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Essay on women's rights movement
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• The Women’s Suffrage movement in the United States began way back in the 1820’s and 1830’s. The feelings for women having the right to vote is famously exclaimed by Abigail Adams (John Adams’s wife during this time period). • Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott established the Seneca Falls Convention in New York in 1848. This conference was meant to promote American women having their own political identities. • “Initially, women reformers addressed social and institutional barriers that limited women’s rights. [These rights included] family responsibilities, a lack of educational and economic opportunities, and the absence of a voice in political debates”. • This convention was attended by mostly women but some men also attended this …show more content…
The results of Anthony and her posse were not successful unfortunately and only included African American men. • From 1848 to 1860, the women’s suffrage movement gained momentum but was pushed on the backburner when the civil war began in 1861. Susan B. Anthony, among other supporters of suffrage, helped African American men gain the right to vote. • From Source 2: “In 1869, this faction formed a group called the National Woman Suffrage Association and began to fight for a universal-suffrage amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” This association helped produce the American Woman Suffrage Association which helped create individual state laws for women to vote. • In the 1880’s, many women volunteered to be employed in the workforce in jobs that typically men held. This was the result of the conclusion of the Civil War in the south as well as in the north. • In the 1880’s, these women helped create the notion that women deserved to have the right to vote. The result of these meetings created the …show more content…
• Also in 1913, Alice Paul (a British Suffragette), helped organized the National Woman’s Party. Paul was a great influence on using more extreme measures to get a new national amendment. • While some women leaders were pacifists and some women leaders were not, this combination proved effective in Wilson’s administration. Both sides of the issue promoted the idea that women had a case for being able to vote. • In 1916, the NAWSA president Carrie Chapmann Catt helped create a “Winning Plan” to gain the constitutional amendment. This plan involved using passive strategies instead of the extreme measures. • However, a group within the NAWSA, tried more extreme measures to get the amendment to pass. These women spoke with President Wilson and participated in hunger strikes, protests, and other more extreme demonstrations. • World War I demonstrated the importance of women in our society. These women had to take all of the jobs that men held previously in order to make sure that the United States keeps functioning as a
Alice Paul was a Quaker who had strong views on women’s rights. However, she thought that the NAWSA and Carrie Chapman Catt’s plan was too conservative. She broke away from the association to form a more radical group, the National Women’s Party (NWP). The NWP pushed for a Constitutional Amendment at a federal level and focused on President Woodrow Wilson (Alice Paul 1885-1977). To raise support for the cause, Alice Paul conducted public events such as marches.
Before 1870 there were few bills passed to achieve much for the movement. One bill that was passed, which did not directly affect women in too many ways was one of the starting points of the campaign for the vote. This was the 1867 Reform Act. In 1832, the Great Reform Act was passed, this allowed most middle class men to vote, but not working class men. But, the 1867 Reform Act changed this. This Act lead to all men who had lived at the same address for 12 months to be able vote. This meant that many more working class men were able to vote in the General elections. After this Act, many women felt that if the majority of men, regardless of class, were able to vote, why should women not be able to vote as well.
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
The need for women’s rights began back in colonial America where women were referred to as “inferior beings”. This era, though it is not particularly noted for it’s feminist movements, did hold such people as Margaret Brent, who was a wealthy holder of land in Maryland and was a strong, but unsuccessful voice in securing a place for women in the legislature of the colony. It was also a period where Quakers, and many other individuals, such as famous American patriot, Thomas Paine supported the rights of women, but at the time it was not enough to make a significant difference and it wasn’t until the 19th century that women would get the real chance to make a difference.
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.
Moreover, Jane Addams supported ubiquitous women’s suffrage. Where some women disputed that only white women of the working class should have voting rights, Jane Addams articulated that during their times, not all women had the opportunity to work – some women simply had to stay home to protect their husbands and children and do the work around the house. She went on further to state that all women were needed to make sure that the streets and politics were as immaculate as possible. In fact, she voices that the mere fact that women needed to gain the right to vote is what “helped push women suffrage to victory” (Nash, 476). Additionally, Jane Addams firmly believes in peace rather than war.
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton introduced the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1862. This organization mainly focused on acquiring an amendment that allows women to vote, as well as creating campaigns for the vote. Stanton served as the president of the organization while Anthony started off as one of the members of the executive of the committee and eventually becoming the vice president. After The National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association combined together to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association, many had a different approach. The new generation of suffragists argued that women needed the same rights that men had because they are different from men and no longer arguing that women needed it because men and women were “created equally”. The American Woman Suffrage Association was also another organization formed during this time. Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and Josephine Ruffin came together to form this organization and its purpose was to obtain suffrage for black men with the 14th and 15th Amendments. They were also focused on winning women’s right state-by state.
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.
Suffrage leaders adopted new arguments to gain support, emphasizing the special moral and material instincts that women could bring to the table, rather than insisting solely on the justice of women's suffrage or equal rights. Thanks to these women who pushed boundaries and took leaps, they are now a significant part of America's government and how our country operates.
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 ...
Women were more active and allies were more numerous. On July 19, 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, The Seneca Falls Convention was organized and held by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. The convention marks the beginning of Women’s Suffrage. Drafted at the convention, the Declaration of Sentiments took shape. Following the structure of the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration of Sentiments called for women to be given equal rights as men, saying they have inalienable rights that if the government denies them, they have the right to not be allegiant to said government.
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.
Women’s suffrage unlike most believe didn’t start in the united states. The first country to grant national-level voting rights to women was the self-governing British colony of New Zealand, which passed the Electoral Bill in September 1893. The British colony of South Australia granted full suffrage in 1894, giving women the right to vote and to stand for parliament. Australia federated in 1901 and country-wide women’s suffrage followed quickly in 1902. The rest of the would follow suit years after in the 1920’s.
Beginning in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century women began to vocalize their opinions and desires for the right to vote. The Women’s Suffrage movement paved the way to the nineteenth Amendment in the United States Constitution that allowed women that right. The Women’s Suffrage movement started a movement for equal rights for women that has continued to propel equal opportunities for women throughout the country. The Women’s Liberation Movement has sparked better opportunities, demanded respect and pioneered the path for women entering in the workforce that was started by the right to vote and given momentum in the late 1950s.