Who was the principal author of the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments?

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the principal author of the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments.

Stanton drafted the Declaration of Sentiments for the Seneca Falls Convention in New York. The convention, held in July 1848, was the first women's rights convention organized by women in the United States. Stanton modeled the document's structure and language on the Declaration of Independence, adapting its complaint format to argue for women's civil, social, political, and religious rights.

Lucretia Mott was a major organizer and speaker at the convention, and Frederick Douglass supported the document and its resolutions. Stanton's authorship does not mean she worked alone: the convention's organizers debated the text, and attendees voted on its resolutions. The demand for women's voting rights was the most controversial of the resolutions adopted.

The document was signed by 100 people, including 68 women and 32 men. Stanton later became a leading figure in the broader women's suffrage movement. Susan B. Anthony, although closely associated with Stanton in later decades, did not attend the Seneca Falls Convention because she was not yet involved in the movement.