1840
London antislavery convention excludes women delegates
London, England; American abolitionist delegates
The World Anti-Slavery Convention voted against allowing women delegates to participate in its proceedings. American women including Lucretia Mott observed from the gallery, while abolitionists including William Lloyd Garrison and Charles Remond refused their seats in protest.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
This overseas meeting is included for its consequences for American abolitionist and women’s-rights organizing. Opposition to slavery did not ensure equal participation within abolitionist organizations. Elizabeth Cady Stanton attended during her honeymoon; she is not identified here as an accredited delegate. January 1 is a year-level sorting anchor. The Black communities tag reflects this dispute within the antislavery movement and Black abolitionist Charles Remond’s protest, not the identity of every delegate.
Sources
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, chapter 6, pp. 122; supplied print pages, edition/year unidentified
- National Park Service, A Great Inheritance: Abolitionist Practices in the Women’s Rights Movement, discussion of the 1840 convention and notes 66–67 ↗