The History Of Women's Suffrage

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Equality has been a problem in many nations for centuries. Since the start of time, it has been believed that men are far more superior to women and that the rights of women should be limited. In many countries today, it is the social norm for women to have limited rights including the right to voice their opinions. All around the world women have had no say in who runs their country, or in decisions that affect them. The United States had this same problem until women stood up and fought for their right to vote. In the beginning of this movement, called women’s suffrage, two main parties were organized based on different beliefs. The founders of these two groups were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Though there are many women …show more content…

With only one hundred men and women attending, the meeting took place in Seneca Falls, New York on July 19-20, 1848. The members of the meeting discussed the different issues in which they felt discriminated against. The women of the group eventually decided to focus their fight on obtaining the right to vote, and many groups were formed during this time. The first organization was the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), which was founded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. The focus of this organization was to have the 15th amendment repealed since it did not include women having the right to vote. The second organization was founded by Lucy Stone and was called the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). Even with these two groups leaving the largest impact on the movement, they refused to work together. The AWSA didn’t like the NWSA because they brought race into their platform, and wanted to keep their movement at a state level instead of a national level. Both groups had their strengths and weaknesses. The AWSA had more money than the NWSA, but the NWSA had a large outreach around the country, and Stanton and Anthony were more outspoken to women in multiple states so that they were able to reach more volunteers for the movement. The effort to reach out to people to join the cause did not work out for either group. Neither group was able to capture the attention of voters or …show more content…

The state of New Jersey granted granted women who payed taxes the right to vote in 1776, but this right did not last long. The argument that women did not vote for the right person led to the right being revoked. After a few years when the movement started gaining ground, the Territory of Wyoming allowed women to vote, followed by the Territory of Utah. While Utah was still a territory the right was taken away, but as soon as it became a state Utah passed the amendment again allowing women to vote (United States Commission on Civil Rights, A Report of the Inter- American Commission of Women 1). Utah and Wyoming started a chain reaction and soon other states, like Colorado and Idaho, allowed women to vote in the 1890’s. In 1913, Illinois gained their right to vote thanks to Ruth Hanna who would later be a congresswoman. Shortly after, Montana obtained the right to vote with the help of Jennette Rankin who also took part in congress later on in her life ( “The Women’s Rights Movement,