6. The securing of the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
All of these six points concern and interest women as much as men. Supplementary to this is the “Declaration of Independence.” Here are stated as self-evident truths:
1. “That all men are created equal,”
2. “That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,”
3. “That to secure [not to grant] these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
On this last passage the Americans comment with especial emphasis: they say the right to vote is their right as human beings,—they possess it as a natural right; the government cannot justly take it from them, cannot even grant it to them justly. So long as the government does not ask the women for their consent, it is acting illegally according to the Declaration of Independence. For it is nowhere stated that the consent of one half, the male half, will suffice to make a government legal.
On the basis of this declaration of principles the American women have made it a point to oppose every individual argument against woman’s suffrage. For this purpose they frequently use small four-page pamphlets, which are issued as the “Political Equality Series” by the American Woman’s Suffrage Association. They say “It is generally held that:
1. “Every woman is married, loved, and provided for.
2. “Every man stays at home every evening.
3. “Every woman has small children.