Women’s suffrage was a huge controversy in the 1920s. Many women wanted the right to vote and their voice to be heard. This was the time where the flappers were in action. Women were loud, bold, and daring. All they needed was equal rights; they wanted equal pay, and mainly voting rights. During this time, President Wilson was in office. Wilson won the presidential election due to his view on women’s suffrage; he was completely against it. ("President Woodrow Wilson Picketed by women Suffragists.") On the other hand, his opponent, Roosevelt, supported women’s Suffrage. Throughout his time, his office, his view changed ("President Woodrow Wilson Picketed by Women Suffragists."). Wilson’s view on women’s suffrage changed dramatically but positively throughout his time. There were four main reasons why this occurred. First, The women suffragists paraded with large events that would move the president’s view. They picketed outside the White house. (Goldstein, Leslie F.) Also, many suffragists like Alice Paul would go as far as hunger strikes to prove that women’s voting is extremely important. Lastly, they influenced the men in their family. The parade of 1913, picketing, hunger strikes, and women’s affect on men in congress influenced the President’s change in opinion for a positive acceptance of women’s suffrage, passing the 19th Amendment.
On March 3, 1913, the Parade of 1913 took place on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. (Harvey, Sheridan). Women from all over gathered in Washington to take part in this large event. Alice Paul, who was strongly involved in the suffrage movement, organized the event. The parade was comprised of twenty floats, four mounted brigades, nine bands and a performance at the end of the parade (Har...
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... IN JAIL HOSPITAL Threatens to Starve to Death Unless Better Food Is Provided for Six Companions. - View Article - NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 07 Nov. 1917. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A04E7D9123FE433A25754C0A9679D946696D6CF
6) Simkin, John. "Men's League for Women's Suffrage." Men's League for Women's Suffrage. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wmen.htm
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These events were often talked about in the media, thus raising awareness for women’s suffrage (The Women’s Rights Movement). Alice Paul wasn’t alone in her efforts. Lucy Burns, also a member of the NWP, organized political campaigns, and was the editor of the Suffragist (Lucy Burns). Paul, Burns and the Silent Sentinels picketed in front of the White House (Alice Paul, 1885-1977). They were often harassed because of their progressive beliefs.
Roosevelt was pro-suffrage, however he did believe that women did not truly need it. He states this in his letter to Mary Ella Lyon Swift. "I am rather in favor of the suffrage, but very tepidly. Women do not really need the suffrage although I do not think they would do any harm with it." (pg. 95). He believed that the needs and duties of men and women were entirely different. Roosevelt wrote to Florence Kelley saying " All that is necessary to make me the most ferociously intense believer in woman suffrage... is to convince me that women will take an effective stance against sexual viciousness..." (pg. 96). These statements show that he was for suffrage, but it is unclear whether this is only because of the election. Taft, on the other hand, did not have a clear stance on the suffrage of women. It would appear, though, that he was for suffrage according to his at Nashua, New Hampshire. This is shown by his saying "at least I believe you have not yet extended suffrage to the women... who do the
Socially, America was gaining strength, with women such as Jane Addams, a women's rights activist, entering the progressive fight. According to a study, the percent of eligible voters who cast ballots in Presidential elections were at a somewhat steady rate from 1904 to 1916, ranging from 59-65%, but in the 1920 election, only 49% of eligible voters actually cast ballots. (Document J) Although some may argue that the percent decrease was due to most Americans not liking any of the elected Presidential candidates, and therefore not voting, this is untrue because this was the first election in which women could vote, which threw of the ratio of voters and non-voters. In addition, all four candidates running for the title of President, Debs, Roosevelt, Wilson, and Taft, were all progressives, and wanted to reduce the number of trusts. This gave all voters, men or women, no incentive to vote. In the end of the election, Woodrow Wilson won, with 435 electoral votes, while Roosevelt had 88, and Taft received a mere e...
...st through a 22-day hunger strike. During this time, however, doctors tortured her and forcibly fed her. When reporters released stories regarding her situation and the many others who followed in her footsteps, the public was outraged and “the women received widespread sympathy from the public and politicians” (18). Though militant in her tactics, Alice Paul accomplished what she set out to do – gain the public’s attention by any means necessary.
