This essay will compare and contrast the thoughts of two great activists for women’s rights, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett. Their perspectives on women, class, and race were in opposition to one another, yet they both share some common views on white male dominance of 19th century America.
Status of Women in the 19th Century
The industrialization of the 19th century brought change to the world of women. One significant impact during this time was the formation of socioeconomic classes. The distinction was made between the middle class, the working class and much poorer classes. Regardless of social class, women's focus on spousal relationships, childrearing, personal fulfillment, and relationships with other women was …show more content…

Effectively barred from teaching, she invested her savings in a part-interest in the Memphis Free Speech newspaper (Sterling (1998) p78).
In 1892, Wells wrote a scathing series of editorials following the lynching of three prominent African-American Memphis businessmen, friends of Wells'. In the aftermath of the lynching and her outspoken criticism of it, her newspaper's office was sacked. Wells then moved to New York City, where she continued to write editorials and exposés against lynching, which was at an epidemic level in the years after Reconstruction. Joining the staff of The New York Age, Wells became a much-sought-after lecturer and organizer for anti-lynching societies made up of men and women of all races. She travelled throughout the U.S. and went to Britain twice to speak about anti-lynching activities (Sterling (1998) p157).
Wells was militant in her demands for equality and justice for African-Americans, and insisted that the African-American community must win justice through its own efforts. After a life of organizing and writing, she died in Chicago on March 25, 1931.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the eighth of 11 children, was born in Johnstown, New York in 1815, to Daniel Cady, and Margaret Livingston