being a woman means having to fight

Woman Suffrage In Colonial America Abolitionism and Temperance The Seneca Falls Convention After the Civil War Suffrage Gains	Woman Suffrage, right of women to share on equal terms with men the political privileges afforded by representative government and, more particularly, to vote in elections and referendums and to hold public office. Equal political rights for women have been advocated since antiquity. Under the autocratic forms of government that prevailed in ancient times and under the feudal regimes of the Middle Ages, however, suffrage was so restricted, even among men, that enfranchisement of women never attained the status of a major political issue. Conditions warranted organized woman-suffrage movements only after suffrage had been won by large, formerly disfranchised groups of the male population as a consequence of the democratic revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries. In Colonial America The modern woman-suffrage movement originated in postrevolutionary America. Even before the Revolution, American women participated in public life somewhat more freely than European women. In 1647 a wealthy Maryland landholder named Margaret Brent attempted, boldly but unsuccessfully, to secure "place and voice" in the legislature of the colony. In Massachusetts women property holders voted from 1691 to 1780. The Continental Congress debated the woman-suffrage question at length, deciding finally that the individual states should formulate voting rules. Many groups, such as the American Quakers, and numerous individuals, notably the American patriot Thomas Paine, consistently advocated the enfranchising of women. Nonetheless, in colonial and early-19th century America, as elsewhere in the world, women commonly were regarded as inferior beings. Their children, property, and earnings belonged by law solely to their husbands, and various legal and social barriers made divorce almost unthinkable. In most respects American women were legally on a par with criminals, the insane, and slaves. Abolitionism and Temperance During the first half of the 19th century American suffragists worked mainly through the abolitionist and the temperance movements, but antifeminist prejudices severely limited the role of woman members. A notable instance of such prejudice occurred at the London Anti-Slavery Convention of 1840. For several days the convention debated bitterly the right of eight American women to take part in the proceedings. Internationally famous clergymen contended during the debate that equal status for women was contrary to the will of God. Eventually two of the women, the noted American feminists Lucretia Coffin Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, were seated behind a curtain, effectively shielded from view and denied the right to speak. After many such rebuffs American suffragists decided to create a separate movement dedicated to women's rights. Prominent early in the movement were, besides Mott and Stanton, the brilliant American feminists Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, Abby Kelley Foster, and Ernestine Rose. American men active in support of woman suffrage included the clergymen Henry Ward Beecher and Wendell Phillips and the essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. The Seneca Falls Convention In July 1848, on the initiative of Mott and Stanton, the first women's rights convention met at a Wesleyan church chapel in Seneca Falls, New York. More than 100 persons attended the convention, among them many male sympathizers. After serious discussion of proposed means to achieve their ends, the delegates finally agreed that the primary goal should be attainment of the franchise. The convention then adopted a Declaration of Sentiments patterned after the American Declaration of Independence. Public reaction to the Seneca Falls convention presaged a stormy future for the new movement. Although many prominent Americans, including the famed editor Horace Greeley and the abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison, warmly supported it, many citizens and the great majority of newspapers responded with ridicule, fury, and vilification. Suffragists were called the shrieking sisterhood, branded as unfeminine, and accused of immorality and drunkenness. Later, when suffragist leaders undertook speaking tours in support of women's rights, temperance, and abolition, they were often subjected to physical violence. Meetings repeatedly were stormed and disrupted by gangs of street bullies. On one occasion when Anthony spoke in Albany, New York, the city mayor sat on the rostrum brandishing a revolver to discourage possible attacks by hoodlums in the audience. Despite intimidation, the woman-suffrage and abolitionist movements continued for some years to grow side by side. After the Civil War Bitter disagreements over strategy engendered a schism between the suffragist and abolitionist groups after the American Civil War. Many male abolitionists voiced fears that the demands of women suffragists might impede the campaign to gain voting rights for male ex-slaves. The issue came to a head in 1868, when the abolitionists pressed for a constitutional amendment enfranchising all Americans regardless of race, creed, or color. Suffragists retorted that the proposed amendment made no mention of women. The abolitionists answered that the suffragists should defer their claims rather than endanger passage of the amendment. To many suffragists, notably Stanton and Anthony, postponement was unacceptable. In May 1869 the two feminist leaders created the independent National Woman Suffrage Association, with the objective of securing enactment of a federal woman-suffrage law. Another suffragist faction, led by Lucy Stone and Henry Ward Beecher, countered in November of the same year by founding the American Woman Suffrage Association. That group worked for gradual adoption of woman suffrage on a state-by-state basis. The territory of Wyoming gave women the vote in 1869. After the passage (1870) of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Anthony interpreted the law as enfranchising American women as well as male ex-slaves. She went to the polls in Rochester, New York, in 1872 and persuaded the election inspectors to let her and 12 other women register and vote. Two weeks after the election she, her 12 friends, and 3 of the election inspectors were arrested. Anthony received a grossly unfair trial, during which the judge repeatedly displayed antifeminist prejudices. At the height of the proceedings the judge, apparently anticipating a jury verdict in her favor, dismissed the jury and imposed on her a fine of $100. Anthony refused to pay the fine, whereupon the judge, apprehensive that she might appeal to higher courts, allowed her to go free. Her friends never were brought to trial. The election inspectors received heavy fines, which were paid by sympathetic spectators. The case aroused widespread interest, but the ban against woman suffrage remained. Suffrage Gains Anthony's ordeal had the effect, however, of lending impetus to the feminist movement. In 1890 the Stanton-Anthony group merged with the Stone-Beecher faction to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. For many years thereafter the association worked to advance women's rights on both the state and federal levels. Besides Stone, Anthony, and Stanton, leaders and supporters of the association included the noted American feminists Harriet Beecher Stowe, Julia Ward Howe, Clara Barton, Jane Addams, and Carrie Chapman Catt. Largely as a result of agitation by the association, suffrage was granted in the states of Colorado (1893), Utah and Idaho (1896), and Washington (1910). In addition, the association in 1910 secured 500,000 signatures for a petition urging federal woman-suffrage legislation. California granted women the vote in 1911; Kansas, Oregon, and Arizona followed in 1912; Nevada and Montana in 1914; and New York in 1917. The American suffragist movement scored its climactic victory shortly after World War I. In 1919 Congress approved the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provided that "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." Ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment became the law of the land. "Woman Suffrage," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation.

