Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who went on to hold the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, was born in 1815 in Johnstown, New York. Her childhood simultaneously exposed her to prominent intellectual figures of the time, as well as exposed to her the limitations that society and laws imposed upon her and other women, including her father’s initial refusal to allow Stanton to attend college, since he believe that it would make it difficult for his daughter to conform to society’s expectations for women. This clip begins with a description of the severe limitations on women’s rights in the mid-19th century.

This video is part of a lesson plan titled "What Makes a Change-Maker?: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper."