Jane Addams's Why Women Should Vote

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Jane Addams was an upper class woman who thought it was her job to help others. Addams was an advocate of immigrants, the poor, women, and peace. In 1889, she created the Hull House, to help female immigrants become assimilated to the American lifestyle by helping them get a job, learn the language, and receive an education. It was no surprise that in 1915, Jane Addams wrote the life-changing article “Why Women Should Vote.” During the 1900’s, women were under the idea of the cult of domesticity. This meant that women’s place was in the home. They had jobs such as cooking, cleaning, and caring for the children. In the article “Why Women should Vote,” it is clear to see that Addams was biased and believed that women deserve the right to vote. She wrote an article saying why women should vote and why it was the responsibility of women to vote. Many women around the country felt oppressed. Different groups started to form as they fought for women’s rights. …show more content…

Addams makes a persuasive argument that a woman’s “old business” role of caring for her home and rearing her children has fundamentally changed as society had become more complicated and required a greater need for women to influence society outside their homes. Men who were anti-suffrage were powerful voices, but when women seemed uninvolved in this issue, it made it harder to make the claim that women should have the vote. During 1905, a lot of discussion about whether women should vote was based on polls. However, most women either didn 't consider it relevant to them or felt uncomfortable with openly opposing it. People argued, why should suffrage be granted, if women didn 't even want it for themselves? Addams’s was talking straight to the women during this time; she was trying to organize women and change their minds, not just men 's minds. She gave various situations, which had affected the community because of lack of participation of

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