Woman suffrage in Colorado in 1893

¶ … campaign for woman suffrage in Colorado. A brief overview of suffrage is given as a background to the topic. Then both the opinions of supporters and opponents of woman suffrage are presented. Finally, the primary reason why suffrage was granted is explained.

The Campaign for Woman Suffrage in Colorado, in 1893

Woman suffrage is defined as the "right of women to share on equal terms with men the political privileges afforded by representative government and, more particularly, to vote in elections and referendums and to hold public office" ("Woman suffrage," 2005).

This right to be involved in the governmental process, however, did not start with women. In the feudal regimes of the Middle Ages, even men found suffrage restricted. However, once the male population had secured their rights of representations, by way of the democratic revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries, it then became possible for women to begin to organize their suffrage movements.

For America, the modern woman suffrage movement began with the attempt of Margaret Brent, a wealthy landholder, to secure her 'place and voice' in the colony legislature. However, her attempt was unsuccessful. In Colonial times, several groups, such as the American Quakers, supported the enfranchisement of women. Even individuals, such as patriot Thomas Paine, support woman suffrage. Yet, women were still regarded as inferior beings and in many respects were legally considered to have the same rights as criminals, the insane and slaves ("Woman suffrage," 2005).

The first half of the 19th century, in America, saw the woman suffrage movement working through the efforts of the abolitionist and temperance movements. However, their role was limited due to antifeminist prejudices. It was this prejudice that spur suffragists to create a separate movement dedicated solely to women's rights. Lucretia Coffin Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, Abby Kelley Foster, and Ernestine Rose were all part of this early movement. Men too supported the movement, including: Henry Ward Beecher, Wendell Phillips, and Ralph Waldo Emerson ("Woman suffrage").

The fight for woman suffrage in Colorado began in the 1870s. In 1876, the Colorado State Constitution allowed for local school election suffrage for women, yet, they wanted the voters to decide whether or not women should have full voting rights, and with this, the Colorado Woman Suffrage Association was formed. At first, the idea was not well accepted in the Rocky Mountain state. Susan B. Anthony came to Colorado and made a whirlwind tour of the state, rallying supporters, when the newly established Colorado Legislature put the issue of woman suffrage up to voters. However, Anthony was often booed out of mining town saloons by gold miners who cared little for women's rights and only about getting rich quick. It would only be by the saving grace of organizations like the Women's Christian Temperance Uniion and a collection of women journalists, such as Caroline Nicholls Churchill and Ellis Meredith, which would keep the suffrage movement alive in the inhospitable climes of Colorado, as the economy went from boom to bust. Although their first referendum, in 1877, failed; the woman suffrage spirit did not ("Colorado: Popularism," n.d.).

In 1879, Caroline Churchill began to publish the suffrage newspaper, the Colorado Antelope, which would later become the Queen Bee, giving a written voice to the movement. In 1881, Mrs. L.E. McCarthy, runs for the office of State Superintendent of Schools. Although she is defeated, it's an important step for women. However, the establishment of the Colorado Non-Partisan Equal Suffrage Association was the most significant step in securing the women's right to vote. and, They had formed a powerful coalition of women's organizations, churches, political parties, charity groups, unions, and farmer's alliances to build the grassroots support for their cause. With this, and key support from the Knights of Labor and the People's Party, women gained the right to vote right in the middle of the nation's worst economic depression, the Panic of 1893 ("Colorado: Pluralism," n.d.) (See Figure 1). It would be a long road, before women were granted this right nationwide, but it was "Colorado and other Western states that granted suffrage through their state constitutions in the late 1800s" (Balu, 1995) that would push the nation forward towards equality for women.

Arguments Used by Supporters of Suffrage:

They arguments used by supporters of suffrage were many, and after many years of campaigning, these voices were finally successful and became the first state in the Union to approve women's suffrage in a popular election. The cry, "Let the Women Vote! They can't do any worse than the men have!" ("Colorado: Popularism," n.d.) could be heard from men and women of all colors, creeds and classes. Reform-minded people, such as women's organization's labor unions, the W.C.T.U., political parties, religious groups, garden clubs, and business leaders pushed aside their differences and came together to secure women's right to vote.

These people, despite their different backgrounds, understood that women were inalienably equal to men. They saw women who not only were able to care for themselves, but sometimes caring for their husbands as well. They were not the depended creatures opponents had portrayed them to be. It was understood that women may be physical different from men, however, just because they weren't as strong as men, it was not a good reason to keep them enslaved. For when one really considered it, they understood that society was truly dependent on women. Women gave birth and raised the men of the future world, without them, men could not survive.

In the capitalistic and democratic vein that America was founded upon, it seemed, to supporters, that denying women equal rights was hypocritical. Here were women who owned their own property, paid taxes yet they still did not have the right to vote. It had not been that long before when male Colonialists were shouting, 'No taxation without representation!' At the British monarchy.

Arguments Used by Opponents of Suffrage:

The arguments used by opponents of suffrage were compelling, at the time, and are the reason why suffrage took so long to become accepted, and are the basis of female prejudice still today. As evidenced by the London Anti-Slavery Convention of 1840, there was a strong belief that women were inferior to men. Several "internationally famous clergymen contended during the debate that equal status for women was contrary to the will of God" ("Woman suffrage," 2005). and, even though eventually two women, Mott and Stanton, were allowed to be there, they were placed behind a curtain and weren't allowed to speak. These opponents simply saw the concept of women as equals was against the natural order of things.

There was also a fear to go against what the founding fathers had established. This fear of change affected even women and made them opponents of the movement that sought to empower them. As Mrs. Rossiter Johnson, in 1913, stated, "Strange as it may at first thought appear to many, woman suffrage, if carried to its ultimate conclusions, could not but destroy those same sacred institutions which Socialism aims at with continually increasing frankness, (democracy)" (as cited in "Suffrage appeals," 1913).

The Most Important Reason Why Women of Colorado Gained the Right to Vote:

The most important reason why women of Colorado won the right to vote was the formation of the Colorado Non-Partisan Equal Suffrage Association. As mentioned previously, the Association built a powerful coalition of women's organizations, churches, political parties, charity groups, unions and farmer's alliances to align the general population with the support of woman suffrage ("Colorado: Popularism," n.d.). This determined organization also pulled in support from the disgruntled male miners, farmers, ranchers, factory workers, and businessmen, which were feeling the economic pressure of a downtrend economy.

It was the coming together of such a diverse group of people, putting their differences aside that won women the right to vote. The unionists in the Knights of Labor and People's Party were invaluable in their support for the referendum. "Activist Elizabeth Ensley rallied African-American (male) support in the cities while Grange women organized farmers on the eastern plains ("Colorado: Popularism," n.d.).