Susan B. Anthony: Women's Suffrage

This photo captures American women voting for the first time after the 19th Amendment was passed on August 26, 1920. Women were always thought of less than man and were expected to stay home and take care of the children. They lacked important rights such as voting, being able to own property, and having legal claim to any money they might earn. But after about seventy years women proved that they, like men, deserve all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Gaining the right to vote was a historical step for women in America that was achieved through hard work and perseverance.

The Women’s Suffrage Movement of the 1920’s worked to grant women the right to vote nationally, thereby allowing women more political equality. Due to many industrial and social changes during the early 19th century, many women were involved in social advocacy efforts, which eventually led them to advocate for their own right to vote and take part in government agencies. Women have been an integral part of society, working to help those in need, which then fueled a desire to advocate for their own social and political equality. While many women worked tirelessly for the vote, many obstacles, factions, and ultimately time would pass in order for women to see the vote on the national level. The 19th Amendment, providing women the right to vote, enable women further their pursuit for full inclusion in the working of American society.

This amendment, ratified on August 18, 1920, guaranteed all American women the right to vote. This amendment, initiated to advance the cause of equal rights for women, was the culmination of the women's suffrage movement in the United States, which fought at both state and national levels to achieve the vote. This constitutional amendment was initiated to enfranchise all American women and declare that they, like men, are deserving of all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Women were granted the right to participate in politics, which initially was only given to men. As a direct result of this, women began to enter the political sphere and workplace; they began to pursue their dreams without feeling restricted due to their

The nineteenth amendment to the United States Constitution states, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This amendment was ratified on August eighteenth of 1920 by the Secretary of State, Bainbridge Colby. The amendment did not get ratified till 1920, but the fight for women’s suffrage started long before, in the mid nineteenth century (General Records of the United States Government, 2002). Today many women assume that their right to vote as if it has always; however, this luxury has not long existed. The amendment is not even a hundred year old yet. The nineteenth amendment has great history behind it, strong women who led it, and effects on the way we live our lives today.

The women’s suffrage movement is thought to have begun with the publication of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792. Wollstonecraft is considered the “mother of feminism” and wrote of the sexual double standards between men and

In the United States history, women lacked the ability to do many things that men could do. An example of this would be that married woman couldn’t own property, had no legal claim on any money they may earn, and had no right to vote. Women didn’t have the choice of what they wanted to do. Their job was to stay at home and clean the house and take care of the kids. They had no effect on the political system and couldn’t even stage their vote. On August 18, 1920, it changed a lot of things for woman. On this day, the U.S. Constitution granted women the right to vote.

“The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation, because in the degradation of women, the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source” (Lucretia Mott). Lucretia Mott is one of the most famous women’s rights activist, abolitionist, and social reformer. American women were degraded of their rights until suffragist began to stand up for what they knew was a limitation of their American freedom. Riots and conventions were held by women so they could come together and demand their rights so they could be respected by society. By ratifying the nineteenth amendment, it changed the course of history as we know it today. This addition to the Constitution arguably gave women the ability to compare their rights with men’s. This impacted America tremendously by allowing women to have the power to change the outcome of political elections. The Nineteenth Amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote. With the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment women were given more freedom, because they could now work the same jobs as a man. It took until the 1980s for women to make up half of the workforce, this was a big change in the American economy because this gave women a financial status and freedom.

Accordingly, frontier women gained the right to vote and over time other states granted females suffrage, in full or in part. Women became influential in elections and had an effect on who was elected into Congress. These members were then more obligated to vote for a women’s suffrage amendment to the Constitution. Finally, in 1920 the 19th Amendment was passed in part due to these members of Congress and because women had played a major role in supporting the country during World War I. The amendment stated that nobody could be denied the right to vote based on their gender. This was a great stepping stone for females that allowed them to participate in the world of politics and decide who their leaders were. No longer was the woman a voiceless bystander.

This was not an easy journey for women. They were fighting for this right for a long time but it was never passed into a law. It was one of the most important right women progressives were fighting for. Even after the ratification of 16th and 17th amendment, women were yet to be given their right to vote. This angered many women and some even started using racial language against African Americans since they got their right to vote before the women ever did. There was a major division amongst some women as well. Some upper-class white women believed that women should not have the right to vote. Their argument was that women are virtually represented in the politics by their husband or a male family member. If the women were given the right to vote, they would vote against their husband's. The President of that time, Woodrow Wilson, was against women’s suffrage movement as well. After a long fight, in 1919, both houses passed the 19th amendment. It was finally ratified in 1920 to make it the law of the land, which enabled women to vote. After a hard fought battle, women were finally able to represent themselves in

Women’s rights are important because without women getting their rights, there wouldn’t have been any big modernization in America. America would have been nothing as it is today.

In August of 1920, 50 years after the ratification of the 15th Amendment, The 19th Amendment was ratified and added to the US Constitution. It stated: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” This amendment, which women had been fighting for decades for, allowed every legal citizen in the United States to vote and gave everyone citizen a chance to voice their opinion in the government.

They were seen as inferior to men and treated as one and had no protection over their rights. Importantly, they were not able to easily get jobs, receive education, contribute to politics, and gain independence. To exhibit and expand women’s capability, Women’s Rights Movement had begun in 1848 in the U.S. In this movement, both women and few other men started by outlining the movement and calling for equal treatment and the right to vote. An organization called the National Woman Suffrage Association, formed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton during the movement, their goal was to have women’s voting rights in the Constitution. Later on, states started to pass women’s suffrage laws and adopt an amendment granting women right to vote. In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment, the right to vote, was signed into the Constitution. Yet, there were still gender distinction. For example, a woman would lose their citizenship if she married a non-American, including her children. But that was until 1934. As time went by, rules of women, race, and religion discrimination were banned in U.S. and laws helping and protecting them were made in many

As for the modern period, it allowed women to have rights, to have the ability to vote, and to have differences from men. On August 18th, 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified and granted the right for women to vote and it was the sparked hope for the future opportunities women had.

Up until August 18, 1920, women were not granted the right to vote, like their male counterparts. The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution allows women’s suffrage, which is that an American cannot be denied the right to vote based on sex. Women’s rights activists started raising public awareness and concern for the Nineteenth Amendment, which ultimately gained the trust and secured the votes of the women of America. Women had to fight for these rights from the very beginning, and it wasn’t until ninety-six years ago that the amendment was finally passed.

The 19th Amendment, which was a result of the women’s suffrage movement, was ratified and passed by congress in 1920, which declares that the state, and government, can not deny any citizen the right to vote, no matter their sex.