Carrie Chapman Catt: Women's Rights Activist

The first meeting to discuss women's rights took place in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention in New York. It was there that Elizabeth Cady Stanton proposed equal suffrage for women. At that meeting, they drafted the Declaration of Sentiments which illustrated the oppression American women were facing. Although countless, courageous women would sustain this fight, it would be 1920, 72 years later, before Congress ratified the 19th amendment which gave women the right to vote (Timeline of Women's Suffrage). The defining moment in this long battle occurred in 1917 when Carrie C. Catt gave her magnificent speech on women’s suffrage to Congress. Catt’s use of ethos, pathos, and logos, helped persuade Congress to pass the 19th amendment.

In the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s, women were not given the rights they have today and were being mistreated, but because of a few brave women who gave up their lives to fight for what they knew was right, this all changed. Many of these women were educated and brave, but were still denied their rights. Women have suffered through this long battle to get what they knew they deserved and took time out of their lives to fight for what they believed in, which was to have a voice. Women wanted to get the same respect that men were given. The women’s suffrage movement was not only in the United States, but it was all over the world. It took the women’s suffrage movement many years to work and come through, but women were finally able to vote and have the same rights as men. Through their work in the suffrage movement, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony and many more changed the role of women in society.

In 1892, she was asked by Susan B. Anthony to address Congress on the proposed suffrage amendment.  She was passed down to role of the President of the National American Women Suffrage Association, a successor of Susan B. Anthony in the year 1900.  Catt led this organization during the final challenge of the right to vote before the Nineteenth Amendment, a law allowing women to vote, was ratified in 1920.  Catt worked through both state and federal levels persuading legislators to give women the right of suffrage as citizens.  After women achieved the franchise, Catt reorganized the National American Women Suffrage Association into the League of Women Voters.  Carrie Chapman Catt formulated a plan to achieve women’s suffrage.  In April 1911, Carrie began a world tour through Sweden, Europe, Africa, India, Sumatra, the Philippines, China, Korea and Japan, and many other countries founding suffrage organizations and examining women’s conditions throughout the world. Carrie planted new ideas in the minds of citizens in many other nations across the globe.  Carry Chapman Cat should be honored and praised by countless institutions for

Carrie Chapman Catt was an extraordinary woman and activist promoting the rights of women for their political freedoms. Moreover, Catt’s background as a principal, teacher, superintendent of schools, and women’s activist gave credibility to her being a well-educated and refined woman, providing the ethos of her claim. (History.com) For this reason, she was more than capable of advocating for all women of our great country in the fight to allow women the right to a say in their government by giving them the right to vote. Catt argued in her speech to Congress in 1917 that “Woman suffrage was inevitable.” (qtd. in Edinmuller) Through applying ethos, presenting logos, and most importantly emphasizing pathos lead to the success of Catt’s impassioned speech to Congress. The construction of this speech convinced her audience that change is inevitable as well as necessary for this country to become the great

Her name was not high in government, but high in the fight that women across the country were involved in one way or another. Carrie Lane Chapman Catt was a leader, along with Susan B. Anthony, who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Her role in this “civil war” led her to be a member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA).

Lucretia Mott was another woman who contributed in the women’s right movement. She was born on January 3, 1793, in Nantucket, Massachusetts. She was a women’s rights activist, abolitionist, and a religious reformer. Lucretia Mott worked with Elizabeth Cady Stanton to create the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, to convince people to join for the cause. Even after the things she fought for became reality, she would strive to make the society better than how it

As the saying goes, “a woman’s work is never done,” but today’s women live a far different life than their predecessors. The women of the revolution were courageous and brave-hearted. The obstacles of their time were far more difficult to overcome than those faced by women in this day and age. Whether it was slavery, war, or racial prejudice, these women kept their heads held high and worked to break down these barriers and create change for the future. On top of having to deal with these hardships, the women of the revolution had families to take care of, mouths to feed, houses to clean, and wounds to heal. For many women of the revolution it was all about taking a stand for their rights and being

There are people, groups, and events that helped women gain equal rights as women. The Seneca Falls Conventions occurred in 1848 and Congress were introduced to the amendment granting women’s suffrage in 1878. (Document 3) After many women began to realize that their rights were limited, about 300 women and men came to the Seneca Falls Convention. The Seneca Falls Convention occurred on July 19 to 20 in the year of 1848. It was the first convention on women’s right and everything except women’s suffrage was approved. Women suffrage is the right to vote. Elizabeth Cady Stanton ,Lucretia Mott and Frederick Douglass were one of the many that fought for women's suffrage. Lucretia Mott was one of the leading women abolitionist and decided it

