New Voices, New States

In 1848, about 300 people gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, for the first women's rights convention. Leaders such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony spent the rest of their lives fighting for women's right to vote.

One leader of the women's rights movement in the 1800s^Q99 was Harriet Tubman. Born into slavery in Maryland, she escaped in 1849 and returned again and again to lead others to freedom on the Underground Railroad. In her later years she spoke out for women's suffrage, linking the fight against slavery with the fight for women's equality.

Out west, gold was found in California in 1848, and the Gold Rush of 1849 brought people from around the world. California became a state in 1850. Sacramento, which boomed as the gateway to the gold fields, became California\'s capital in 1854.