Despite the involvement and support of influential men, Spiritualism remained primarily the work of women, and coincided with the first major feminist movement in the United States. As Ann Braude, author of Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Womenâ??s Rights in Nineteenth-Century America, argues, â??Spiritualism became a majorâ??if not the majorâ??vehicle for the spread of womenâ??s rights ideas in mid-century America.â? By focusing on direct, personal revelation, Spiritualism obviated the need for a hierarchical, patriarchal church, and as such drew political radicals to its cause, foremost among them womenâ??s rights advocates. â??Spiritualism,â? a believer named Mary Davis wrote in the 1850s, â??has inaugurated the era of women.â? In their History of Womenâ??s Suffrage, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony single out Spiritualism as â??The only religious sect in the worldâ?¦that has recognized the equality of woman.â?