Susan B. Anthony once stated, “There will never be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers.” (qtd. In edgar and Brennan Pg. 14) In America, men were considered superior to women. Some notable women fought for equal rights, and formed the National Woman's Suffrage Association (NWSA). The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified on February 3, 1870, this gave all “citizens” the right to vote, regardless of race, but did not specifically mention women. The Fifthteenth Amendment stated “The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The Women's Suffrage Movement ratified the rights …show more content…
They were ridiculed in public, and the media offered unkind opinions from so called “experts” about their femininity. Single women were especially targeted and thought to possess some odd flaw because society expected women of that era to be good wives and mothers, not activists. Women were expected to focus on housework and motherhood, not politics. Men had legal control over every aspect in the women's life, including any wages she might earn, any children she might have, and any property she might own. Men had greater access to education, employment, custody over children, and even over their wives’ bodies. Either their husbands, fathers, or brothers were considered their guardians. Women were excluded from political activities, but a few women entered the political arena as public figures. In the beginning of 1913 women could not vote, have credit cards in their own names, legally terminate a pregnancy, access emergency contraception, attend certain colleges, purchase birth control, and apply to graduate school as a married women. By the end of 1913 the role of women in American society was changing dramatically; women were working more, receiving a better education, bearing fewer children, and several states had authorized female …show more content…
There were two separate women suffrage groups: the first, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) under the leadership of Cassie Chapman Catt, it was a moderate organization, and was formed in November 1889. The second group, the National Woman's Party (NWP), under the leadership of Alice Paul, was a more militant organization, and was formed in May 1890. Susan B. Anthony, the leader of the women's suffrage for more than fifty years, was born on February 5, 1820. Susan was an American writer, lecturer, and abolitionist who was a leading figure in the women's voting rights movement. As the president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), she worked day and night for the passage of the laws, both at the state and federal level, which would grant American women their full rights as citizens. In 1852, Anthony attended a Sons of Temperance meeting in Albany, New York. During the meeting she got upset at a certain topic, and when she stood up to make a comment, she was told that women were not allowed to speak. Anthony left the meeting and created a new group, the Women's New York State Temperance Society. This groups main goal was to pass a separate constitutional amendment that would guarantee American women their right to vote. On August 26, 1920, more than 26 million women had their citizenship affirmed and gained a mechanism
(Nugent, p. 116) The amendment granted woman’s suffrage, and was the fruit of many years of labor of several women’s rights groups, such as the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and prominent women’s rights activists, such as Susan B. Anthony. The amendment expanded the bounds of popular democracy, bringing attention to women who felt increasingly ignored as participants in the political system (Piott, p. 166). Being the inalienable right of any citizen, the right to vote inevitably expanded the political freedom of American women, and also opened other doors of opportunity to them; they could advocate for more job opportunities, better economic security, and advantageous marital and family
The 15th Amendment was an law added to the United States Constitution in 1870 that gave citizens the right to vote no matter their race, skin color, or previous conditions of servitude. This specifically applied to African American males who, though technically were citizens under the 14th amendment, were still being oppressed and restricted from voting. According to Angela Davis in her text, while some feminist activists in the 19th century supported this amendment, others were adamantly opposed to it. These activists were both males and females and many of them had been or were distinguished figures in the abolitionist movement. Supporters argued that African American men had as much of a right as anyone to vote and shouldn 't be denied that right simply because women were, while antagonists argued that until women
Today, women and men have equal rights, however not long ago men believed women were lower than them. During the late eighteenth century, men expected women to stay at home and raise children. Women were given very few opportunities to expand their education past high school because colleges and universities would not accept females. This was a loss for women everywhere because it took away positions of power for them. It was even frowned upon if a woman showed interest in medicine or law because that was a man 's place not a woman’s, just like it was a man 's duty to vote and not a woman 's. The road to women 's right was long and hard, but many women helped push the right to vote, the one that was at the front of that group was Susan B. Anthony.
Women have had it rough throughout history. Their declining position in the world started during the Neolithic revolution, into Rome, and past the Renaissance. However, at the turn of the twentieth century, women began advocating for equality no matter their governmental situation. This promotion of women's rights is evident in communist nations during the twentieth century and their fight against hundreds of years of discrimination. It can be seen that women were brainwashed into believing that their rights were equal with the male population through the use of propaganda, yet this need for liberation continued despite government inadequacy at providing these simple rights. Women in communist countries struggled for rights in the twentieth
However in the mid 1800’s women began to fight for their rights, and in particular the right to vote. In July of 1848 the first women's rights conventions was held in Seneca Falls, New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was tasked with drawing up the Declaration of Sentiments a declaration that would define and guide the meeting. Soon after men and women signed the Declaration of Sentiments, this was the beginning of the fight for women’s rights. 1850 was the first annual National Women’s rights convention which continued to take place through to upcoming years and continued to grow each year eventually having a rate of 1000 people each convention. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were the two leaders of the Women’s Rights Movement, in 1869 they formed the National Woman suffrage Association with it’s primary goal being to achieve voting by Congressional Amendment to the Constitution. Going ahead a few years, in 1872 Susan B. Anthony was arrested for voting in the nation election, nevertheless, she continued to fight for women’s rights the rest of her life. It wouldn’t be until 1920 till the 19th amendment would be
Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Stanton was the first lady ever to hold a Women’s Convention, that lasted two days. The outcome of this convention still lives on to this day; women still are fighting for equal rights. As for Anthony, she very much believed that women deserved to have the right to vote. So much that she was arrested in New York for casting a ballot against the law, along with 15 other women in November of 1872. On June 17 of 1873, Susan B. Anthony is arrested for breaking the law by illegally voting, and is convicted. Shes told to pay a fine of $100, but never does. She believed so strongly that women deserved the same rights as everyone else. These two women together founded the “National Woman’s Suffrage Association” in May of 1869; they were attempting to “achieve the vote through a Congressional amendment, while also addressing other women 's rights issues”. (Scholastic). This amazing association held many meetings and conventions throughout its years. its last convention was held six months before the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, was finally ratified on August 18,
On August 18, 1920 the nineteenth amendment was fully ratified. It was now legal for women to vote on Election Day in the United States. When Election Day came around in 1920 women across the nation filled the voting booths. They finally had a chance to vote for what they thought was best. Not only did they get the right to vote but they also got many other social and economic rights. They were more highly thought of. Some people may still have not agreed with this but they couldn’t do anything about it now. Now that they had the right to vote women did not rush into anything they took their time of the right they had.
