On July 9, 1848, five ladies gathered at the house of Jane and Richard Hunt in Waterloo, New York. That day, Jane Hunt was joined by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Martha Wright, and Mary Ann M'Clintock in arranging the first women's rights conference. The event was planned as a protest against the exclusion of women from the Buffalo Convention. The aim of the meeting was to draw up a petition to be delivered to the men who ran the government affairs. They believed that giving this petition to them would cause them to recognize the need for including women in the political process. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was chosen to give the opening address at the conference. She began by saying that they had come together because "our silence does not represent our opinions." Then she went on to explain that their goal was to get the right to vote. Before they could vote, they needed equal treatment in the constitution. The only way to achieve this was through male action. No woman should be denied any right simply because she is a woman. After Stanton spoke, other attendees gave speeches in support of women's rights. At the end of the day, the participants decided to continue their efforts by writing letters to politicians and newspaper editors. They hoped this letter writing campaign would help get them what they wanted: equality under the law.