Woman Suffrage

Woman Suffrage, right of women to share on equal terms with men the political privileges afforded by representative government and, more particularly, to vote in elections and referendums and to hold public office. Equal political rights for women have been advocated since antiquity. Under the autocratic forms of government that prevailed in ancient times and under the feudal regimes of the Middle Ages, however, suffrage was so restricted, even among men, that enfranchisement of women never attained the status of a major political issue. Conditions warranted organized woman-suffrage movements only after suffrage had been won by large, formerly disfranchised groups of the male population as a consequence of the democratic revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries.

In Colonial America

The modern woman-suffrage movement originated in postrevolutionary America. Even before the Revolution, American women participated in public life somewhat more freely than European women. In 1647 a wealthy Maryland landholder named Margaret Brent attempted, boldly but unsuccessfully, to secure "place and voice" in the legislature of the colony. In Massachusetts women property holders voted from 1691 to 1780. The Continental Congress debated the woman-suffrage question at length, deciding finally that the individual states should formulate voting rules.

Many groups, such as the American Quakers, and numerous individuals, notably the American patriot Thomas Paine, consistently advocated the enfranchising of women. Nonetheless, in colonial and early-19th century America, as elsewhere in the world, women commonly were regarded as inferior beings. Their children, property, and earnings belonged by law solely to their husbands, and various legal and social barriers made divorce almost unthinkable. In most respects American women were legally on a par with criminals, the insane, and slaves.

Abolitionism and Temperance

During the first half of the 19th century American suffragists worked mainly through the abolitionist and the temperance movements, but antifeminist prejudices severely limited the role of woman members. A notable instance of such prejudice occurred at the London Anti-Slavery Convention of 1840. For several days the convention debated bitterly the right of eight American women to take part in the proceedings. Internationally famous clergymen contended during the debate that equal status for women was contrary to the will of God. Eventually two of the women, the noted American feminists Lucretia Coffin Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, were seated behind a curtain, effectively shielded from view and denied the right to speak.

