Are adult females truly inferior to work forces? Of class non, but this is the mentality that has been a portion of the universe since the beginning. For a long clip, even adult females did non believe that they measured up to work forces. In her book Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen wrote, “A adult females, particularly, if she have the bad luck of cognizing anything, should hide it every bit good as she can ( Gurko 1974, 5 ) .”
Get downing in the early 1900’s, though, adult females began to desire alterations in society. They wanted to hold a say in the determinations that were made, particularly in the country of political relations. They did non believe that work forces should be the lone people allowed to vote, when they, excessively, were active members of society. Women’s right to vote changed the face of the Earth in many ways. It was the most of import motion in demoing the equality of work forces and adult females, and while to this twenty-four hours, there still may be some people that believe that adult females are inferior to work forces, the bulk of people see that adult females are genuinely capable of making anything that work forces can make.
Woman had wanted their political freedom for a piece, but they did non experience as if they were a strong plenty force to get the better of the negative resistance from work forces and even other adult females. The thought of adult females right to vote was foremost introduced at the Seneca Falls Convention on July 19, 1848. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott headed it. It was the first organized adult females rights convention. They met in a Wesleyan church chapel. There were between one hundred and three hundred people that attended, including quite a few work forces that were sympathetic to the predicament of the adult females .
At the convention, they created a Declaration of Sentiments, in which they included all of their feelings and their planned attacks for deriving the right to vote. There were many points that were included in the declaration, but for the most portion it stated that, “All Torahs which prevent adult female from busying such a station in society as her scruples shall order, or which place her in a place inferior to that of adult male, are contrary to the great principle of nature, and hence of no force or authorization ( Gurko 1974, 310 ) .”
After this conference, Stanton and Mott, every bit good as the other people that had attended received an unmeasurable sum of unfavorable judgment sing their programs, and the imperativeness got peculiarly involved, utilizing really rough words to depict the adult females. It was reported that they were called “the scream sistership,” “unfeminine,” and “immoral drunks.” Even with all of this resistance, the adult females continued to keep meetings, and went on speech production Tours to inform the populace about their vision for the hereafter.
These adult females were non treated good at all. They were criticized, but every bit good as verbal maltreatment, they were besides frequently the victims of physical force. Their meetings were really frequently interrupted and disbanded by packs . Through all of this, the adult females remained true to their cause, and although it was non said, their finding and devotedness, accompanied by their willingness to set up with any signifier of hatred that they were subjected to, helped their cause enormously by demoing people, peculiarly other adult females, how genuinely strong the members of the female gender could be.
For a long clip, even though the end of the adult females was to accomplish right to vote, they had to concentrate on other issues such as the emancipationist and moderation motions that were happening at the same clip ( Millstein 1977, 96 ) . The adult females were besides prejudiced against in these countries, as the functions that they were permitted to play in the motions were really limited. One incident that both helped and ache the predicament of the adult females was the London Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840. There was a really large argument over whether eight American adult females would be permitted to take part in the conference. Many of the work forces who were at the conference debated that “the equal position for adult females was contrary to the will of God.” Finally, two of the adult females, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were allowed to sit behind a drape and listen to what was traveling on, even though they were non permitted to lend . While this was slightly abashing to the adult females, it besides angered them, and they decided to work even harder to make their end.
One of the biggest incentives for the motion, and the event that most angered the suffragists was the transition of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870. This gave the late emancipated Afro-American work forces the right to vote, but it did non even advert the adult females that had helped them. Plus, the white adult females in the United States could non understand why these people, who had besides been and still were regarded as inferior, now were able to make something that they could non make ( Millstein 1977, 175 ) . Even though the grounds behind this statement were racialist, the adult females did hold a point in that the authorities gave the right to vote to people that had non even been free for really long, while it still held this right from adult females, many who held outstanding places in society.
