A WALK THROUGH WOMEN’S
SUFFRAGE
In 1919, Congress passed the
20th Amendment giving
women the right the right to
vote.
Women’s right to vote proved
to be a long and perilous fight
that was won with sweat,
blood and tears.
Put your feet in the shoes of a
suffragist, and take walk in
time.
A WALK THROUGH TIME:
TIMELINE OF WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE
BY
CATHERINE PORLIER
THE BEGINNING
1776
Abigail Adams writes to her
husband, John, who is attending
the Continental Congress in
Philadelphia, asking that he and
the other men--who were at work
on the Declaration of
Independence--"Remember the
Ladies." John responds with
humor. The Declaration's wording
specifies that "all men are
created equal."
UNEQUAL RIGHTS
NO GIRLS ALLOWED
Women had it difficult in the mid-1800s to early 1900s. There was a difference
in the treatment of men and women.
For example:
 Married women were legally limited in the eyes of the law
 Women were not allowed to vote
 Women had to submit to laws when they had no voice in their formation
 Married women had little rights to own property (unless inherited)
 Women had very little means to gain an education since no college or
university would accept women students.
 Women were not allowed to enter professions such as medicine or law
(with only a few exceptions)
 Women were not allowed to participate in the affairs of the church
 Women were dependent mostly on their husbands for income
Women's Rights 1848-1920." 123HelpMe.com. 05 Mar 2011
The Fight for Change Begins
Then the first Women's Rights Convention
was held on July 19 and 20 in 1848. The
convention was convened as planned,
and over the two-days of discussion, the
Declaration of Sentiments and 12
resolutions received agreement
endorsement, one by one, with a few
amendments
SOJOURNER TRUTH (1797-1883)
In 1843, Isabella, a former slave, changed
her name to Sojourner Truth and began
traveling through the eastern United States
preaching the word of God. In
Northampton, Massachusetts, she
encountered the abolitionist movement
and began traveling and lecturing on
behalf of that cause. She maintained
herself by selling copies of the Narrative of
Sojourner Truth, which had been written by
Olive Gilbert and published in 1850. After
attending a women's rights convention in
1850, Truth also became a speaker on
women's rights issues. During the Civil War
she solicited gifts of food for regiments of
black volunteers, and after the war she
worked to find homes and employment for
recently freed slaves.
Adapted from biographies prepared by Mary M. Huth, Department
of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of Rochester
Libraries, February 1995
SUSAN B. ANTHONY (1820-1906)
For over 50 years, Susan B. Anthony was
the leader of the American woman
suffrage movement. Born in Adams,
Massachusetts on February 15, 1820,
Anthony lived for many years in
Rochester. In 1872 Anthony was
arrested for voting. When she died in
1906, only four states allowed women
to vote, but Anthony's single-minded
dedication to the cause of suffrage
was largely responsible for the passage
of the nineteenth amendment to the
United States Constitution in 1920,
giving women the vote.
Adapted from biographies prepared by Mary M. Huth,
Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of
Rochester Libraries, February 1995
Lucy Stone (1818-1893) along
with Susan B. Anthony and
Lucretia Mott, helped
coordinate the first national
American women's rights
convention, held in Worcester,
Massachusetts. For many years,
Stone earned a living as an
antislavery and women's rights
lecturer, and from 1872 until her
death in 1893, she co-edited with
her husband, Henry Brown
Blackwell, the premier women's
suffrage newspaper, the
Woman's Journal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
A Resolution Proposing an Amendment to The
Constitution Of The United States
In July 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott
organized the first women's rights convention in Seneca
Falls, NY, and launched the woman suffrage
movement. Many of the attendees to the convention
were also abolitionists whose goals included universal
suffrage. In 1870 this goal was partially realized when
the 15th amendment to the Constitution, granting black
men the right to vote, was ratified.
"This call was published in the Seneca
County courier, July 14, 1848, without
any signatures. The movers of this
convention, who drafted the call, the
declaration and resolutions were
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott,
Martha C. Wright, Mary Ann McClintock,
and Jane C. Hunt"--Footnote.
Election Day! Political cartoon. c1909.
From the Library of Congress, By
Popular Demand: “Votes for Women”
Suffrage Pictures, 1850-1920.
Suffragist parade
(1915)
SMALL VICTORIES
1869 National Woman Suffrage Association is founded with
Elizabeth Cady Stanton as president. American Woman Suffrage
Association is founded with Henry Ward Beecher as president.
Wyoming Territory grants suffrage to women.
1870 Utah Territory grants suffrage to women.
MEN ONLY
15th Amendment
A Step in the Right Direction??
The 15th amendment to the U. S. Constitution is adopted. The
amendment grants suffrage to former male African-American slaves,
but not to women. Anthony and Stanton bitterly oppose the
amendment, which for the first time explicitly restricts voting rights to
"males." Many of their former allies in the abolitionist movement,
including Lucy Stone, support the amendment.
Voting Rights for Women
Dream to Reality
Some battles for woman suffrage were won stateby-state by the early 20th century. Alice Paul and
the National Women's Party (NWP) began using
more radical tactics to work for a federal suffrage
amendment to the Constitution: picketing the
White House, staging large suffrage marches and
demonstrations, going to jail. Thousands of ordinary
women took part in these -- a family legend is that
my grandmother was one of a number of women
who chained themselves to a courthouse door in
Minneapolis during this period.
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/suffrage1900/a/august_26_wed.htm
WOMEN VOTING
On June 4, 1919, the United
States Senate also endorsed the
Amendment, voting 56 to 25,
and sending the amendment to
the states.
Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan
were the first states to pass the
law; Georgia and Alabama
rushed to pass rejections. The
anti-suffrage forces, which
included both men and women,
were well-organized, and
passage of the amendment was
not easy.
“DON’T FORGET TO BE A GOOD BOY”:
HARRY T. BURN’S MOM CHANGE’S HISTORY
One young legislator, 24 year old
Harry Burn, had voted with the antisuffrage forces to that time. But his
mother had urged that he vote for
the amendment and for suffrage.
When he saw that the vote was very
close, and with his anti-suffrage vote
would be tied 48 to 48, he decided
to vote as his mother had urged him:
for the right of women to vote. And
so on August 18, 1920, Tennessee
became the 36th and deciding state
to ratify.
http://www.teachamericanhistory.org/File/Harry_T._Burn
.pdf
THE DREAM IS REALIZED
National Woman’s Party activists watch Alice Paul sew a star
onto the NWP Ratification Flag, representing another state’s
ratification of the 19th Amendment. Photograph, ca.1919.
From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Online Catalog.
THE ROAD COMES TO AN END
THE DREAM IS A REALITY
On August 26, 1920, the
Nineteenth Amendment
to the United States
Constitution became
law, and women could
vote in the fall elections,
including in the
Presidential election.
From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs
Online Catalog.