"…I heard more than once the oldest member of Congress declare that Freedom was based upon the law of God, which we declared in our Bill of Rights--our Declaration of Independence--that it was the inalienable right of all mankind to life, liberty and to the pursuit of happiness."
Phillip D. Moore to the Seventh National Woman's Rights Convention

By 1856, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were organizing two annual state women's rights conventions in New York to support petition campaigns and distribute literature. One in Albany coincided with the beginning of the legislative session; another in Saratoga Springs spread the anti-slavery and women's rights message to southern horsebreeders and vacationers.

At the seventh national convention, presiding officer Lucy Stone rejoiced in reforms in women's property rights laws in nine northern and midwestern states, and in widows' right to vote in school elections in Kentucky. The convention resolutions delighted in the new Republican party's appeal for female participation in campaign events during the 1856 elections. Lucretia and James Mott served as officers; Martha Wright took minutes of the meeting. Lucretia Mott reminded women that new rights should be used, saying, "Believe me, sisters, the time is come for you to avail yourselves of all the avenues that are opened to you."

National Women's Rights Conventions                                                        1858 Convention