The Women's Suffrage Movement

Ever since the 1920 election, in which Warren G. Harding and his running mate Calvin Coolidge defeated James M. Cox and then-vice presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt, millions of American women have participated in Constitutional democracy. In that election, the women who boldly voiced their opinion and advanced their beliefs by placing their votes in the ballot box were aware of just how unique this moment was. For over 70 years, American women had been engaged in a vast array of activism, protesting, boycotting, convening, and in a few cases, rioting in order to make sure that the promises made by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence would not be denied to them any longer. The 1920 election was the culmination of 7 decades of hard work, bravery, and strength. However, 100 years after that brilliant day, this vital victory for American freedom has been largely forgotten. People of all genders attend the ballot box every 2 years, casting their votes without a single thought for all the soldiers and protestors who struggled ever since the Revolutionary War to give them that right. For this reason, I figured that it would be wise to write this article describing the work of the women's suffrage movement.

The women's suffrage movement - or at least the various activist groups preceding it and who blended together to establish the suffragette movement - had its basis in a trio of social changes enjoyed by America in the early 19th century. First off, people were challenging the idea of what was described as the "cult of true womanhood". Simply put, the cult of true womanhood is the idea that an ideal woman would submit herself to the highly patriarchal stereotype of an uneducated maiden who spends her life caring for a home, serving her husband, and birthing children. Throughout the 1810s, 1820s, and 1830s, individual women developed an interest in diversifying their various destinies. No longer would they bind their lives to ancient canards. With this new desire for freedom, the second reform enabling the women's suffrage movement came into existence. Women became fascinated with and passionate about politics. Being, by in large, more progressive than men, abolitionism appealed to women. Additionally, temperance and alcohol bans were supported by most women, as it would free them from the alcoholic rants, tirades, and tantrums of their abusive husbands.

Finally, there was the rise of Andrew Jackson. Unlike his predecessors - George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, etc. - Jackson was not born into a wealthy or aristocratic family. His interest in the plight of the poor and underprivileged was not crafted by obscure ventures into the pages of Enlightenment literature or the histories of ancient Hellenistic and Mediterranean proto-democracies like Athens or the Roman Republic. Instead, it was the result of actual lived experiences. Jackson was the son of poor Irish immigrants, both of whom died before he was an adult, and grew up in financial deprivation. He eventually received a law degree, using his image as a successful warrior who slayed the serpents of poverty to become a politician and general. In 1824, he was denied the presidency despite winning both the popular vote and Electoral College. The fact that none of the 4 candidates received a majority landed the election in the hands of the House of Representatives. There, Henry Clay helped John Quincy Adams secure the presidency, becoming Adams' secretary of state soon after. Jackson then falsely accused these 2 men of working together to rig the election.

As president, Jackson dramatically expanded democracy at the federal level. He even tried to abolish the Electoral College, though failed. This new support for democracy by the president (Adams too shared Jackson's concern for voting rights) coincided with the expansion of the franchise to include white men who didn't own land. Because of these changes, women began desiring the right to vote as well. These 3 factors - the dissolution of the cult of true womanhood, increased political activism by American women, and the rise of Jacksonian democracy - came together to crystalize the women's suffrage movement. On July 19, 1848, a group of women's rights activists met at a church in New York and launched the Seneca Falls Convention. The meeting was organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Mott and Stanton first befriended each other in 1840, when they bonded over their work to oppose how women at an anti-slavery conference in London had been denied speaking roles due to their sex.

The Seneca Falls Convention, which is generally cited as the start of the women's suffrage movement, ran from July 19, 1848, to July 20, 1848. On the first day, only women were allowed to attend, but men were given entry on the last day. After the convention dispersed, the organizers published the Declaration of Sentiments. As the name implies, the Declaration of Sentiments was inspired by Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. The 1848 document was essentially just a copy of the 1776 document, though certain excerpts were edited to describe the struggle not of Colonists against British oppression, but of women against patriarchal oppression. By far the most controversial part of the Declaration of Sentiments was a line calling for the expansion of voting rights to include women. This position was met with immediate mockery, a fact worsened by how the growing debate regarding slavery left people unable to discuss the mistreatment of women. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln won the presidency, causing southern states to secede and create the Confederate States of America. The following year, the civil war officially began with a Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, and in 1865, the civil war ended as the Confederacy surrendered. Now, the country could focus on Reconstruction!

One of the goals of Reconstruction was to give new financial, political, legal, and social rights to the freed slaves. To this end, 3 Constitutional amendments were passed: The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, banned slavery. The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, gave equal protection under the law to all Americans. Lastly, the 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, made sure that no one would have their right to vote denied because of their race. Known as the Reconstruction Amendments, these policies divided the women's suffrage movement. Many suffragettes opposed the Reconstruction Amendments, as they often specified that these rights were for men, rather than just Americans broadly. As one suffragette put it, they worried that allowing the word "men" to enter the Constitution during Reconstruction would force the next century to be spent getting it out. Instead, they wanted the 14th and 15th Amendments to require that both men and women would get these rights. Other suffragettes were appalled by this, arguing that tying black rights to the unpopular position of women's suffrage would be irresponsible, decimating Reconstruction's optics and trapping ex-slaves in further oppression.

