Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in 1815 to the affluent parents Daniel and Mary Livingston Cady in Jamestown, NY. Cady's parents made it obvious that they preferred sons to daughters when they showed their mutual displeasure of the birth of the Elizabeth's younger sister. Determined to succeed at a level relative to her brothers, Elizabeth attended Jamestown Academy and studied Greek and Mathematics. It was here that she learned to become a skilled debater. She went on to attend the Troy Female Seminary in New York. It was one of the first universities to offer an education equal to that of male academies. While at Troy she studied logic, physiology, and natural rights philosophy. .

             After graduation, she began to work for her father who was a judge and a lawyer. Here she saw first hand the legal discrimination women faced every day. From then on, she was determined to change the laws. Stanton traveled around the country and even the over seas fighting for civil rights for both blacks and women. During her trips she met up with such women as Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, and April Bloomer. With the help of her husband Henry Stanton and Mott, Stanton drafted the Declaration of Sentiments in Seneca Falls, NY. It was here, that she was able to get over one hundred men and women to sign the declaration. Stanton managed to become the leading feminist philosopher of the first generation of women's rights activists, write a number of books on women's rights, and become the first president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, despite having seven children. Because of her large family at home, Stanton was not able to travel with Anthony and the other women. However, she did write speeches for Anthony to give. Stanton's knowledge and ability to write combined with Anthony's oratorical skills, made for a very powerful team in the fight for equality. After publishing such books as The History of Women's Suffrage and The Women's Bible, she eventually died in 1902.