When we reached Seneca Falls, New York, the birthplace of women’s rights, I felt enchanted by the grassroots movement led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, MaryAnn McClintock, Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott.  Inspired when they were denied a place at an anti-slavery convention in London, these women banned together and began to question if they truly were being treated equally to their male brethren.  We toured the National Park Museum and soon set sail for a number of historical houses belonging to people ranging from abolitionists and politicians to Quakers and concerned women demanding equal rights and an end to discrimination throughout society.  Of paramount concern for these trailblazing leaders was women’s suffrage (the right to vote), which was ultimately achieved when the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution was passed in 1920.  We observed the chapel where the Women’s Rights Convention was held and moved on to touring the significant homes.

Seneca Falls suffragettes.

We first toured the home of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and later visited the McClintock home of Thomas and MaryAnn McClintock.  It was here that we were able to observe, though the furniture was not original, where the Declaration of Sentiments was formally penned.  Using Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, these ladies slightly changed his opening lines to “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men and women were created equal.  As Quaker abolitionists, the McClintocks also found it necessary to work toward the expansion of women’s rights.  Their house like others that we would see also served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

After leaving Seneca Falls, we next visited beautiful Auburn, New York where our first stop was the home of former US Senator, New York Governor, and Secretary of State to Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, William H. Seward.  Seward, an avid abolitionist and expansionist with high political aspirations, also opened his home as a stop on the Underground Railroad.  His house was unique and had a wealth of artifacts to look at, however unfortunately photography inside the house was forbidden.  Topics included his purchasing of Alaska, as Secretary of State, on March 30, 1867, his attempted assassination on the day that President Lincoln was killed, and work done as an abolitionist helping Harriet Tubman get a home in Auburn. Learning more about Seward and these stories will certainly enrich my curriculum as I teach both the pre and post-Civil War eras.

Former Secretary of State William Seward's home- Auburn, NY.

 

We next went to Harriet Tubman’s house also in Auburn.  Unfortunately we were under quite a rush in order to make our 4:00 appointment for the boat tour at the Erie Canal.  We made the most out of the trip and after foregoing the video instead for a brief introduction were able to tour the home of one of American History’s greatest abolitionists.  As mentioned before, Tubman was given her land by William Seward which spanned an impressive 33 acres 7 of which were originally from him.  Students are usually interested in the topic of slavery and thus they are naturally drawn to Tubman and the Underground Railroad.  Brainstorming the positive characteristics that made her such a great leader might prove useful and explaining how she persevered even through her tragic head injury could set the table for a lesson about the Underground Railroad or abolitionists in general.

The final leg of today’s journey began in Rochester, New York at the Erie Canal.  It was here that we boarded a packet boat and explored the process of sailing along inclines in terrain and stopping at locks along the canal.  We watched as the locks were opened and closed and the water level either dropped or raised depending on what direction we were headed.  I have always taught about canals and their lock systems, but had a tough time even visualizing it myself.   This was a firsthand experience that will be huge to my teaching of the Industrial Revolution and the pictures won’t hurt either.

Lock opening up on the Erie Canal.

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