Women’s suffrage, or the crusade to achieve the equal right for women to vote and run for political office, was a difficult fight that took activists in the United States almost 100 years to win. On August 26, 1920 the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified, declaring all women be empowered with the same rights and responsibilities of citizenship as men, and on Election Day, 1920 millions of women exercised their right to vote for the very first time.
The women’s suffrage movement is thought to have begun with the publication of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792. Wollstonecraft is considered the “mother of feminism” and wrote of the sexual double standards between men and women, calling for equality for both as human beings. She is in modern times considered a difference or communitarian feminist “in her honoring of women's natural talents and her insistence that women not be measured by men's standards” (Lewis, 2011, para. 3), endorsing the female focus of “emphasis on duty in the family and in civic relationships” (Lewis, 2011, para.3). She lived the reality of abuse and oppression and drew on her experiences to bring these revulsions to public awareness.
During the 19th century, as male suffrage gradually expanded, women became more active in the quest for their own suffrage. It wasn’t until 1893 in New Zealand that women achieved the right to vote on a national level; Australia followed in 1902. American women didn’t win the right to vote until after World War I (Women’s Suffrage, 2011).
The campaign in America for women’s suffrage began in earnest before the Civil War. Reform groups were thriving all over the country, including temperance clubs, religi...
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...esult was a world event that changed the face of politics in America. The right to vote politically empowered women in the United States and recognized the importance of their voice as citizens.
Works Cited
Lewis, J.J. (2011). Mary Wollstonecraft legacy. Retrieved from http://womenshistory.about.com/od/wollstonecraft/a/wollstonecraft-legacy.htm
Women’s Suffrage. (2011). Scholastic website. Retrieved from http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/suffrage/history.htm
Kelly, M. (2011). Seneca Falls convention. Retrieved from http://americanhistory.about.com/od/womenssuffrage/a/senecafalls.htm
Tindall, G.B. & Shi, D.E. (2010). America a narrative history 8th edition. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
The Fight for Women's Suffrage. (2011). The History Channel website. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/the-fight-for-womens-suffrage
Tindall, George, and David Shi. America: A Narrative History. Ed. 9, Vol. 1. New York: WW. Norton & Company, 2013. 185,193. Print.
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.
All adult women finally got the vote with the Nineteenth Amendment, also known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, in 1920.
Tindall, G.B. & Shi, D.E. (2010). America a narrative history 8th edition. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. p.205-212.
Women, like black slaves, were treated unequally from the male before the nineteenth century. The role of the women played the part of their description, physically and emotionally weak, which during this time period all women did was took care of their household and husband, and followed their orders. Women were classified as the “weaker sex” or below the standards of men in the early part of the century. Soon after the decades unfolded, women gradually surfaced to breathe the air of freedom and self determination, when they were given specific freedoms such as the opportunity for an education, their voting rights, ownership of property, and being employed.
What does “movement” mean? There are many definitions for the word. In this case, I am referring to a political meaning. Movement is a series of organized activities working toward an objective. There have been many groups in history to start up movements throughout the decades. One that stands out to me the most is the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Women’s movements are led by powerful, courageous women who push to better the lives’ of women or lives’ of others. Most familiar movements are those involved in politics, in efforts to change the roles and status of womanhood in society. Groups of women also attempt to improve lives of others with the help of religious and charitable activities. Either it was a political, religious, or charitable women’s movement, each woman of each group have made an impact on today’s view of women and achieved greater political involvement.
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 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was sign into the Constitution, granting women the rights to vote.
Throughout the 1800s, women across the world began establishing organizations to demand women’s suffrage in their countries. Today, there are still women in countries fighting for their right to vote. Some countries who’ve succeeded in the mid to late 1800s were Sweden and New Zealand. Once they expanded women’s suffrage, many other countries followed. Like Sweden, countries first granted limited suffrage to women and other countries approved to the full national level. Additionally, there were quite a few countries who had taken over a century to give women the right to vote, Qatar being a prime example. Although the fight for women’s suffrage varied in the United States, France, and Cuba in terms of length and process, each effort ultimately
Tindall, George B., and David E. Shi. America: A Narrative History. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2007.
George Brown Tindall and David Emory Shi, America: A Narrative History, Ninth Edition, Volume One, (New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013), 504.
In the early 20th century, women began to slowly participate in events to contribute to gaining equal right due to the fact that the terms of power were under male control: employment, politics, education and economy, which demonstrated male supremacy. Women initiated their road to success by achieving the right to vote in 1920, when the 19th amendment was passed, this act proved that women could just as well get into other areas to influence the society. Shortly after women gained their right to vote, they began
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.
Mary Wollstonecraft: the Mother of Modern Feminism Mary Wollstonecraft was a self-educated, radical philosopher who wrote about liberation, and empowering women. She had a powerful voice in her views on the rights of women to get good education and career opportunities. She pioneered the debate for women’s rights, inspiring many of the 19th and the 20th century’s writers and philosophers to fight for women’s rights, as well. She did not only criticize men for not giving women their rights, she also put blame on women for being voiceless and subservient. Her life and, the surrounding events of her time, accompanied by the strong will of her, had surely affected the way she chose to live her life, and to form her own philosophies.
The right to vote was one of the first major steps to achieve equal rights. Feminism has had three waves and the first started formally at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 with a focus on suffrage (Rampton, Pacificu.edu). Suffrage is defined as the right to vote which, as a part of politics, became very important. Women felt that if they gained the right to vote, they would also be able to gain further benefits and advances to improve living and working conditions for women (Scan.org.uk). At the same time, the world was changing and so was the status of women. As a result, women began to feel more motivated to contribute to society and not maintain their current position that society had seen fit for them. Women began to come together to achieve a goal they had in common despite their wealth or class. Men, related and un-related, have...