A New Suffrage Song By William Hussey Macy

The women's suffrage movement was a time of intense struggle for women across Britain, the United States, and Canada. From 1848 to 1917, women fought for the same voting rights men had at the time. The suffrage movement represented more than just justice in politics; it also symbolized a signal to end to violence against women, an improvement in other aspects of their lives that suffered inequalities. Many songs and protests were created to act as calls to action for those in charge to allow women to vote, often pointing out that women are just as capable as men. These three songs, from 1884 to 1918 by William Hussey Macy, Laurence Housman, William Tracey and Jack Stern, despite being written by men, were written to reflect the frustrations

Moving on, the first song on this soundtrack is A New Suffrage Song by William Hussey Macy. This song circulated around 1884. Willam was a banker from Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States, and died at age 81 in 1887 (United States Federal Census, 2010). When this song was written, it was becoming more common for women and lobbyists to gather and protest in groups. The intended audience of this song is most likely women on the fence about joining the movement or women already in the campaign, as the piece reads as something that was sung to rally support and make people feel more passionate about the protests at the time. This song mainly relates to the movement as a support rallying song. The lyrics express the desire for women to have the right to vote, just like men do, and encourage women to come together to raise awareness of their cause. This is seen in some of the first lyrics of the song "(...)Let our words all hearts inspire/Until tardy legislation/Grants us all we may desire/That every woman has the right/To vote, as well as man." (Macy, 1884). The song continues its theme of rallying support around this cause with the chorus repeating,