Part of a special issue on preaching in 19th-century America. The writer argues that the pulpit and its wider ecclesiastical context figured prominently in the earliest calls for women's rights. The woman's rights movement mimicked the organizational and rhetorical style of the antislavery movement and similarly had deep roots in theological values and ecclesiastical structures. It was the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls that held the first convention to discuss woman's rights, and subsequent gatherings of women found shelter in churches when other meeting places turned them away. At a deeper level, the rhetoric of the movement for woman's rights was replete with theological language and ecclesiastical concerns. There is also evidence of the prominent role of church leaders who supported this cause by participating in conventions, contributing to publications, and even advocating the idea of female social and political equality from their pulpits.