After many such rebuffs American suffragists decided to create a separate movement dedicated to women's rights. Prominent early in the movement were, besides Mott and Stanton, the brilliant American feminists Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, Abby Kelley Foster, and Ernestine Rose. American men active in support of woman suffrage included the clergymen Henry Ward Beecher and Wendell Phillips and the essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The Seneca Falls Convention

In July 1848, on the initiative of Mott and Stanton, the first women's rights convention met at a Wesleyan church chapel in Seneca Falls, New York. More than 100 persons attended the convention, among them many male sympathizers. After serious discussion of proposed means to achieve their ends, the delegates finally agreed that the primary goal should be attainment of the franchise. The convention then adopted a Declaration of Sentiments patterned after the American Declaration of Independence.

Public reaction to the Seneca Falls convention presaged a stormy future for the new movement. Although many prominent Americans, including the famed editor Horace Greeley and the abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison, warmly supported it, many citizens and the great majority of newspapers responded with ridicule, fury, and vilification. Suffragists were called the shrieking sisterhood, branded as unfeminine, and accused of immorality and drunkenness. Later, when suffragist leaders undertook speaking tours in support of women's rights, temperance, and abolition, they were often subjected to physical violence. Meetings repeatedly were stormed and disrupted by gangs of street bullies. On one occasion when Anthony spoke in Albany, New York, the city mayor sat on the rostrum brandishing a revolver to discourage possible attacks by hoodlums in the audience. Despite intimidation, the woman-suffrage and abolitionist movements continued for some years to grow side by side.

After the Civil War

Bitter disagreements over strategy engendered a schism between the suffragist and abolitionist groups after the American Civil War. Many male abolitionists voiced fears that the demands of women suffragists might impede the campaign to gain voting rights for male ex-slaves. The issue came to a head in 1868, when the abolitionists pressed for a constitutional amendment enfranchising all Americans regardless of race, creed, or color. Suffragists retorted that the proposed amendment made no mention of women. The abolitionists answered that the suffragists should defer their claims rather than endanger passage of the amendment. To many suffragists, notably Stanton and Anthony, postponement was unacceptable. In May 1869 the two feminist leaders created the independent National Woman Suffrage Association, with the objective of securing enactment of a federal woman-suffrage law. Another suffragist faction, led by Lucy Stone and Henry Ward Beecher, countered in November of the same year by founding the American Woman Suffrage Association. That group worked for gradual adoption of woman suffrage on a state-by-state basis. The territory of Wyoming gave women the vote in 1869.

After the passage (1870) of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Anthony interpreted the law as enfranchising American women as well as male ex-slaves. She went to the polls in Rochester, New York, in 1872 and persuaded the election inspectors to let her and 12 other women register and vote. Two weeks after the election she, her 12 friends, and 3 of the election inspectors were arrested. Anthony received a grossly unfair trial, during which the judge repeatedly displayed antifeminist prejudices. At the height of the proceedings the judge, apparently anticipating a jury verdict in her favor, dismissed the jury and imposed on her a fine of $100. Anthony refused to pay the fine, whereupon the judge, apprehensive that she might appeal to higher courts, allowed her to go free. Her friends never were brought to trial. The election inspectors received heavy fines, which were paid by sympathetic spectators. The case aroused widespread interest, but the ban against woman suffrage remained.

Suffrage Gains

Anthony's ordeal had the effect, however, of lending impetus to the feminist movement. In 1890 the Stanton-Anthony group merged with the Stone-Beecher faction to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. For many years thereafter the association worked to advance women's rights on both the state and federal levels. Besides Stone, Anthony, and Stanton, leaders and supporters of the association included the noted American feminists Harriet Beecher Stowe, Julia Ward Howe, Clara Barton, Jane Addams, and Carrie Chapman Catt. Largely as a result of agitation by the association, suffrage was granted in the states of Colorado (1893), Utah and Idaho (1896), and Washington (1910). In addition, the association in 1910 secured 500,000 signatures for a petition urging federal woman-suffrage legislation. California granted women the vote in 1911; Kansas, Oregon, and Arizona followed in 1912; Nevada and Montana in 1914; and New York in 1917.

The American suffragist movement scored its climactic victory shortly after World War I. In 1919 Congress approved the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provided that "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." Ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment became the law of the land.