Women's Suffrage In The United States

To what extent was the National Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848 the start to women’s suffrage?

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.

What were some reasons women wanted the right to vote? In the 19th century Women’s Voting Rights began when male suffrage extended in many countries. African American men achieved their voting rights before the women. Many people looked at this as sexist towards the women. After this amendment women became more determined to achieve their rights and started movements towards Women Suffrage. Many men and women tried preventing the process of Women Rights. Yet women who believed in their own rights didn’t give up hope to one day have the same rights as any other individual.

In the photo to the left you see a group of about ten women standing around a box. The women closest are reaching toward the box to put a slip of paper in it. The women are a mix of races and ages, some are smiling, some are not. The Photo is in black and white and the women appear to be wearing old-fashioned clothing and hairstyles.

The right to vote, the right to go to college, the right to own property. Some people take it as a right that they had all along. That is far from the truth. Suffragists fought long and hard for many years to gain women suffrage. Before the suffrage movement began, women did not have the right to vote, child custody rights, property rights, and more (Rynder). The American Women Suffrage Movement was going to change that. People known as suffragists spoke up, and joined the effort to get women their rights. Without them, things would be very different today. The American Suffrage Movement lasted over the course of many years and changed the lives of American women forever.

In attempt to be able to change laws and allowing the married women to own their own property, Stanton gave some public speeches and had spoken to members of the New York Legislature. The Women’s rights convention was on july 19th-20th and was located in Seneca Falls, New York (Adams, Page 17). At Least 40 of the 300 people that had attended this, were none other than men (Adams, Page 17). One of those men was Frederick Douglas, Douglas was a former slave and an abolitionist. He was with the argument to give women the rights that they needed. He had stated that “without women, they would have no way of protecting their rights or to make changes in the laws (Adams, Page 17).” Sixty-eight women and thirty-two men had signed the declaration at the end of the convention (Adams, Page 17). Susan B. Anthony kept the women’s movement moving the right direction. Anthony also went around the country giving speeches that were written by Stanton. She was a very dedicated person when it came to problems like this.

(Hannam 296) During the Anti-Slavery Movement, she had valuable experience in public speaking and running poilitical organizations through her work in the abolishionist movement. (298 ) in the process women were generally discouraged from taking active part in public life and expected to join women only groups in support of male organizations (ibid) While Elizabeth Cady Stanton is best known for her long contribution to the woman suffrage struggle, without her struggles these issues wouldnt have been effective in winning property rights for married women, equal guardianship of children, and liberalized divorce laws. These reforms made it possible for women to leave marriages that were abusive of the wife, the children, and the economic health of the family.

Suffragists advocated for women 's enfranchisement to not only secure political rights for female, but also for social equality between genders. This is supported by the information that is outlined in the Declaration of Sentiments, which was written during the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. As a matter of fact, this convention initiated and set the notion of women 's enfranchisement into motion. In the declaration, pro-suffragist men and women implied that females were not treated equally to their male peers but repressed by the traditional values and ideas of the society. They also suggested that a woman did not have a legal entity under the law. Thus, the individual freedoms which are outlined in the Bill of Rights did not directly apply to women. Suffragists were convinced that in order to improve the social conditions of women, it was necessary for her to be politically represented, which can only be achieved by gaining the right to vote. It is essential to note that when referring to the social conditions, suffragists are pointing out issues, such as, women receiving smaller wages than men. Other social issues include: women having to give up the full child custody to her husband after divorce; women being discouraged from attending higher educational institutes; and more.

The modern political climate is more suited for women to run for the presidency. At the time of the American Revolution, the inequality of the past remained the same. “The only 6% of the public was allowed to vote (Adam Season 7)”. Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John Adams March 31st 1776.

Some of the more prominent leaders were; Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, Emmeline Pankhurst and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. These influential leaders involved in Women 's Suffrage helped to improve the quality of life in the 1920’s by fighting for equality, and driving congress to pass the 19th amendment that gave women the strength and courage to stand up for themselves.

The passage of women’s suffrage was a long journey which included many conventions and organizations to kick it off. Women’s suffrage was an idea that came from the women’s rights movement, which held conventions. These conventions were a big attribute to the passage of women’s suffrage. Women’s suffrage first became a political issue when it was brought up in 1848 at the Seneca Falls convention, located in Seneca Falls, New York. Five women, four of which were Quaker rights activists, called the two day long convention. The resolution of the convention was a declaration of sentiments, signed by one hundred of the three hundred people who attended the convention. After this convention, women’s rights activists were determined to keep fighting

Before the 1700s, women in the United States didn’t receive any good education. When women did start to get good education, they started to get more into politics and started asking questions about why couldn’t they vote among other things. The year 1948, marked the birth of women suffrage movement when the first women’s right convention was held in Seneca Falls. The convention was organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Together with other women they declared that women should have rights in education, voting, property and more.

Women always tried to find a way they could fight for their country just like men did. They willing offered and volunteered. Women fought for more than 200 years to obtain the rights only white men were guaranteed. While women worked to help free slaves, they noticed similarities to the unfair matters to their situation. Why did women not have the same rights as men?

The women’s movement from the early 20th century had numerous goals, with the foremost being women having the right to vote. Along with suffrage, this movement sought change in many areas such as alcohol abuse, child labor laws, and political practices. While as a whole the women’s movement wanted progress on these issues, there were differences of opinion on how to get them done. One side was more temperate and less aggressive in their demands, while the other side believed in a more aggressive and direct approach to getting issues passed. These two would fight over how to get women’s suffrage passed as an amendment to the Constitution. The more peaceful of the two groups, known as NAWSA, or the National American Women’s Suffrage Association,

The questions before you are the very questions I intend to have answered while researching this subject. I want to take my readers back into time when women had no voice to be heard, and no opinions to be made. Women like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucy Stone are just some of the women whom paved the way for our women of today. I will cover their stories and their individual fight for women’s right.