In the years after 1870, there were many reasons for the development of the women’s suffrage movement. The main reasons were changes in the law. Some directly affect women, and some not, but they all add to the momentum of the Women’s campaign for the vote. 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.
During America's early history, women were denied some of the rights to well-being by men. For example, married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money that they might earn, and women hadn't the right to vote. They were expected to focus on housework and motherhood, and didn't have to join politics. On the contrary, they didn't have to be interested in them. Then, in order to ratify this amendment they were prompted to a long and hard fight; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the 19th century, some generations of women's suffrage supporters lobbied to achieve what a lot of Americans needed: a radical change of the Constitution. The movement for women's rights began to organize after 1848 at the national level. In July of that year, reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902) and Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), along with Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and other activists organized the first convention for women's rights at Seneca Falls, New York. More than 300 people, mostly women but also some men, attended it. Then, they raised public awar...
All in all, American suffragists sacrificed their time and risked their lives just to claim themselves the right that they should be given for long time ago. The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920 which give American women a voice in politics by voting. Following the ratification was the time of World War II that gave women opportunity to get back to the work force. Men were being sent out to war, women were recruited actively in working forces. Despite the contribution of women to the war, they were still seen as secondary to men. Because of that, the hope for equality in gender in the United States grew even stronger after World War II.
By 1913, the suffragette movement had exceeded a decade. The growing desperation of the suffragettes is clear in their calls for the aid of working men, echoing Emmeline Pankhurst’s “Freedom or Death” speech in November 1913. This appears as a change of heart in the operation of the WSPU, which had decreed to exclude men from their organisation and broken with the Labour Party in the previous year.
Before 1920 women did not have the right to vote. They were known as “second class citizens”. Women were to stay home to help and organize the family’s necessities. Having any other higher power was said to be way out of their limitations. Mainly because women weren’t fully exposed to the happenings outside of the home, which led to the male figure believing that it was impossible for women to vote if they didn’t know the facts. Men thought that if women were able to vote that they would reach a power, that they could not take away and they didn’t want that. Men wanted to be head of the household and everything else in between.
While the women’s suffrage movement was none violent and mainly carried out by organized meetings, lobbying congressman, and picketing protests, the women that participated in it could do nothing to stop the violence of their oppressors from coming to them. In January 1917, the National Women’s Party, led by suffragists Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, began to picket, six days a week, in front of the white house for their right to vote. At first largely ignored, they became under frequent attack with no help from the police. Then starting th...
... time and time again. Wilson wouldn’t heavily engage child labor laws nor did he believe in ending women’s suffrage, it wasn’t until 1920 that Wilson and Congress voted and women got the right to vote. Roosevelt’s time as president was spent expanding the nation, expanding America’s Armed Forces, building the Panama Canal, and gaining small victories for the common man. Wilson’s presidency was spent battling for economic fairness, killing monopolies, turning the tides in World War I, and finally helping women to achieve their conquest of the right to vote.
In the 20th century leadership of the suffrage movement passed to two organizations. The first was the National American Woman Suffrage Association. “The National American Women’s Suffrage Association lobbied congress, and state legislatures for const...
...en comparing the President Wilson to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to demand that President reverse his opposition to 19th amendment. Besides the comparison, CU also set aflame a life-size dummy of Wilson, burned copies of Wilson’s speeches, and went on hunger strikes when got sent to prison. Newspapers printed stories about the women’s treatment in jail, garnering public sympathy and support for the cause. By 1918, President Wilson publicly announced his support for suffrage. Thus, victory for women suffrage happened in 1920.
Stalcup, Brenda, ed. The Women's Rights Movement: Opposing Viewmpoints. San Diego, California: Greenhaven press, Inc., 1996.
The women’s suffrage movement was the struggle for the right of women to vote, run for office, and is part of the overall women’s rights movement. In the 19th century, women in several countries most recognizably the U.S. and england formed organizations to fight for suffrage. Beginning in the mid 19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and participated in civil strike to achieve what many Americans considered a revolutionary change in the Constitution.