Women's Rights In The West

Americans in Western states have had womans rights for almost 20 years longer than those in the east. The United States was very progressive with Women's Rights, some parts more than others. Wyoming was the first state to pass the Women's Suffrage Act, this was in 1869 ( Imbornoni ) It was not until 1917 that any state in the east passed the bill, and the first was New York. Between those two times, 11 other states in the West had already passed the bill.( Scons ) This occurrence seems random, but comes with several causes. The West was more progressive regarding women's right for many reasons including political matters, the land and the society of the area, and the way women were viewed in that area. Many of the reasons the west was more

The people in the east had a very developed society where they believed women were less of people than men were. (markeybyteachers.com) Because of this belief allowing women to vote did not seem like a reasonable thing for them to do. In the West however the society was just then being built, and was surrounded around the idea of new beginnings. There was also a homestead act in place, which allowed women to own their own land; they were already one step closer to having their own rights than the woman were in the east. (Scharff ) Since the west was just now developing, people moving there was crucial. Many men realized that allowing women to vote in their states would draw many more people there.( Scharff ) In Wyoming, the idea even started as a joke, before one man realized that it would actually help the state and area strive and stand out from others. (Scons

Women in the east were uneducated and did not contribute much to society, therefore did not need to vote, or would be able to make any smart decisions when voting.( markedbyteachers.com ) Women in the west were different; with the homestead act in place many came without a husband and were taking on all the roles a man would, and contributing just as much, so it was only fair they were allowed to vote.( The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History ) That being said, most of the woman in the east were married (80 % ) which meant, even they were allowed to vote, they would only be able to double their husbands vote, which would not add any worth to the election, and many people felt it was not worth it.(Barkhorn, Eleanor ) Granting women's suffrage was a very long difficult process. Some states, like Utah, were granted the right, then it was taken away before being granted again. There was also many protests over the years, one in 1911 that including 3,000 women in New York. The Senate tried to pass a nationwide