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Primary Sources: Two Preambles Activities

  • I can analyze and compare primary sources.

Essential Vocabulary

sentiments Views or opinions on a subject.
resolution A formal statement of decisions or wishes of a group of people.
self-evident Another word for obvious.
endowed Another word for given.
Unalienable (inalienable) Unable to be taken away.
instituted Established.
deriving Receiving.

Building Context

After being denied entry to the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London because they were women, American abolitionists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott decided to call a meeting in the United States to address the rights of women. That meeting took place in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. Stanton introduced a document at this meeting called “The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.” Like the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration of Sentiments began with a preamble or introduction to explain the purpose of the document.

Make a Prediction

  • What do the titles of each of these documents indicate about possible similarities and differences between the two?
Directions: Read the sources below and then answer then fill in the chart that follows.
The Declaration of Independence, 1776 The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, 1848
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowedby 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.

 

Debrief

  • Write down at least two similarities and two differences between these documents. In comparing them, consider what they say, but who wrote them, the larger historical context, their purpose and/or intended audience.

 

 

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