but elizabeth cady stanton's legacy is more complicated than that might suggest. ne who wants to celebrate elizabeth cady stanton's contributions to the expansion of american liberty will enjoy my book. an ugly streak of elitism and racism runs through her writing and speaking becoming most apparent in the post civil war debate about black men's suffrage. these debates would still raise historians's hackles, complement the women's movement's victories in ways americans have not fully addressed. for feminist theorists they show the underside of a feminism based entirely, worship fully on individualism, which ignores the group and community interests that were also at stake. for all of us they challenge our best hopes that our heroes and heroines were always right and their admirable positions always outweigh or make revealed their failings. elizabeth cady stanton considered herself on the radical cutting edge of american society. the first to imagine women's rights and the first consistent supporter of their complete legal and political equality but ideas never emer