Biography of: Lucretia
Mott
Author: Lindsay Inman
Timeline
Leadership Style
Political Philosophy
Timeline
- Jan.3, 1793 Lucretia Coffin is born in Nantucket, Massachusetts
- 1811 Lucretia marries James Mott
- 1821 Mott becomes a Quaker minister in the Society of Friends
- 1833 Mott attended the founding meeting of the American Anti- Slavery Society (AASA)
- 1834 Mott helped start the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society and draft its constitution
- 1838 Mott became a member of the Non-Resistance Society
- 1840 Mott attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, England. Beginning of the Women's Rights Movement
- 1848 Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the first women's rights convention in the United States at Seneca Falls, New York. Mott spoke for both the abolition of slavery and women's rights
- Dec. 17, 1849 Mott delivers her "Discourse on Women" in Philadelphia
- 1850 Mott's book, "Discourse on Women" is published and discusses the educational, economic, and political restrictions on women in Western Europe and America. Mott attended the first national women's rights convention at Worchester, Massachusetts
- 1853 Mott attended the World's Temperance Convention in New York City. She emphasized that the "great reformatory movements" of peace, temperance, liberty, and woman's rights were "in accordance with each other."
- 1865 Slavery is abolished so Mott began to support the rights of black Americans to vote
- Jan. 26, 1868 Death of Lucretia's husband, James Mott
- Nov. 11, 1880 Death of Lucretia Mott
Leadership Style
Lucretia Mott was a leading figure in nineteenth century America. She is known as a "radical reformer, gentle nonresistant, and a militant advocate of woman's rights" because throughout the course of her life she influenced the current thought of America from a nation of "small shopkeepers and farmers into the Industrial Age" (Bacon 6). Leaders of social movements must possess certain qualities in order to gain the position as a leader and to maintain the position as not only a leader, but a good and powerful leader. Lucretia Mott not only possessed the characteristics required for a good leader, but also possessed many other qualities that helped her become such a powerful force for behind Women's Rights.
Lucretia Mott can be characterized as a democratic leader of the Women's Rights Movement. A democratic leader shares the power with one or more people and works well for the social movement in order to keep its followers happy. This type of leadership worked very well for the Women's Rights Movement because women had more than just one person to listen to and to motivate them. Lucretia Mott shared the power of the Women's Rights Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (www.binghampton.edu 1). Mott, Stanton, and Anthony are responsible for the beginning of the Women's Rights Movement and are responsible for keeping it going.
Most leaders must possess good organizational skills so they can motivate their followers and get them to do things for the movement. Organized leaders do not simply delegate duties, but are responsible for helping create new ideas and tactics while instilling confidence in their followers. Mott was a very organized leader. She helped start the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society in which she held the position of corresponding clerk and she helped draft the Society's constitution (Bacon 59). The beginning of the Women's Rights Movement is dated 1840, when Mott and the other women delegates at the London Anti-Slavery Convention were refused a seat. It was at this point in time when Mott began to work for women's rights (www2.lucidcafe.com 1). Another event that Mott founded with the help of Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the first women's rights convention in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York (Cromwell 130).
Mott also possesses the characteristics of charisma and pragmatism. Several times throughout Mott's life she was referred to as the "moving spirit" of the Women's Rights Movement, especially with the first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY (www.binghampton.edu 3). Mott was very charismatic and passionate in her efforts to establish women as equals in society. Mott was also very pragmatic because she was efficient and organized in her methods of achieving women's rights. She, along with Stanton and Anthony, organized and founded several different groups and conventions. Not only did she help create these groups or conventions, she was also a prominent speaker at all of their meetings.
Political Philosophy
Lucretia Mott's political philosophy falls under Radicalism on Rossiter's Political Spectrum. Radicalism is "dissatisfied with the existing order, committed to a blueprint for thoroughgoing change, and thus willing to initiate reform, but in a patient and peaceful manner" (Stewart 225). Mott has a radical political philosophy because she wants to see change in society. She wants to see women's rights be acknowledged which would allow women to vote and voice their opinion on political issues. Mott's arguments fall between the categories of insurgent and innovative. Insurgent arguments focus on the corrupt and exploitative nature of social norms, values, and institutions while innovational arguments show dissatisfaction with the existing order and a preference for experimental change (Stewart 228-231).
Mott had a reformist philosophy and "challenged irrationality in every form, be it exemplified in custom, institutional stupidity, or superstition, and called for a re-evaluation of society based on principles of truth and righteousness (Greene 2). Mott also believed that the institution was the object of reform, not the individual (Greene 11).
Some examples of a combination of insurgent and innovational arguments can best be seen in Mott's speech "Discourse on Women," which she delivered in Philadelphia on December 17, 1849. One statement Mott makes that shows her belief that women should be equal to men in society is:
I would therefore urge, that woman be placed in such a situation in society, by yielding of her rights, and have such opportunities for growth and development, as shall raise her from this low, enervated and paralysed condition, to full appreciation of the blessing of entire freedom of mind (Greene 156).
This is not a statement of violence or resistance, but it does state that women should have the same rights as men and the same opportunities as men in society. Throughout her speech Mott makes several strong statements on the importance of women's rights and equality such as, "Far be it from me to encourage woman to vote, or to take an active part in politics, in the present state of our government. Her right to the elective franchise, however, is the same, and should be yielded to her, whether she exercises that right or not" (Greene 156).
Throughout her "Discourse on Women" Mott strongly states her position over and over again that women should be allowed the same privileges and rights as men. Her arguments can be seen as somewhat insurgent because she believes the institution, or established order, needs to be changed in order for women to fully gain their equality to men. She believes that the church and state are two institutions that definitely need to change because they have condoned, even supported, many forms of injustice (Greene 11). I think one of the most powerful parts of Mott's speech for women's rights is:
Let woman then go on- not asking as favor, but claiming as right, the removal of all the hindrances to her elevation in the scale of being- let her receive encouragement for the proper cultivation of all her powers, so that she may enter profitability into the active business of life; employing her own hands, in ministering to her necessities, strengthening her physical being by proper exercise…I would charge you to water to undying bud, and give it healthy culture, and open its beauty to the sun- and then you may hope, that when your life is bound up with another, you will go on equally, and in fellowship that shall pervade every earthly interest" (Greene 161-62).
Mott was a very powerful leader and speaker for the Women's Rights Movements. Although, fellow leaders, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, often overshadow her, Mott still had a remarkable influence in American society and on the establishment of women's rights and equality. Mott did not wish to change society through violent actions, but she did see the institutions of church and state as corrupt and needed to be changed.
Works Cited
- Bacon, Margaret Hope. Valiant Friend. New York: Walker and Company, 1980.
- Cromwell, Otella. Lucretia Mott. New York: Russell and Russell, 1958.
- Greene, Dana. Lucretia Mott: Her Complete Speeches and Sermons. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1980.
- Stewart, Charles J., Craig A. Smith, and Robert E. Denton, Jr. Persuasion and Social Movements. Illinois: Waveland Press, 1994.
- www.binghampton.edu
- www2.lucidcafe.com
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