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¶ … Nancy Woloch's Chapter 14 "Feminism and Suffrage" (1994, 2nd ed, pp. 326-363) from the general to the specific and back again. Remarkable to me was how three generations (357) of women reacted to a complex and evolving institutional and social environment to adapt and specialize toward the primary goal of woman suffrage. They achieved this core objective by targeting the strongest leverage, from the woman on the street to their male 'representatives' in the state house, "deliberately and collectively" (Woloch 359), and I add 'persistently,' over five decades (355) through changing leadership and constituent characteristics and preferences. Woloch asks what this achievement contributed toward "the overhaul of attitudes demanded in 1848" (359). The result was a model for accomplishing massive structural social change that led directly from Seneca Falls through the labor movement, the Great Society era Civil Rights Movement, to Stonewall and Section 503 of the Civil Rights Act that became the Americans With Disabilities Act the better part of a...
While white / male groups still dominate all others in earnings and social power today, none of these accomplishments would have been possible without the difficult work these pioneering women sacrificed many lives to accomplish together.
That being said, some of those choices were difficult, and look mercenary, if not hypocritical from the modern viewpoint they laid the foundations for. While selling out the black woman vote (343) probably was harder for some than others, as evidenced by the difference between Susan B. Anthony's attempts at integration (343) all the way through the opposite extreme of NAWSA taking "advantage of racist arguments when they were useful" (343), if we judge them today, it is from the viewpoint they left us, which we may not have without this difficult tactical decision. We can only pay back those generations of black woman now, by recognizing her sacrifice then, and make up for it with unity today.
Likewise an "impressive women's peace movement" widely supported among the rank…
This all being said, the sacrifices were difficult for some, maybe not for others; the painful decisions seem to have been tactical rather than rejections in principle, and in easier circumstances may have been different. Achieving the vote took partnership and pragmatism, building on the contribution of the English suffrage movement (351) and the struggle for equality going back to the Underground Railroad. Those women hung out a quilt pointing the way to a freedom and equality which, while still persistently elusive today, is far closer for our generation than it was for theirs. What is important now is for feminists of all genders and heritage, not to succumb to illusions "[t]here is nothing for women to rally around" (Anna Shaw, qtd. In Woloch 358). Knowing this story makes our work seem less of a burden than an obligation, if we can finally rise above "the indifference, the inertia, the apathy of women" (Susan B. Anthony, qtd. In Woloch 328) that may be our only remaining obstacle today.
Reference
Woloch, Nancy. Women and the American Experience. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
Woman's Suffrage Women in the United States made the fight for suffrage their most fundamental demand because they saw it as the defining feature of full citizenship. The philosophy underlying women's suffrage was the belief in "natural rights" to govern themselves and choose their own representatives. Woman's suffrage asserted that women should enjoy individual rights of self-government, rather than relying on indirect civic participation as the mothers, sisters, or daughters of
In 1869, Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, another prominent 19th century suffragist, formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) to collectively lobby for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. The NWSA also focused their attention on universal suffrage for African-Americans. Their efforts toward abolition succeeded first, as the 15th Amendment passed in 1871. Also in 1869 Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and other suffragists formed a separate suffragist
Suffrage Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Amelia Bloomer were all instrumental in shifting the status of women in American society. Their writings reveal the personalities, assumptions, and values of the authors. Each of these women took incredible personal risks by challenging the underlying assumptions in the society that women were not valid, valuable members of society. The place of women in American society prior to suffrage was no better
149-150). References Balu, R. (Fall 1995). History comes alive: How women won the right to vote. Human Rights, 22(4). Retrieved March 23, 2005, from Academic Search Premier database. Colorado: Popularism, panic and persistence. (No date). Retrieved March 23, 2005, at http://www.autry-museum.org/explore/exhibits/suffrage/suffrage_co.html. Marilley, S.M. (1996). Woman suffrage and the origins of liberal feminism in the United States, 1820-1920. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Suffrage appeals to lawless and hysterical women. (30 May 1913). New York
The authors further point out that at the time, NWSA did not accept male membership as its focus was firmly trained on securing the voting rights of women nationwide. As their push for the enfranchisement of women at the federal level became more and more untenable, NWSA shifted its focus to individual states. In so doing, it planned to create a ripple effect that could ease the attainment of
Women The sphere of women's work had been strictly confined to the domestic realm, prior to the Industrial Revolution. Social isolation, financial dependence, and political disenfranchisement characterized the female experience prior to the twentieth century. The suffrage movement was certainly the first sign of the dismantling of the institutionalization of patriarchy, followed by universal access to education, and finally, the civil rights movement. Opportunities for women have gradually unfolded since the