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Founders of The American Equal Rights Association
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony met in 1851 at the National Women’s Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts, where they joined together and devoted their lives to organizing and leading the women’s suffrage movement that lasted over 50 years. They were the founders of the American Equal Right Association that represented a need for an amendment of the constitution for equal right for women and the right to vote for all citizens. She and Stanton opposed the 14th and 15th amendments. -
Divide in the Association
After the Civil War, in 1869 a difference in views caused the American Equal Right Association to divide into rival associations. In New York, Stanton and Anthony formed a more radical institution after the 15th amendment (votes for blacks) was passed, known as the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA).Lucy Stone founded American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) in Boston and took a more conservative approach to the issues at hand by concentrating on women’s voting rights state by state. -
Wyoming, First State for Women's Suffrage
With conflicting views, NWSA and AWSA merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association as a method to produce a stronger stance for women’s voting rights. This held true in 1869 when Wyoming became the first state to allow women to vote. The territorial legislature attempted to repeal the act in 1871 and was vetoed by Governor John Campbell. The NAWS debated the issue during the constitutional convention and held victory as it was entered in the state constitution in 1890. -
"Ain't I a Woman?" Sojourner Truth, 1851
The 15th Amendment passed in 1870, without reference to sex as a category, gave African American men the right to vote, not only did this raise further cause for women’s suffrage, it ultimately effected the African American women. In 1896 in Chicago, activist Mary Church formed the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), that represented colored women's right to vote. It was not well accepted by the NWSA and AWSA, this did not stop these women in protests and marches for women’s rights. -
Theodore Roosevelt Supports Women on a National Level
In 1914 Theodore Roosevelt supported women’s suffrage in his speech at the Convention of the National Progressive Party in Chicago, August, 1912. He declared that now women were in the workforce, same as men, and they deserved the right for equality. He proclaimed that a woman’s vote would strengthen the morals of the county as they would have a different outlook on the evils of the land. He believed not only would women be strong nationally but could make a difference at a local level. -
Alice Paul, Prison Bars Can't Stop Her
Alice Paul was an American suffragist and one of the main leaders and strategists of the campaign for women’s rights. Her stance on women’s rights brought forth militant tactics that made her the epidemy of women’s strength and endurance. In 1913, she organized a women's rights parade in Washington during President Wilson’s inauguration. Her most infamous acts was in 1917 when she was arrested. In jail, she organized a hunger strike that led to her being force fed and endured severe beatings. -
Jeannette Rankin, A Woman in the White House !
During a time when women still did not have the right to vote, Jeannette Rankin from Montana ran for the U.S. House of Representatives and became the first woman to serve in Congress. This was an opportunity to introduce a bill that would allow a woman to be independent from their husband and grant them the right to vote, it was turned down by the Senate. She pushed forward for a constitutional amendment for women’s right to vote, which was passed by the House and turned down by the Senate. -
Amendment XIX, Worth the Wait
In 1848 at a convention in Seneca Falls, New York, women have fought for rights as citizens of the United States.The women's suffrage amendment was introduced to Congress in 1878, expressing the right to vote.Some states permitted women to vote and hold office prior to the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment. Forty-one years later, on June 4, 1919, Congress approved the women’s suffrage amendment, ratified it on August 18,1920, and officially entered the Constitution of the United States.