Lucy Stone founded the American Women Right to vote Association in November of 1869 along with her hubby, Henry Blackwell. Alternatively of working on the transition of a federal jurisprudence, they tried to convert single provinces to follow right to vote. That same twelvemonth, they succeeded in converting the State of Wyoming to give adult females the right to vote, and as a consequence, it came to be known as the “Equality State ( Millstein 1977, 65 ) .” The chief ground that that Wyoming decided to allow adult females vote was that Wyoming was a province merely saying out and didn’t have really many adult females populating the province. Wyoming thought that if they would let adult females to be active in the vote procedure that more adult females would desire to travel here and set up homesteads.
Woman were given many rights in Wyoming foremost. These rights included the right to keep political office. Due to this right Wyoming had the first justness of the peace in Esther Hobart Morris. Then after that case in point was set Nelie Tayloe Ross became the first adult female Governor of Wyoming. Another group that was formed in 1869 was called the National Women Suffrage Association. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton led it. They concentrated on acquiring an amendment to the Constitution passed that would do it compulsory that adult females be allowed to vote. Unfortunately, neither of these groups was really successful on their ain. It was non until they united in 1890 and formed the National American Women Suffrage Association that they began to carry people .
Although the Fifteenth Amendment did non advert adult females right to vote at all, Susan B. Anthony interpreted this jurisprudence to intend that along with the ex-slaves, adult females, excessively, were allowed to vote. On Election Day, she and twelve other adult females went to the polls in Rochester, New York, and convinced the people that were working to let them to register to vote. Two hebdomads subsequently, all of the adult females, every bit good as the three people that had been working at the polls when the incident happened, were arrested. Anthony did non have a just test, but midway through the test, the justice was afraid that the jury was traveling to vote in her favour, so he dismissed the jury and allow Anthony off with a mulct of $ 100. She would non pay this, but she was non punished for her refusal, because the justice was scared that she would take the instance to a higher tribunal. None of the other adult females were brought to test for the incident, and neither were the work forces that let the ladies into the polls although they did have mulcts .
Slowly, the adult females began to do advancement. Colorado granted right to vote in 1893, and Utah and Idaho followed in 1896. By, 1918, the provinces of Washington, California, Kansas, Oregon, Arizona, Michigan, Oklahoma, and South Dakota had all granted vote rights to their female citizens . The suffragists still did non see this a full triumph. They began to set the force per unit area on the federal authorities to make a national jurisprudence that would do it a demand for all adult females, irrespective of color, to hold the right to vote.
In 1919, the adult females suffragists achieved the consequences they had wanted. The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on August 18, 1920. It held that, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall non be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on history of sex .” Congress would besides hold the power to implement this article by the appropriate statute law.
Women’s right to vote was and is a much larger capable than most people realize. The fact that adult females would really stand up for what they believed until they received what they wanted, was incredible to many, but it was besides really animating. These adult females suffragists were the beginning of the full adult females’s rights motion, which is still traveling on in some facets, to this twenty-four hours. While many work forces still hold that adult females are inferior to work forces, adult females can be comfy in the fact that there are others, like Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony, that will stand up for the rights of all adult females, and will go on to make so until full equality of the sexes is achieved.
References
- Columbia Encyclopedia: Sixth Edition. 2000. “Women’s Suffrage.” Bartleby Corporation. hypertext transfer protocol: //aol.bartleby, com/65/wo/womansuf. hypertext markup language
- Gelb, Joyce and Marian Lief Palley. 1982. Womans and Public Policies. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
- Gurko, Miriam. 1974. The Ladies of Seneca Falls: The Birth of the Women’s Right Movement. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc.
- Lenz, Elinor and Barbara Myerhoff. 1985. The Feminzation of America. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc.
- Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. 2000. “Women’s Suffrage.” Microsoft Corporation. hypertext transfer protocol: //encarta.msn.com/find/concise.asp
- Millstein, Beth and Jeanne Bodin. 1977. We, the American Women: A Documentary History. Publisher: Jerome S. Ozer.
- Painter, Charlotte. 1985. Gifts of Age. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
- Underhill, Lois Beachy. 1995. The Woman Who Ran For President. New York: Bridge Works Publishing Co.
