American Suffrage Movement
Seneca Falls Convention
The suffrage movement in America began in the mid-nineteenth century.
|
"Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled"
|
The American Equal Rights Association
The American Equal Rights Association was a short-lived organization founded in 1866 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Susan B. Anthony. The organization's goal was to "secure equal rights to all American citizens, especially the right of suffrage, irrespective of race, color, or sex." Members were divided over a 15th amendment that granted suffrage to African-American men, but not to women. More radical members refused to support it because women were not included, but others felt that African-Americans gaining the vote would eventually lead to women gaining the vote. When leaders of the organization refused to support a sixteenth amendment giving women the right to vote, Stanton and Anthony left and the organization died down and officially disbanded in 1869.
National Woman Suffrage Association & American Woman Suffrage Association
National American Woman Suffrage Association
In 1890, the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Organization united to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as their first president. The association served as a parent organization to hundreds of suffrage organizations that worked on a local level. They organized suffrage parades and held annual conventions in which women's rights issues were discussed. Their goal was to push for the enfranchisement of women in enough individual states that would force congress to grant women's suffrage on a federal level. This strategy worked. In 1919, more than 30 state legislatures were petitioning congress on behalf of women's suffrage and the 19th Amendment was passed. The amendment was ratified in 1920, giving women equal voting rights as men. The NAWSA disbanded soon afterwards.
The Equality League of Self Supporting Women / Women's Political Union
The Equality League of Self Supporting Women was founded in 1907 by Harriot Stanton Blatch (daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton). She found the NAWSA too conservative and wrapped up in internal affairs to be truly effective. The league enrolled thousands of working women who were never previously interested in participating in the suffrage movement. The league organized many public demonstrations, including a huge march down Fifth Avenue in New York City in 1910. In 1910, the league's name was changed to the Women's Political Union, and in 1916 it merged with the Congressional Union under Alice Paul.
National Woman's Party
- The National Woman's Party was formed under the leadership of Alice Paul when the Women's Political Union and the Congressional Union merged together.
- The NWP targeted the White House and Congress through attention gaining, nonviolent protests. Women were frequently attacked and arrested at marches and pickets. In prison, the protesters would undergo hunger strikes. All of this gained the movement a lot of publicity in newspapers, which created enormous amounts of public support.
- Two years after women gained the right to vote, Alice Paul reorganized the National Woman's Party with the goal of ending all discrimination against women.
- The National Woman's Party is still functioning today, but now seeks to educate people about women's rights.
Gaining Their Rights
On August 26, 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment officially became a part of the US Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote. The amendment stated, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex."
|
The Ladies of the American Suffrage Movement
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) & Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906)
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born on November 12, 1815. Even as a young adult, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was drawn to the abolitionist, temperance, and women's rights movements. In 1840 she married her husband, Henry Stanton, who was also a reformer. In 1848 alongside Lucretia Mott, she led the Seneca Falls Convention, from which the Declaration of Sentiments was made. When the NWSA merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association, Stanton served as president of the new organization for two years. She passed away on October 26, 1902.
- Susan B. Anthony was born on February 15, 1820. She worked as a teacher until 1849. She soon became involved in the temperance and abolitionist movements. She frequently traveled, speaking to groups of people and spreading the ideas of the suffrage movement. She was nicknamed "the movement's Napoleon". In 1872 alongside a group of women, she cast her vote in an election in Rochester and was soon arrested for violating federal law. She served as the president of the NAWSA from 1892 until 1900. She passed away on March 13, 1906
- Most of these women's contributions to the suffrage movement were made together. They met in 1851 through their work in the temperance movement. During the Civil War they put aside the women's rights movement to focus on the abolishment of slavery. In 1866 Anthony and Stanton both helped to found the American Equal Rights Association. In 1868 they began to write the Revolution, a militant weekly paper promoting women's rights. The following year, they left the AERA and formed the National Woman Suffrage Association and Stanton served as the organization's president. She worked with Anthony to chronicle the history of the suffrage movement.
Lucy Stone was born on August 13, 1818. She attended college against her parents' wishes and became the first women in Massachusetts to earn a bachelor's degree. She began her public speaking career with the American Anti-Slavery Society. In 1850 Stone organized the first Women's Rights Convention held in Worcester, MA. Her speech from the convention was printed in newspapers nationwide. She was one of the founders of the American Equal Rights Association in 1866. From the remains of the AERA, she founded the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. This organization continued to support both African American's and women's rights and focused on making change at the state level. She viewed Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony as rivals, but in the best interests of the suffrage movement, she allowed her American Woman Suffrage Association to merge with Stanton and Anthony's National Woman Suffrage Association in 1890 and became a chair of the new organization's committee. She passed away on October 18, 1893.
Carrie Chapman Catt was born on January 9, 1859. She graduated from Iowa State University at the top of her class as the only woman in her graduating class. In 1883 she became one of the first women appointed superintendent of schools in the country. From 1900 to 1902 she worked as the Iowa Woman Suffrage Organization's state organizer. In 1890 she joined the NAWSA and spoke at its annual convention. She succeeded Susan B Anthony as the president of the NAWSA in 1900 at the request of Anthony herself and resigned in 1904. In 1902 she founded the International Woman Suffrage Alliance which promoted equal suffrage rights worldwide. She became president of the NAWSA once more in 1915. In 1916 she revealed her "Winning Plan" to the NAWSA to campaign at the state and federal levels simultaneously. Under her leadership, the NAWSA won the support of the US House and Senate. She passed away on March 9, 1947.
Alice Paul was born on January 11, 1885. She was studying in England when she became interested in the actions of Emmeline Pankhurst and other suffragettes. Alice Paul began to participate in the movement, attending meetings and demonstrations that led to multiple arrests. She returned to the United States and in 1912 completed her Ph.D. in Economics with the University of Pennsylvania. After the deaths of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the American suffrage movement was at a lull. While most organizations at the time focused on suffrage at the state level, Alice Paul believe that they needed to focus on the passage of an amendment to the US Constitution granting women suffrage. She joined the NAWSA in 1912 and became a part of its congressional committee. She then created the Congressional Union for Women's Suffrage, but was seen as too extreme, so she left the NAWSA in 1914. In 1916 the Congressional Union merged with the Women's Political Union to form the National Woman's Party under her leadership. In 1923 she wrote the Equality Rights Amendment which reads, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States on account of sex." This amendment was finally passed in 1972, but three states still have not ratified it. She passed away on July 9, 1977.