Women's Suffrage Movement In The 1920s

First woman to serve in Congress, Jeannette Rankin, stated “How shall we explain to them the meaning of democracy if the same Congress that voted to make the world safe for democracy refuses to give this small measure of democracy to the women of our country.” The 19th amendment was a major step for women’s rights in America. Many years of hardships led up to the breakthrough that serves as a reminder to all those who fought for their rights. There were many key people and organizations that fought for the woman’s suffrage movement. They took part in protest, strikes, and conventions for the right to vote.

Six well-bred women stood before a judge in the Washington D.C. police court on June 27, 1917. Not thieves, not drunks, not prostitutes, like the usual attendants there. They included a university student, an author of nursing books, a prominent campaign organizer, and 2 former school teachers. All were educated accomplished and unacquainted with criminal activity, but on that day they stood in a court of law with their alleged offense, “Obstructing traffic”. What they had actually done was stand quietly in front of the White House holding banners, urging president Woodrow Wilson to add one sentence to the constitution: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any account of sex”.

The Women’s Suffrage Movement was the seventy two year fight and movement leading up to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment that granted women the right to vote. Before the nineteenth century, women were seen as property of their father or husband, and it was not until the mid-1800’s that women began to gain rights similar to men. Women had sought to obtain additional rights held already by men. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, and Alice Paul were among the many women that led and fought for equal rights and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. Women in the United States had little to no rights in comparison to men until 1920 when the Nineteenth Amendment was signed, giving women their deserved rights that allowed

Women’s Suffrage Movement If you had lived in the 1800s, would you have fought for Women’s Rights or would you have decided to be a bystander? Throughout history women have always been ruled by men. At the start of the 1800s, women would have had only one right and that was being a housewife. Although women had no rights, women later raised their voices in the Women’s Suffrage Movement.

During Progressive Era, there were many reforms that occurred, such as Child Labor Reform or Pure Food and Drug Act. Women Suffrage Movement was the last remarkable reform. This movement was fighting about the right of women to vote, which was basically about women’s right movement. Many great leaders – Elizabeth Cad Stanton and Susan B. Anthony - formed the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Although those influential leaders faced hardship during this movement, they never gave up and kept trying their best.

During the progressive era, there were many organization’s that arose to better the American society. Two Progressive reforms that sought to help women were the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and the Women Suffrage Association. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union or WCTU was founded in November 1874 in Cleveland, Ohio by Frances Willard and Annie Turner Wittenmeyer. This organization's purpose was to educate people about the dangers of alcohol, and eventually prohibit alcohol distribution in America. The Women’s Suffrage Association was founded in New York City in 1869 by Women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

During Progressive Era, there were many reforms that occurred, such as Child Labor Reform or Pure Food and Drug Act. Women Suffrage Movement was the last remarkable reform, and it was fighting about the right of women to vote, which was basically about women’s right movement. Many great leaders – Elizabeth Cad Stanton and Susan B. Anthony - formed the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Although those influential leaders faced hardship during this movement, they never gave up and kept trying their best. This movement was occurred in New York that has a huge impact on the whole United States.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby develops an illustration of women and their position in society during this time period, based on the characters and events in the novel. As traditional Victorian values were left behind, the 1920s roared with a new era of freedom for women and their roles. Remarkable changes occurred for women in their appearance, jobs, politics, and social expectations. Women stood up, laws were enacted, and attitudes and views gradually changed. The 1920s brought a new found liberation for women that progressively changed their roles in society.

1. Conditions before the 19th amendment In order to understand the following information, it is important to examine the conditions before the 19th amendment was passed. This also helps us to understand the resistance that the women’s suffrage movement faced. Prior to the amendment, women were not legally allowed to vote.

Primary Source Analysis: Why Women Should Vote, 1915 This document was originally published as a pamphlet authored by Jane Addams in the year 1915 as the title suggests. Jane Addams was a female reformer during the Progressive Era who heavily supported the women’s suffrage movement. She also challenged the traditional roles of women before and during this time period. At the young age of seventeen, Addams left home and attended the Rockford Female Seminary and later went on to found the Hull House in Chicago, Illinois (“The Progressive Era,”American Yawp).

The history.com’s staff explains the stages that the women of the past went through to gain them the 19th Amendment on August 26, 1920. Simplified the 19th Amendment is the right for the citizens of the United States to be able to vote and not be denied by the United States or by any State on account of their sex. It talks about when the 14th amendment was ratified in 1868, it granted all citizen the right to be able to vote. But they defined “citizen as male”, giving the right to vote to the black men. Because of this many women, including Susan B. Anthony rallied and protested the 15th amendment, believing that it could push lawmakers into making it so that women could vote along with the men.

Women’s Suffrage: did or did it not change in America? Alice Paul, a young women fighting for rights, went on a hunger strike in prison to stand up for what she believed in. Paul and other suffragists were arrested and sent to Occoquan Workhouse, in Virginia. These women were fighting for their rights to vote, to be as equal as men.