Suffragettes who supported Reconstruction broke off and established the American Woman Suffrage Association, which sought to gradually institute female voting rights by pressuring individual states to expand the franchise. The AWSA was a lot more pragmatic than the National Women Suffrage Association, which demanded an immediate Constitutional amendment to give all women voting rights. It would take another 20 years for the cracks and holes in the suffrage movement to be stitched back up. In the meantime, however, suffragettes did enjoy a major victory: Western states like Utah, California, and Wyoming started giving women the right to vote within their own borders. These territories had just been secured by the United States in the years prior to the civil war and wanted to entice Americans to move into their jurisdiction. To this end, western states granted women voting rights in order to appeal to potential female settlers. It was for cynical reasons, yet still a great milestone for the suffragettes.

In 1890, the American Woman Suffrage Association and National Women Suffrage Association merged to create the National American Woman Suffrage Association, finally reuniting the voting rights movement. By this time, one of the main arguments for why women should enjoy voting rights had changed. Prior to the 1890s, women argued that they were the same as men, and so should have the same political rights. Now, the argument was that since men were often conservative and most women were progressive, women would add necessary diversity to electoral races and political debates. This argument was very successful, such that when Theodore Roosevelt embarked on the Progressive Era in 1901, leftists and liberals became huge proponents of expanding the franchise to include women, hoping to advance reform in the process.

William Howard Taft replaced Roosevelt as president in 1909 and then was succeeded by Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Wilson was originally neutral on the suffrage issue but became supportive of the movement after 2 events. The first was when a collection of suffragettes rioted near the White House, resulting in their arrest. While in prison, the suffragettes decried their punishments as immoral and unjust, going on a hunger strike as an additional act of protest. Outraged, law enforcement started force-feeding the prisoners. When Wilson heard these reports, he was devastated. Broken-hearted by these depressing events, Wilson started to sympathize with the suffragettes. The second event had to do with World War 1. On January 12, 1917, Arthur Zimmermann, the German minister of foreign affairs, sent a telegram to the German ambassador to Mexico. In the message, infamously preserved by historians as "the Zimmermann Telegram", Zimmermann expressed his fear that the US may join the war on the side of the Entente, i.e. Germany's enemies in the war. From there, Zimmermann instructed the ambassador on what he ought to do were these fears actualized.

According to Zimmermann, the ambassador was to approach the Mexican government and propose a diplomatic deal. Through this agreement, Mexico would join the war on the side of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. They would also try and get Japan to do the same. In exchange, after the war, Mexico would receive large shares of German economic aid. Furthermore, Mexico would be given German assistance in invading the US and annexing New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas, 3 states America stole from Mexico back in the 1840s. On January 16, 1917, British spies uncovered the Zimmermann Telegram and sent it to Wilson on February 22 of that same year. Soon after, on March 1, 1917, Wilson leaked the message to the press, sparking public outrage. For bizarre reasons not known to historians, Zimmermann admitted to the telegram's authenticity on March 3, 1917. Realizing his hopes of sustained neutrality were unable to survive, Wilson joined the war in retaliation against the Zimmermann Telegram on April 6, 1917.

Suffragettes saw an amazing opportunity in this tragic war: If they threw their support behind the war effort, they gain federal support for their activism. Women immediately began preparing supplies for the Entente militaries, writing defenses of the war effort, and even fighting the Central Powers themselves in a few cases. It has been estimated that for every 1 American male who helped with the war effort, 5 American women did as well. Wilson was ecstatic. So, when Congress scheduled a vote on a potential Constitutional amendment that would require all states to let women vote, Wilson approached numerous legislators and personally convinced them to vote in favor of the amendment. At least partially due to Wilson's support, the amendment passed Congress with the necessary 2/3 majority. From there, it was up to 3/4 of the states to ratify the amendment. On August 18, 1920, Tennessee (fittingly, the home state of Andrew Jackson, whose pro-democracy advocacy helped inspire the suffrage movement) ratified the proposal, adding the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

The women's suffrage movement is one of the most American stories there is. An oppressed population realized that their treatment by the rest at the hand of the rest of society was vile and untenable. Seeking liberation, they borrowed from the intellectual and progressive movements of their day, working to pressure established institutions into respecting their rights. In 1776, it was Colonists who were having their money stolen by British imperialists with taxes passed without any consideration toward the desires of the targetted populations. In 1776, it was a violent war led by Bluecoats willing to use bullets, bayonets, and bats to shatter their chains. In 1776, the tool for liberation was an actual declaration of independence. In 1920, it was women who couldn't participate in the same democracy whose first words were "all men are created equal". In 1920, it was protests, peaceful or otherwise. In 1920, it was a Constitutional amendment that finally provided freedom.