Women's Suffrage In The Progressive Era

The early 1900’s was considered the Progressive Era. The rise of Fordism was happening and the assembly line. This was providing more and more jobs. The working woman was on the rise as well and women were working for wages instead of being home. The Progressive Era changed America as we know it (Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, pg. 693).

Over the past five hundred years or so in america as the overall majority in Mankind, women comprise of the largest group in the world, but they are a vital asset in every aspect of our society. Woman and women's rights are tied hand in hand with american culture, which entails in these rights that they're dependent of social status, race, and geography in america like civil rights in the south. There were different types of economic changes for the different types of ethiniticities in America in which there were different of turning point that women won over their sufferage through their racial discrimination, these included the native american women, hispanic american, african americans and the chinese american women of the united states.

The Progressive Era was mainly a retaliation to numerous changes and social effects that were happening in America. The era emerged in the 1800’s from complications with the latest industrial order, which included workers who protested about how their jobs were unsafe and exhausting. They also focused on byproducts such as immigration, urban growth, growing corporate power, and widening class divisions. They were also known as humanitarians or reformers who cared about making people lives more bearable and enjoying. They demanded stricter business regulations and favored immigration restrictions. They believed that social problems could be solved by education and organized effort. They figured since advantages such as technology and science created a lot of industrial problems, they could correct and solve them too. However, their ideas was not invented in America, but instead it came from European influences. The middle class progressives were afraid of being over powered by the industrialist class of big businesses, while at the same time they were confident and comfortable in their situation. It was also stated that the middle-class reformers supported the reform for the working class, because the middle class were scared of a growing lower class that could potentially “overpower” the middle class if something did not change. The women Progressives focused on causes such as world peace and women’s rights.

Darkness reigned over America as women fought for their freedom. Women suffered from discrimination based on gender for decades, always subordinate to men. This led to protests across the nation during the Progressive Era, and started a 72 year long dispute. After years of discrimination, an amendment finally passed in the states granting women more freedoms and less gender discrimination. Due to the change, America was led into a better future. The Nineteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was finally passed which legalized women’s right to vote and created a voice for women.

During the Progressive Era, there was a rise in advocates for various issues of the period. A prime example of a progressive advocate is Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who through her writing encouraged more social, political, and economic rights for women. Gilman specifically advocated for women to not only participate in their domestic duties but for women to also serve as active members of society; both politically and financially. To convey these points, Gilman wrote and published many books that illustrated the issues to the public and started conversations and controversies which brought more attention to women’s rights. In her works, Gilman consistently advocated for economic power for women; however, she supported women being involved and equal in every aspect of society; including having the same domestic power and rights as their husbands, women’s suffrage to match male counterparts, and the ability for women to be financially independent and self-supporting. Gilman’s writings acted as a significant part of the women’s rights movement during the Progressive Era by bringing the controversial issues to the public eye.

In the summer of eighteen forty-eight two women Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony who founded the National Women’s Suffrage Association in eighteen sixty-nine met with a small group of people determined to give women a larger sphere of action than the laws and customs of that day allowed (Taylor 13). At this time in our country women were denied the right to vote, made to give their husbands the land and property which they may have control of, plus nearly no say in legal or professional matters. To give you an idea of what the women were up against on July thirtieth, eighteen sixty-eight a group lead by T.H. Mundine wrote a declaration stating that all persons meeting age, residences, and citizenship requirements be deemed qualified electors “without distinction of sex” (Taylor 14). This motion was referred to the state of Texas and in January eighteen sixty-nine, it was rejected on a vote of fifty-two – thirteen. The motion that was shot down was not anything to major by today’s standards. It was a simple bill to allow women to have a more reasonable portion of the burdens of government (Taylor 14). As this example illustrates women had a huge wall to climb of they wanted to be even with men in societies eyes.

Although the Progressive Era typically focuses on the accomplishments of men, many women during that time notably influenced the way women in society are treated today. Through the spread of awareness of the validity of woman suffrage, women today are given the right

Individuals have many roles in society- mother, father, husband wife, brother, sister, employer, employee, and so much more. However, we do not see individuals doing essentially the most important role,which is an informer. In today’s society, most people either do not choose to show wrongdoings of society or decide to ignore it. Some righteous individuals decide to adjudge the social norms and show them to society. These people display conformity- complying with what is “normal” or socially acceptable, uniformity-being unvaried or the same, and centralized control- concentration of power in a group or company. Throughout the texts Fast Food Nation by Eric Schussler, Susan B. Anthony’s On Woman’s Right To Suffrage, and Malala Yousafzai's

The Progressive Era The Progressive movement was created from 1890 to the 1920s by a group of men after the Gilded Age. It was a period of social activism and political reform. These men wanted change in the government as the government had many problems such as industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and corruption. These men wanted the government to be fair after the government had been exposed in all sorts of ways in books written by muckrakers such as The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis and many more.

The Progressive Era, lasting from 1890s to the 1920s, was a period when the United States went through a social and political reformation. This started because many Americans lived in poverty while there are only a handful of rich families. The upper class held monopolies which meant that they controlled every aspects of their products and workers. People who worked in factories and other industries faced terrible working conditions. Furthermore, the workers got little to none benefits from their jobs and had to work from dawn to dusk.

The Progressive Era was a reform movement in the early 20th century to exploit and go against the many evils that were in the United States. Some of those evils included monopoly, corruption, inefficiency, and social injustice. However, this era also opened up new possibilities for the women within the United States. The Progressive Era marked a turning point in the debate over women and their rights in the United States through the different movements, cases, and calamity that befell on the country that aroused questions on how things were being done within America.

Many reform movements took place from 1830 to 1860 following the Second Great Awakening. Most notably were the Abolitionist Movement, the Women’s Rights Movement, and the Temperance Movement. The time period from 1890 to 1920 was called the Progressive Era and focused on enacting change in the working environment as well as continuing to improve women’s rights. Both of these time periods pushed for change yet the social reformers during the Progressive Era achieved their goals to a greater extent in part due to the acts created. Both the social reformers in the period of 1830 to 1860 as well as 1890 to 1920 brought attention to crucial subject matters, however the social reformers from the latter period achieved their goals to a greater extent through the creation of several acts, laws, and committees.

The Progressive Era was a time period when the United States began to advance in different areas like industrialization, urbanization, colonization, and government. It occurred throughout the years ranging from the 1890s to the 1920s. As industrialization increased, more advancement in social activism and political reform took place as well. Although multiple changes occurred, the societal area that underwent the most change and received the most attention was the social status and role of women. Before the Progressive Era began, women were known to only work in their homes. Nevertheless, with the support of strong women reformers, women eventually attained the right to vote and changed their social status as a whole.

The Progressive Era was a period in American history between the 1890s and 1920s. During this time, many changes were made to help our changing society. While our nation’s industry and political power were growing, factories were unsafe and not all citizens had equal rights. During this era, women were granted more rights, including the right to vote, and the meatpacking industry became regulated and more sanitary. These changes were important among the many that occurred during the progressive era.

California women and men worked tirelessly to strengthen the women’s suffrage campaign from 1893, when the state legislature passed an amendment permitting women to vote in state elections, through the final passage of the amendment in 1911. The strength of the movements themselves, passionate support overcoming harsh opposition, pushed by the people and the organizations championing for the women’s vote were the main contributing factors which accumulated in the eventual passage of Amendment 8. Since California women have begun to vote, there have been many advancements and setbacks in the other women’s rights movements, including the Nineteenth Amendment and the Equal Rights Amendment.