Support like this was not uncommon. Women were demonstrating how useful they could become and by asserting their knowledge along with their feminine nature, they were showing men they could be a positive influence on society. As the effort grew, it became more organized and it gained momentum. In 1869, Lucy Stone helped establish the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), which worked for women's right to vote. The association became a powerful force behind the women's movement. Its main goal was to force individual states to grant women the right to vote to women. In 1890, the AWSA joined with the National Woman Suffrage Association, which Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton formed in 1869. The new organization was called the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and it held conventions, waged voting campaigns and distributed literature in support of women's voting rights.
The Equal Rights amendment was passed in 1972. This was the year that the government banned discrimination against women in federally assisted programs. Shirley Chisholm was the first African-American woman to run for president in this year as well. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled abortion laws "except in narrowly defined circumstances, were unconstitutional" (White 48) and gave women the right to abort a child during first trimester. In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor became the first women to be appointed to the Supreme Court. In 1998, the first Women's Rights Convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York, in honor of the 150-year anniversary of the women's movement. We often hear the journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step and we see this demonstrated throughout the history of the women's movement. Women now have the right to vote and they share most of the same opportunities as men. They are not seen as property and they are not held back because of their gender. In fact, many women will no doubt take their rights for granted to a certain extent simply they cannot fathom what it must have been like to live without them. Regardless, remarkable progress was made by women who knew they deserved more.
Progress is still being made. Women are achieving greater and greater things as a result of freedom and the right to pursue life,
Woman's Suffrage Women in the United States made the fight for suffrage their most fundamental demand because they saw it as the defining feature of full citizenship. The philosophy underlying women's suffrage was the belief in "natural rights" to govern themselves and choose their own representatives. Woman's suffrage asserted that women should enjoy individual rights of self-government, rather than relying on indirect civic participation as the mothers, sisters, or daughters of
In 1869, Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, another prominent 19th century suffragist, formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) to collectively lobby for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. The NWSA also focused their attention on universal suffrage for African-Americans. Their efforts toward abolition succeeded first, as the 15th Amendment passed in 1871. Also in 1869 Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and other suffragists formed a separate suffragist
Suffrage Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Amelia Bloomer were all instrumental in shifting the status of women in American society. Their writings reveal the personalities, assumptions, and values of the authors. Each of these women took incredible personal risks by challenging the underlying assumptions in the society that women were not valid, valuable members of society. The place of women in American society prior to suffrage was no better
149-150). References Balu, R. (Fall 1995). History comes alive: How women won the right to vote. Human Rights, 22(4). Retrieved March 23, 2005, from Academic Search Premier database. Colorado: Popularism, panic and persistence. (No date). Retrieved March 23, 2005, at http://www.autry-museum.org/explore/exhibits/suffrage/suffrage_co.html. Marilley, S.M. (1996). Woman suffrage and the origins of liberal feminism in the United States, 1820-1920. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Suffrage appeals to lawless and hysterical women. (30 May 1913). New York
The authors further point out that at the time, NWSA did not accept male membership as its focus was firmly trained on securing the voting rights of women nationwide. As their push for the enfranchisement of women at the federal level became more and more untenable, NWSA shifted its focus to individual states. In so doing, it planned to create a ripple effect that could ease the attainment of
Women The sphere of women's work had been strictly confined to the domestic realm, prior to the Industrial Revolution. Social isolation, financial dependence, and political disenfranchisement characterized the female experience prior to the twentieth century. The suffrage movement was certainly the first sign of the dismantling of the institutionalization of patriarchy, followed by universal access to education, and finally, the civil rights movement. Opportunities for women have gradually unfolded since the
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