The Woman Suffrage Movement started from woman’s ongoing
struggle for Equality throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century. Women were denied equality almost completely.
They had little say in politics, education, work, and in their homes, and
therefore they began a strong movement that would continue to present day in
order to gain equality. The movement’s main goal was to attempt in
gaining equal rights, particularly the right to vote. Eventually the movement
led up to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment of the United States
Constitution.
In the
nineteenth century, women were excluded from most emerging professions.There
were only a few women who were actually doctors, lawyers, engineers, or even
managers of companies. Most of the women during this time period were educated,
as well as, black women. Black Women who were educated took teaching jobs. Even
if these women are educated, most people, men and women, believe that women are
not suited for the “public world.” During this time period, many technological
innovations made housework less onerous and because of this, women were looking
for activities outside of housework. This is what made women realize that they
did not have the same rights as men.
The Women
Suffrage Campaign started in 1848 at Seneca Falls Convention at Seneca Falls,
New York. Suffrage supporter’s main goal was to obtain the right to vote for
females and to try to educate the public about the importance of voting rights.
The Convention was organized by females who stepped up to take this important
role. They were Jane Hunt, Mary Ann McClintock, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, and Martha Wright. They were all motivated by the fact that they had
too little intellectual activities. Their goal at the convention was to gather
social, economic, and intellectual ideas and then brainstorm possible solutions
to the problems. During this convention, there were struggles that they had
faced. This was from differences in leadership roles, various strategies and
solutions, and shifting political environments. As time went one, membership
increased from 13,000 in 1893 to millions of people by 1910. At the end of this
convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, a key figure in the
movement, organized the National Women Suffrage Association. Another
organization, The National Woman’s Party, was under the control of Alice Paul.
This organization also was made to fight for women’s rights. This organization
is different from NWSA because it was more militant. This means that they
undertook radical actions.
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| This picture shows two women holding a sign that says "Votes For Women." These women look like they are part of a women suffrage organization. This is because they are dressed in "rich" clothes. |
Under the leadership
of Anthony, Stanton, and Paul, suffragists undertook radical actions.
Politicians were unwilling to listen to their views and their beliefs. Because
of this, the woman suffrage movement became a mass movement because they
believed that they needed to be heard. Suffragists targeted the Congress and
took part in actions that rebelled against the government. During the
presidential election, Anthony was thrown in jail for illegal voting when she
cast a ballot for Ulysses S. Grant. Suffragists were willing to break the law
to raise awareness. They used tactics, parades, silent vigils, and even hunger
strikes. This caused them to get their attention on media and granted them the
attention on media.
Cartooning
and social media were a big part for the women suffrage movement. Before this
time, cartooning was considered to be masculine, but was an entry to cartooning
for women. Cartoons were illustrated as both negative and positive. They
portrayed females in two different positive views. Women were advertised as
weak, victimized, and suffering from oppression, and therefore in need to vote
in order to get the protection she needs. Another positive way was that they
were shown as morally superior and as someone who would sweep corruption out of
the government and therefore deserved the right to vote in order to protect the
country. The visual imagery had a major impact across the country and reached
out to larger audiences and in fact changed some views about woman suffrage.
Anti-Suffragists also created propaganda and created negative stereotypes.
Their goal was to take an idea, object, or person and then create it to impose
a single form in which denies the variations of woman suffrage. This was a
challenge for suffragists because the stereotypes and illustrations that the
anti-suffragists created compelled viewers, which sent opposing messages.
The Women
Suffrage Movement was the largest single reform movement in American history
for the fight for women suffrage. Suffrage advocates believed that they had
“natural rights” like men do and that they deserve the same rights as men.
Along with the people fighting or women rights, there was also an
anti-suffragist movement. The Anti-Suffragists were mostly dominated by men but
there was support from women too. Most women who supported the anti-suffragists
were usually middle-class, conservative, and Protestant. They believed that
women suffrage was against the laws of nature for to women to seek rights and
believed that it would go against God’s will. They wanted women to feel proud
that they were bound to the affairs of home and family. They praised women for
their mental and emotional different to man, inferior to the public, but
superior at home. The Anti-Suffragist’s views were spread through media. In
July of 1908, The New York State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage
published their first issue “The Anti
Suffragist.” This newspaper’s goal was to present arguments against woman’s
suffrage and to show the views of woman who opposed woman suffrage. Even after
the nineteenth amendment had been passed in 1920, another news article, Woman Patriot, continued to publish
articles opposing the work of feminists and liberal woman groups.
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This is a picture of an organization that is opposed to women suffrage. Most of the people who were part of this organization were men. There were some women that took part in these organizations.
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Closer to
the ratification of the nineteenth amendment, states had been voting to grant
women the right to vote. In 1910, Washington had become the first state in
fourteen years to extend suffrage to women. California and four other states
had also allowed women to vote. The states on the west side of the country were
the first to allow women to vote. This is because there was an absence of large
Catholic communities in the west, but in the east, woman suffrage was a
cultural issue. In 1913, Illinois has become the first state of the east to
embrace suffrage. By 1919, thirty-nine states had granted women the right to
vote. And finally in 1920, women around the country had the right to vote. The
nineteenth amendment was a crucial step in the process by which the nation
extended political rights. When women gained the right to vote, voter
participation of men and women started to decline nationally.
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| This picture shows the success for women's rights after the election. The countries that have granted suffrage are in white. |
In
conclusion, The Nineteenth Amendment allowed women to begin
participating in the public sphere of the United States, but this participation
would not have occurred if it were not for the Women’s Movement of the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Both the National Women Suffrage
Association and the National Woman’s Party granted voting rights for women.
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