The Woman Suffrage Movement
Background Information
The supporters of the woman suffrage movement were called "suffragettes" or "suffragists", and are an inclusive group. Most positions of power were outside of the family was only available to men that owned property. The American Revolution led to some citizen participation, but female taxpayers could only vote in some areas and early women reformers didn't focus on women's suffrage. For example, at the Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton shocked her colleagues when they were asked to vote on a resolution for women's suffrage.
The Beginning
After the Civil War, many efforts were made by women but were unappreciated. Elizabeth Cady Stanton,Susan B. Anthony and others were not discouraged, and believed suffrage was their most important goal. Many people were disappointed by proposed Fifteenth Amendment that granted African American men to vote. Anthony and Stanton thought that the amendment barely expanded male suffrage, and urged male allies to withdraw their support unless the amendment included women. Stanton also prepared a petition requesting an amendment to Constitution to prohibit states "from disenfranchising nay of their citizens on the ground of sex." However,most of the male abolitionists were surprised and resentful, and did not sign the petition.
Because of the Fifteenth Amendment issue, suffragists split and formed two different organizations in the years of 1869 and 1870: the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) who opposed the Fifteenth Amendment and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) who supported the Fifteenth Amendment which was led by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, Henry Ward Beecher, and more. Critics viewed the female-run NWSA more radical than the AWSA. Anthony affirmed the view when she tried to vote in 1872, and was arrested, found guilty, and fined. Other suffragists also brought the issue of suffrage into courts but the U.S. Supreme Court closed the matter when ruled in 1875 that U.S. citizenship did not automatically grant the right to vote.
Progression
In 1877, the NWSA resolved to collect signatures for another petition to support a woman suffrage amendment. Even though Anthony collected 10,000 signatures from 26 states, the senate laughed when presented to them. Three years later the movement gained a little more respectability when Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) approved of woman suffrage. However, suffragists attracted new rivals in the liquor industry, who viewed the WCTU as a threat. The NWSA and AWSA united as National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in hope that the combined force would make the idea of a constitutional amendment bloom, led by Stanton, Anthony and Stone. The organization worked on getting more support from states and avoiding radical issues. However, problems arose when some white suffragists used racist rhetoric to upset the South. Despite the problems, African American women like Ida Wells-Barrett and Mary Church Terrell inspired by former slave and women's rights advocate Sojourner Truth maintained support for women's rights.
For the next twenty years, NAWSA wanted to higher its numbers in members to shed its radical image. Presidents like Carrie Chapman Catt reached out to educated, socially conspicuous women and younger suffragists by leading outdoor meetings and parades, but these ideas didn't convince the states to approve of women's suffrage. Preceding to World War I, activists like Alice Paul brought her experiences with militant suffragists in England to United States. Her leadership along with increased support inspired a lot of suffragists to focus only on approving a woman suffrage amendment. Catt and NAWSA continued to urge the states to give the right to vote to women. In contrast to Paul, the NAWSA supported Woodrow Wilson, whom many protested to have him as president, and his war effort, which helped to convince Catt to support a national amendment.
Goal Accomplished
In 1919, the Congress approved the amendment that would guarantee women the right to vote, (the same language was written by Anthony four years earlier), and was submitted to the states. In the summer of 1920, the votes of thirty-five out of thirty-six states were needed for ratification of the amendment. Suffragists and anti suffragists gathered in Tennessee to influence their legislature. The amendment was approved by one vote, and was called the Nineteenth Amendment, and was added to the Constitution on August 26, 1920.
Other Challenges
The last challenge to women's rights was defeated when the Supreme Court upheld the amendment in Leser v. Gamett in 1922.
The supporters of the woman suffrage movement were called "suffragettes" or "suffragists", and are an inclusive group. Most positions of power were outside of the family was only available to men that owned property. The American Revolution led to some citizen participation, but female taxpayers could only vote in some areas and early women reformers didn't focus on women's suffrage. For example, at the Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton shocked her colleagues when they were asked to vote on a resolution for women's suffrage.
The Beginning
After the Civil War, many efforts were made by women but were unappreciated. Elizabeth Cady Stanton,Susan B. Anthony and others were not discouraged, and believed suffrage was their most important goal. Many people were disappointed by proposed Fifteenth Amendment that granted African American men to vote. Anthony and Stanton thought that the amendment barely expanded male suffrage, and urged male allies to withdraw their support unless the amendment included women. Stanton also prepared a petition requesting an amendment to Constitution to prohibit states "from disenfranchising nay of their citizens on the ground of sex." However,most of the male abolitionists were surprised and resentful, and did not sign the petition.
Because of the Fifteenth Amendment issue, suffragists split and formed two different organizations in the years of 1869 and 1870: the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) who opposed the Fifteenth Amendment and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) who supported the Fifteenth Amendment which was led by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, Henry Ward Beecher, and more. Critics viewed the female-run NWSA more radical than the AWSA. Anthony affirmed the view when she tried to vote in 1872, and was arrested, found guilty, and fined. Other suffragists also brought the issue of suffrage into courts but the U.S. Supreme Court closed the matter when ruled in 1875 that U.S. citizenship did not automatically grant the right to vote.
Progression
In 1877, the NWSA resolved to collect signatures for another petition to support a woman suffrage amendment. Even though Anthony collected 10,000 signatures from 26 states, the senate laughed when presented to them. Three years later the movement gained a little more respectability when Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) approved of woman suffrage. However, suffragists attracted new rivals in the liquor industry, who viewed the WCTU as a threat. The NWSA and AWSA united as National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in hope that the combined force would make the idea of a constitutional amendment bloom, led by Stanton, Anthony and Stone. The organization worked on getting more support from states and avoiding radical issues. However, problems arose when some white suffragists used racist rhetoric to upset the South. Despite the problems, African American women like Ida Wells-Barrett and Mary Church Terrell inspired by former slave and women's rights advocate Sojourner Truth maintained support for women's rights.
For the next twenty years, NAWSA wanted to higher its numbers in members to shed its radical image. Presidents like Carrie Chapman Catt reached out to educated, socially conspicuous women and younger suffragists by leading outdoor meetings and parades, but these ideas didn't convince the states to approve of women's suffrage. Preceding to World War I, activists like Alice Paul brought her experiences with militant suffragists in England to United States. Her leadership along with increased support inspired a lot of suffragists to focus only on approving a woman suffrage amendment. Catt and NAWSA continued to urge the states to give the right to vote to women. In contrast to Paul, the NAWSA supported Woodrow Wilson, whom many protested to have him as president, and his war effort, which helped to convince Catt to support a national amendment.
Goal Accomplished
In 1919, the Congress approved the amendment that would guarantee women the right to vote, (the same language was written by Anthony four years earlier), and was submitted to the states. In the summer of 1920, the votes of thirty-five out of thirty-six states were needed for ratification of the amendment. Suffragists and anti suffragists gathered in Tennessee to influence their legislature. The amendment was approved by one vote, and was called the Nineteenth Amendment, and was added to the Constitution on August 26, 1920.
Other Challenges
The last challenge to women's rights was defeated when the Supreme Court upheld the amendment in Leser v. Gamett in 1922.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
Stanton is seated and Anthony is standing.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress. Modifications ©2003 Jone Johnson Lewis. Licensed to About.com.
Stanton is seated and Anthony is standing.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress. Modifications ©2003 Jone Johnson Lewis. Licensed to About.com.