American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

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Naomi Fisch Faison US II HNs per. 1 June 2017 Thesis Paper Women were granted the right to vote in 1920 with the ratification of the 19th amendment; However, women had been fighting for their rights for decades before the thought of the 19th amendment popped into the heads of Congressmen. Many women fought for their rights, calling for equality by peacefully protesting and attending conventions. These women went on to create the National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA) which was a peaceful group that petitioned and educated the public in hope of gaining support for their cause. Out of NAWSA was born the National Woman’s Party (NWP) which was a radical group that used militant protesting and striking to bring attention to the …show more content…

Educating young women and girls was key to creating a strong female presence which would later fight for their rights. Unfortunately, money was an obstacle for some families, so they sent their son's to school instead of their daughters. In 1810, the first tuition-free school for girls was opened by Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton's Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph, giving girls new possibilities. Schools for girls started opening all over the country, but girls of color were excluded from this new possibility for an education. This became very clear when an African-American girl was admitted to the Canterbury Female Boarding School and the school was forced to …show more content…

Women were more active and allies were more numerous. On July 19, 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, The Seneca Falls Convention was organized and held by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. The convention marks the beginning of Women’s Suffrage. Drafted at the convention, the Declaration of Sentiments took shape. Following the structure of the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration of Sentiments called for women to be given equal rights as men, saying they have inalienable rights that if the government denies them, they have the right to not be allegiant to said government. This quote from the Declaration of Sentiments: “He allows her in Church, as well as State, but a subordinate position, claiming Apostolic authority for her exclusion from the ministry, and, with some exceptions, from any public participation in the affairs of the Church.” shows how timeless this document written by women is. This quote clearly describes what women today know as the “Glass Ceiling”. While some injustices have been won, others are still relevant today. The message of the Declaration of Sentiments reached about 300 people, of both genders, who attended witnessed this historical moment. Unfortunately, it wasn’t smooth sailing from there, Stanton and Mott wrote the "Declaration of Sentiments" using ideas informed by abolitionism and Quakerism, a sect that gave women relative equality. This

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