Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in order to derive a sense of sympathy and to develop connections between women and the rest of the American public, followed the style and wording of the Declaration of Independence closely. Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal.” Elizabeth Cady Stanton edited this same sentence to say that all men and women are created equal. Whereas the Declaration of Independence outlines the “patient sufferance of the colonies”, the Declaration of Sentiments outlines the “patient sufferance of women under this government.”
