Women's Rights and Suffrage Essay For History

The women’s suffrage movement was a fight that lasted nearly 100 years for women to win the right to vote. It began in 1848 when Elizabeth Cady Stanton, among others, organized a convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Women and men met at this convention to discuss the possibility of women having the right to vote, and it was the event that started many more conventions to come. It was this convention that paved and led the way to the 19th amendment, the amendment that gave women the right to vote. The women’s suffrage movement was one of the most important events in history that led to women gaining the right to vote. Before having the right to vote, women had no self-representation and had to depend on the men in their lives for representation. The 19th amendment was a turning point for women’s social and political rights, and it paved the way for future generations of women to continue to fight for their rights. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, two prominent figures in the women’s suffrage movement, led a convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. Throughout the meeting, the Declaration of Independence was echoed by Stanton, specifically one line: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.” Many issues were discussed during the meeting, including the restrictive laws on marriage, property laws, women’s education, and the right to vote. Stanton was the one speaking, and Mott thought that bringing up the right to vote was a radical thing for Stanton to mention. However, a woman’s right to vote was eventually approved by the convention thanks to the support from a man by the name of Frederick Douglass (The Women’s Rights Movement). It was that meeting in Seneca Falls that had Stanton hoping for more than just one convention. It was important for such issues to be talked about, to be spread to as many as possible. Just as she hoped, word did spread, and conventions began to be held regularly from 1850 until the start of the Civil War. It was also in 1850 that, just two years after the Seneca Falls Convention, Stanton met Susan B. Anthony and they formed together a lifetime alliance as activists for women’s rights. Besides Stanton and Anthony, many others joined the cause and traveled for conventions including Sojourner Truth and Lucy Stone (Eisenburg, 1998). During the Civil War many reformers focused on the war rather than organizing and attending women’s rights meetings. One of the reasons that reformers focused on the war was because many of them supported the abolition of slavery, so they rallied together in efforts to support the North to win the war. Clara Barton, one of the many women’s rights activists, served as a nurse during the war just like many others. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony established the Women’s Loyal National League. The group called for the end of slavery and full rights for newly freed blacks. While some activists joined the WLNL, some joined the United States Sanitary Commission, a national volunteer organization that raised money to send supplies to Union Soldiers. Black women played a crucial part in the war effort as well, including one named Harriet Tubman. Tubman had been helping slaves escape to their freedom as early as 1851. Because of her efforts and her familiarity with the land, she also became a spy for the war. In addition, the Women’s Loyal National League funded and supported her help and efforts. It was these events that showed that even though the Civil War disrupted meetings for the movement, individuals were still doing their part to continue the fight (Lange, 2015). After the war came a dividing time in the women’s rights movement, the 15th amendment. The 15th amendment, which granted African American men the right to vote, led to two competing national organizations focused on winning the women’s suffrage movement. The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) opposed the Fifteenth Amendment, while the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) supported the new law. Stanton and Anthony founded the NWSA first. They thought that the 15th amendment should include women of color too. As well as starting the organization, Stanton and Anthony also started a newspaper titled, “The Revolution” as the mouthpiece for their newly formed organization. Their paper covered topics including a woman’s right to suffrage, education, and divorce. The NWSA was more radical and controversial than the competing American Woman Suffrage Association, which focused only on the vote (Lange, 2015). After competing for over two decades, the NWSA and the AWSA were formed together in alliance to form one organization, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Stanton became the president of the group, and Anthony largely led the group during her presidency. The group was made up of local and state groups throughout the United States. Member dues funded annual conventions where suffragists met to discuss campaigns. Even though the NAWSA has so many members, not everyone was allowed to participate. On the national level, colored women were allowed to join, but state and local groups had a say as to whether or not colored women could join and many of those groups wouldn’t allow colored women. Conventions held in southern cities were segregated. Although the NAWSA did allow women of color to join on a national level, the organization did require that black women march separately during their 1913 parade in Washington, D.C. It was shown that even through the fight for equality, racism persisted through inequality (Lange, 2015). As the United States entered World War I in 1917, the National American Woman Suffrage Association encouraged its supporters to join in the war effort. The organization argued women deserved the vote because they were patriots, caregivers, and mothers. Women’s expertise in maintaining the home and family would improve politics and society. Their war efforts and pickets at the White House ended up leading to widespread support for the movement. President Woodrow Wilson, who never supported the efforts before, was now addressing the Senate in September of 1918 in favor of the women’s suffrage movement. Because of the efforts of the activists in spreading their message, and men of power now partaking in their fight, Congress passed the 19th amendment in June of 1919. Along with this came the ratification of the amendment by local and state representatives in August of 1920, permanently giving women the right to vote everywhere (Lange, 2015). The passing of the 19th amendment has helped millions of women in so many ways, but the fight still continues today. Because of the 19th amendment, women were able to advocate for job opportunities, fair wages, education, sex education, and reproduction. Women finally being able to vote ensures their reproductive rights and economic progress. This changed the course of history for years to come, with women being elected to office, holding positions such as CEO and other types of management positions, and now we have the first woman Vice President who was elected in the 2020 presidential election, Kamala Harris. However, as mentioned before, women’s rights are still being fought for. With the recent addition of the Texas abortion law, women are once again struggling to make their voices heard. This is now a time where women must make an impact again, to protect their rights and to continue the path that leaders such as Stanton and Tubman paved. The effects of the 19th amendment have mostly been nothing short of positive, with the only negative at all being that women still have to continue to fight today (Williamson, 2013).