Jason Warhurst

10/26/2015
History 1700

Document Assignment # 2
This first document was written by a well known writer of plays,
novels and poetry and her name is Judith Sargent Murray and she
posses the question in what the minds of females are so notoriously
deficient, or unequal This is during a time period when the United
States of America was recently formed and such topics were common
because it was a time when men ruled and the woman is subject to her
husband. With a nation so new, it is great for people like Judith to stand
up for what they think is right. That is what made this nation. Judith
does a great job at arguing that the only reason women would be
inferior is because they werent allowed the same educational rights
that men had. She also points out that form a young age women were
confined while the brother was led by the hand through the flowery
paths of science. She also does an excellent job at ending the piece, it
doesnt seem to be directed to any one person but to men in general.
The second document is a result of around fifty DemocraticRepublican societies being formed. The initial purpose is to defend the
freedom of speech. Apparently during this period there was a lot of
growth that occurred and with it, people began to question and criticize

the administration of George Washington. I think at the time it was still

considered treason to talk badly against the president. This document
challenges the thought of freedom of speech and what it really
includes. Freedom of thought and a free communication of opinions by
speech through the medium of the press, are the safeguards of our
liberties. How can our constitution recognize freedom of speech yet,
criticize those who use this so called freedom?
I think that these two documents work hand in hand. This first
document is Judith and she is using her freedom of speech to ask
questions that are thought provoking and that allow her to get her
point across. The second document argues the importance of the
freedom of speech and thought. Even though these different
documents are about different topics they can be used together.
Because there is a freedom of speech implemented in our country
Judith has the right to speak her mind about equal right for men and
women and is able to ask what makes man better than woman. For the
Democratic-Republican societies, even if they criticize the president
that is a good thing. That is one thing that was wanted during the
discussion of what should be included in the constitution. The forming
of the constitution took almost half a year and everyone included
wanted it to be as clear as possible.
I agree with both of these documents, The first one brought up
the equality of men and women which the constitution says that all

men are created equal, yes this was being used to knock King James
off of his high horse, but it still applies to every person. So Judith was
justified in arguing equal rights. Although I said that I agree with both
of these documents, the second one is debatable because during the
late 1700s the nation was just barely formed and having people
question what the president was doing could be bad, it could lead to a
civil war, which will happed but for different reasons. Yes, freedom of
speech is very important but for a nation so young it could be
devastating.