In November 1917, Carrie Chapman Catt, leader of National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), gave an address to the United States Congress expressing her belief that woman’s suffrage was inevitable, and requesting that Congress see it as such and vote to pass the amendment. Catt’s speech was based on facts and figures (ethos) from our own country’s history, logic, reasoning, and common sense (logos); it was hard for any man to argue with, which was her goal. Catt had given hundreds of speeches in her life, and in this case, she planned her approach to be factual and unemotional to get through to those that thought of women as

Maud Wood Park was a leader of the suffrage movement to grant American women the right to vote and she was the first president of the National League of Women Voters.

At the beginning of the struggle in America, women’s citizenship was not given serious consideration. Women were invisible in the political sphere and were seen to have no capacity where politics were concerned. When the war occurred, the role of women vastly changed. They were leaders off the battlefield. Women began to question their role in the political arena. Could a woman have a political thought? Could women be patriots? Must a wife’s political loyalty be the same as her husband’s? Once the Revolution succeeded, these questions were pushed away. Women had played the role of “Republican Mother” and completed their duty in helping the war effort, they did not need a more significant political role. Although women realized they had the potential to have a political mind, Kerber uses the legal processes of confiscation, coverture, and divorce to explain how women’s political identities were still tied to the role of wife. The American Revolution was a fight for liberty and freedom, unless you were a woman. As long as those three processes remained intact women would not gain freedom.

Cultural changes were occurring in the United States in the early 1800s that would eventually contribute to the women’s movement. The Second Great Awakening emphasized individualism, this idea expanded to people like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and, Lucretia Mott who fought for women’s right to vote.  Stanton, Mott, and a few other met in the Seneca Falls, New York; they drew up the first public protest in America against women’s political, economic, and social inferiority (Kraditor 1). Women’s roles were viewed as homemakers, being part of their family and not individuals with their own rights. Women faced many challenges throughout history with not being able to participate in politics nor receiving equality especially their voting rights. Although there wasn’t a federal amendment for women’s voting, many states did implement the rights to vote for women.

“Why is a woman to be treated differently? Woman suffrage will succeed, despite this miserable guerilla opposition” (Victoria Clafin Woodhull.) Carrie Chapman Catt was president of the National American Women Suffrage Association who shared the same attitude as Woodhull. During this time period women were denied suffrage which compelled many activist like Carrie chapman Catt to advocate for the Federal Suffrage Amendment. Catt took advantage of the fact that the movement was getting much support to convince congress to pass the amendment. She was specifically targeting congress men entrenched with democratic ideals who opposed the movement. The whole world’s attention was directed to the War that was happening at the time therefore making it crucial Catt establishes a sense of urgency. Catt delivered her “Address to Congress on Women suffrage” in which she gets her point across by establishing her knowledge, stating some hard evidence and logical reasoning why women suffrage is inevitable, and by questioning congress delays and sincerity evoking feelings of guilt and urgency.

Today, if women are asked about how they gained their full rights including the right to vote, most would recognize Susan B. Anthony, a leader of the women’s rights movement that never gave up. Born and raised in an outspoken Quaker household, Anthony believed from a young age that all should be treated equally despite their gender. She took after her father, who had radical views on issues such as temperance and slavery. Susan B. Anthony, a leader for most of her life, fought endlessly in a battle against those of ignorance and unfair views pertaining to the rights of women. She was a very important asset during the Women’s Suffrage Movement while revolutionizing American History. Reaching out to organizations pertaining to the Temperance Movement, Women’s Labor, and Abolitionism to help her own cause, Susan supported the Women’s Rights Movement day-in and day-out no matter where she went. Her works as a leader and suffragist predicted and inspired the future for the rights of women; eventually her successors earned the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, or the 19th Amendment. Susan B. Anthony’s efforts greatly effected the Women’s Rights Movement.

Lydia Taft was the first woman known to legally vote in America. The townspeople voted to allow her to vote in the meeting of October 20, 1756. The women’s right to vote opened the door for many other inequalities around the world.