Votes for Women

The Campaign for Woman Suffrage, 1848-1919

Seneca Falls Convention, 1848

• Women’s suffrage movement in U.S. dates from 1848 Women’s Rights Convention held at Seneca Falls, New York – Suffrage movement had its roots in the 19th century

reform movements for abolition, temperance, and women’s rights

• Conference called by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott– 300 women and men, including Frederick Douglass,

attended the convention

Declaration of Sentiments

• At the Seneca Falls Convention, Cady Stanton issued the Declaration of Sentiments, which called for: – Legal equality for women– Rights to property and wages– Access to education– Right to Vote

Conflict in the Suffrage Movement

• Most advocates of Woman Suffrage had been abolitionists, but debate over ratification of 14th and 15th Amendments created divisions

• 14th Amendment (1868)– placed word “male” in constitution for the first time– equated the rights of citizenship with being male

• 15th Amendment (1870)– “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall

not be denied…on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.”

American Woman Suffrage Association

• Founded in 1868

• Led by Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell– Accepted men as members and leaders

• based in New England

• supported 14th and 15th amendments

• wanted states to enfranchise women– Advocated a “grass roots” approach to suffrage

• accepted partial suffrage

• Women’s Journal

National Woman Suffrage Association • Founded in 1869• Led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

– all female leadership• New York based• Opposed 15th Amendment• Wanted a 16th Amendment providing for woman suffrage

– Wanted federal government, not state governments to guarantee woman suffrage

• Opposed partial suffrage• Top-down strategy—Direct action

– Petition Congress– Challenge laws in the courts

• Revolution

Stanton and Anthony

                    

     

                    

    

Victories in the Western States

• In 1869, Wyoming became the first U.S. territory to allow women to vote– enfranchised women in1890 state constitution

• Utah enfranchised women in 1870 to outvote non-Mormon settlers

• By 1896, women could vote in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Idaho

National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) • Schism in movement healed in 1890 when

NWSA and AWSA merged into NAWSA

• NAWSA led first by Cady Stanton (until 1892) and then by Anthony (until 1900).

• Despite the merger, the suffrage movement stalled around the turn of the century– Still a minority movement

“Antis” • Associations opposed to woman suffrage began to

appear in the 1890s• “Antis” saw woman suffrage as an attack on

traditional sex roles and social organization• Antis made two contradictory arguments against

woman suffrage– Asserted that women were virtually represented by

their male family members• Therefore, they didn’t need the vote

– But also argued that women, if given the vote, would vote against husbands

• This would destroy homes and families, and bring social chaos

New Leaders and Tactics

• Under Carrie Chapman Catt (pres. 1900-04, 1915-20) and Anna Howard Shaw (pres. 1904-1915), NAWSA had woman suffrage referenda passed in California in 1910 and three more states in 1912

• By 1914, Oregon, Arizona, Kansas, Nevada, and Montana all had granted women the vote

Two More Bright Spots on the Map, 1914

March on Washington, 1913

• Day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration NAWSA held a parade down Pennsylvania Ave to raise support for a woman suffrage amendment.

• The 5,000 marchers were attacked during as police refused to protect them

                   

     

National Women’s Party

• Failure to get a federal amendment caused another split in the movement

• Alice Paul led a radical faction out of the NAWSA in 1913

• founded the Congressional Union to agitate for the federal amendment.

• In 1916, Congressional Union became the the National Women’s Party

Alice Paul

• Influenced by the British suffragettes such as Emmeline Pankhurst, Paul turned to more radical methods to agitate for a woman suffrage amendment.

                   

     

Picketing the White House, 1917

Winning Plan

• NAWSA opposed to Paul’s tactics– Saw demonstrations and protests as damaging to the

movement• Catt developed the Winning Plan, which called for the

NAWSA to continue to organize state by state and also work for a federal amendment

• In 1917, President Wilson urged Congress to pass a woman suffrage amendment

• The “Anthony Amendment” passed the House in 1918, the Senate in 1919, and was ratified by the 36th state, Tennessee, in August 1920.