In 1869, Susan B. Anthony, a woman suffragist and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the NWSA or the National
A women suffrage amendment was brought to the U.S. Congress in 1868 but failed to win support as well as a second amendment in 1878. In 1869 a woman named Elizabeth Cady Stanton got together with Susan B. Anthony, a women’s rights activist, and organized an association called the National Woman Suffrage Association. With this union they would gather with women and fight for women’s suffrage. Later, in 1890 they joined with their competitor the American Women Suffrage Association and became the National American Women Suffrage Association. “NAWSA adopted a moderate approach to female suffrage, eschewing some of the more radical feminism of other women’s rights groups in favor of a national plan designed to gain widespread support” (3). What the association did was they changed their initial tactic towards suffrage for women so that they can be able to obtain support from all over. Having little to no movement on the national front, suffragists took the next step to sate level. That was when Eastern states granted women suffrage, but hadn’t spread to Western states.
Women were getting tired of not having the same rights as men, so they wanted to make a move to change this. Women got so tired of staying at home while the men worked. Women wanted to get an education. So they fought for their freedom. Abigail Adams said to her husband, “in the new code of laws, remember the ladies and do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands.” John’s reply was, “I cannot but laugh. Depend upon it, we know better than to repeal our masculine systems.” These were said in 1776. The women’s suffrage actually began in 1848, which was the first women’s rights convention which was held in Seneca Falls, New York. Prominent leaders began campaigning for the right to vote at State and federal levels. Susan B. Anthony was the leader for getting women their rights in the United States. Susan B. Anthony voted in Rochester, NY for the presidential election. This occurred in 1872. She was, “arrested, tried, convicted, and fined $100.” She refused to pay the fine. Supporters of The Equal Rights Amendment would march, rally, petition, and go on hunger strikes.
Nonetheless, this reform of women did not halt to the rejection, nor did they act in fear. The CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION states: “One of the main leaders of the women’s suffrage movement was Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906). Brought up in a Quaker family, she was raised to be independent and think for herself. She joined the abolitionist movement to end slavery. Through her abolitionist efforts, she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1851. Anthony had not attended the Seneca Falls Convention, but she quickly joined with Stanton to lead the fight for women’s suffrage in the United
It was Theodore Roosevelt, who stated that, “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care”, conveying the idea that with no voice comes no change. In the morning of August 26, 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified, which centralized mainly on the enfranchisement of women. Today, they have the legal right to vote, and the ability to speak openly for themselves, but most of all they are now free and equal citizens. However this victorious triumph in American history would not have been achieved without the strong voices of determined women, risking their lives to show the world how much they truly cared. Women suffragists in the 19th century had a strong passion to change their lifestyle, their jobs around the nineteenth century were limited to just children, family, and domestic duties. It consisted of a very low rate of education, and job opportunities. They could not share their opinion publicly and were expected to support their male family members and husbands during the time. Women knew that the way to enfranchisement was going to be tenacious, and full of obstacles along the way. Therefore a new organization was formed, The National American Women Association (NAWSA), representing millions of women and Elizabeth Cady Stanton as the first party president. This organization was founded in 1890, which strategized on the women getting education in order to strengthen their knowledge to prepare for the suffrage fight. NAWSA mainly focused on the right to vote one state at a time. In 1917, a member named Alice Paul, split apart from NAWSA because of the organization’s tactics and major goals. Due to this split, many other suffragists from NAWSA bitterly divided into a new organization named, National Women’s ...
Through the 20th century, the communist movement advocated greatly for women's’ rights. Despite this, women still struggled for equality.
In 1869, two organizations for the promotion of women’s suffrage were founded with different opinions on how to reach the same goal. The National Women’s Suffrage Association (NWSA) was headed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. This group opposed the 15th amendment, while suggesting the passage and ratification of another, new amendment, specifically granting women the right to vote. This was considered a more radical view on the matter, and promoted a wide variety of other feminist views as well. The other organization, called the American Women’s Suffrage Association (AWSA), supported the 15th amendment, while calling for yet another amendment for women’s enfranchisement. This organization was more focused on trying to make this and other feminist reforms seem less radical, and more in tune with the values of the American people. After the negative response to the proposal of a new federal amendment, both groups tried new approaches, such as challenging the constitutionality of their exclusion from the vote in the supreme court, only to be rejected again.
The entire Women’s Movement in the United States has been quite extensive. It can be traced back to 1848, when the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. After two days of discussions, 100 men and women signed the Declaration of Sentiments. Drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, this document called for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women. This gathering set the agenda for the rest of the Women’s Movement long ago (Imbornoni). Over the next 100 years, many women played a part in supporting equal treatment for women, most notably leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which allowed women the right to vote.