it. Mott did not share 496 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,640 Speaker 1: these views, and she had expressed regret that these two 497 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:30,240 Speaker 1: issues of women's suffrage and black suffrage had ever been 498 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:34,639 Speaker 1: joined together in activist groups, but Lucretia Mott still really 499 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,040 Speaker 1: loved both Elizabeth Katie Stanton and Susan B. Anthony despite 500 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:41,200 Speaker 1: their missteps. Uh, they had all been through a lot together, 501 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:43,840 Speaker 1: and so she was really saddened as she watched the 502 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 1: group she had left, the American Equal Rights Association, suffer 503 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:51,200 Speaker 1: from ongoing in fighting, which eventually led to fractures and 504 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 1: rival women's suffrage groups forming. We've talked about that whole 505 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,120 Speaker 1: process in other episodes of the show. And the fall 506 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,520 Speaker 1: of eighteen eighty, ten years after the fifteenth Amendment was pasted, 507 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 1: Lucretia Mott, aged eighty seven, developed pneumonia. She's always a 508 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:08,520 Speaker 1: very small woman, and she lost weight that she just 509 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,320 Speaker 1: didn't have to lose. She grew very frail, and she 510 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,680 Speaker 1: died on November eleventh of that year. But as a 511 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 1: nice coda in three when the Equal Rights Amendment was 512 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: first introduced by Alice Paul in Seneca Falls during the 513 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 1: seventy fifth anniversary of the Women's Rights Convention, Paul called 514 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:28,520 Speaker 1: it the Lucretia Mott Amendment. Once again, we want to 515 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:31,480 Speaker 1: thank the National Park Service and the Women's Rights National 516 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,959 Speaker 1: Historical Parks specifically for inviting us. It is always in 517 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: the truest sense of the word awesome. It is an 518 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: awesome treat to sit in Wesleyan Chapel and do a 519 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 1: show where we talk about historical events that happened in 520 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: that very space. Yes, so thank you so much. We 521 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,560 Speaker 1: genuinely have had a great time both times we have 522 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:52,080 Speaker 1: gone out to convention days. It's an awesome weekend of programming. 523 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 1: So thank you again for including us. And we apologize 524 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 1: that some of our recording of live shows there are 525 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:01,560 Speaker 1: elements of it that are not entirely within our control. 526 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:04,080 Speaker 1: So we always go into it hoping to get a 527 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: usable recording for everyone, but knowing that there is a 528 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:12,200 Speaker 1: possibility that it will not work out. Yeah. Uh. And 529 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 1: now I have a little bit of listener mail from 530 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:19,400 Speaker 1: our listener Matthew, about our Levin Hook podcast. He says, 531 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,480 Speaker 1: my name is Matthew. I'm a professional oil painter from Milwaukee. 532 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:24,280 Speaker 1: As you can imagine, I spend a lot of time 533 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:27,120 Speaker 1: by myself working in my studio, and your podcast has 534 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 1: become a welcome companion. I'm new to your podcast, however, 535 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:32,520 Speaker 1: and I'm working my way backwards through the archive, and 536 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:34,960 Speaker 1: I just listened to the miniscule Science of anton Eva 537 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: and Levin Hook. I was expecting you to mention his 538 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,640 Speaker 1: connections to my favorite painter, Yon Dremir, but perhaps it 539 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:43,200 Speaker 1: did not come up in your research. Uh. For my 540 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:47,520 Speaker 1: answer on that, I grazed a thing briefly that suggested it, 541 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:49,840 Speaker 1: but at that point putting it in would have created 542 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:51,880 Speaker 1: a whole other portion of the show that I was 543 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: not really ready to focus on, because I wanted to 544 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 1: talk about his science a little bit more. But Matthew 545 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:00,160 Speaker 1: hooks us up with the information. He said, there are 546 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 1: many art historians and scholars who believe that leaven Hook 547 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:06,880 Speaker 1: was the sitter for two of Vermeer's paintings, The Geographer 548 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 1: and the Astronomer. So little is known about Vermeer in 549 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:12,520 Speaker 1: his life that we can never say for certain if 550 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,320 Speaker 1: the man in the paintings is leaven Hook. But disitter 551 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:18,240 Speaker 1: does bear a striking resemblance to the known portraits of 552 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:21,320 Speaker 1: leaven Hook, and we can probably surmise that the two 553 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: men had at least met at some point, as they 554 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:25,680 Speaker 1: lived in the same town and would have both been 555 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 1: considered learned men. The two paintings are pendants, two paintings 556 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:32,680 Speaker 1: that are the same size and subject that go together. 557 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:35,120 Speaker 1: They would have traditionally been hung on either side of 558 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 1: a doorway or fireplace. At some point in history they 559 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:40,680 Speaker 1: were split up and one ended in the Louver and 560 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:44,360 Speaker 1: the other in the Stottle, Germany's oldest art museum in Frankfurt. 561 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:47,400 Speaker 1: I want a lifelong mission to see every Vermeer. They're 562 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:49,480 Speaker 1: only thirty four and I'm close to completing my quest, 563 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:51,600 Speaker 1: and I've gotten to look at both of these pictures 564 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:55,320 Speaker 1: and they are exceptional. One more interesting tidbit about these paintings. 565 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,840 Speaker 1: Hitler love Vermeer, and during the Second World War he 566 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:02,440 Speaker 1: had the astronomers Allan for his personal collection. I know 567 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:05,000 Speaker 1: there's a photograph of him holding the astronomer somewhere, but 568 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:07,160 Speaker 1: I can't seem to find it at the moment. After 569 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:09,240 Speaker 1: the war, it was found hidden in an Austrian salt 570 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:12,440 Speaker 1: mine and returned to France by the Allies. So yeah, 571 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:16,040 Speaker 1: I I always love a little art history I have seen. 572 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:20,600 Speaker 1: I think that picture of Hitler holding that Vermeer. Vermeer 573 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,560 Speaker 1: is another fascinating character, but as Matthew points out, there 574 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:27,560 Speaker 1: are some big gaps in information about what we have 575 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:29,880 Speaker 1: of him. So thank you for sharing that with us 576 00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:32,800 Speaker 1: and connecting Vermeer and Levin hook Uh. If you would 577 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:34,120 Speaker 1: like to write to us, you can do so at 578 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:36,600 Speaker 1: History Podcast at how stuff works dot com. You can 579 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:39,840 Speaker 1: also find us at missed in History dot com and 580 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,800 Speaker 1: across the spectrum of social media as missed in History. 581 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:45,640 Speaker 1: That our website. You will find every episode of the 582 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:48,320 Speaker 1: podcast that has ever existed in our archives, as well 583 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:50,480 Speaker 1: as show notes for any of the ones in the 584 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:52,440 Speaker 1: last five years or so that Tracy and I have 585 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:54,680 Speaker 1: been working on the show. So come and visit us 586 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:57,400 Speaker 1: at missed in History dot com and subscribe to Stuff 587 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:00,080 Speaker 1: you Missed in History class on Apple Podcasts, Google a 588 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. For more on this 589 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:17,040 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff Works dot com. 590 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:14,440 Speaker 1: H