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History of women's suffrage in united states
Rhetoric ways to analyze the speech womans rights to suffrage
19th century feminism about women wanting the right to vote
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The Eventual Success of Women's Suffrage Rhetoric In One Half the People and Women and the American Experience, we learn that women were outraged upon finding that the 15th amendment constitutionally enfranchised men of every race and ethnicity, but still excluded women. According to Susan B. Anthony, one-time president of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association, this occurrence brought women “to the lowest depths of political degradation” (Woloch 329). Women quickly realized that the governing body of white men would more quickly give freedom to uneducated and poor foreigners than to their own mothers and wives, whom were steadily beginning to make financial contributions at home, as a result of industrialization. The analysis, herein, is meant to illustrate how the frequent lack of unity in the rhetoric of the various women’s suffrage organizations postponed and often stifled women’s attainment of full constitutional enfranchisement, but eventually forced the government to give into the women’s plight. Women like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton, of the NWSA, preached that “women must lead the way to their own enfranchisement and work out her own salvation” (Woloch 330). Women’s suffrage groups like this one sought to give women a political voice of representation, such that they might eventually be recognized as full-fledged citizens, thereby earning the right to vote. Each group had their own reasons for wanting such rights, but basically, they all wanted to give women the legal ability to defend their own best interests. Lower and middle class women, for instance, sought the ability to vote on regulations reg... ... middle of paper ... ...y a sympathizer to the cause—and congress, to get nervous and side with the seemingly more reasonable NAWSA, which had been patriotically supportive throughout the war effort. So, with the NAWSA’s aims in mind, legislation was finally endorsed, but only as a result of the NWP’s more militant tactics. In conclusion, the general disunity in rhetoric of the various women’s suffrage organizations postponed and often stifled women’s attainment of full constitutional enfranchisement, but eventually, this same disunity forced the government to give into the women’s plight. Works Cited Scott, Anne F. and Scott, Andrew M. One Half the People: The Fight for Woman Suffrage. NY: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1975. Woloch, Nancy. Women and the American Experience, Volume Two: From 1860. NY: McGrawHill, Inc.,1994
Volume III: P-Z. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971. Print. The. James, Edward, Janet James, and Paul Boyer. Notable American Women, 1607-1950.
With the rise of woman suffragists in the mid-nineteenth century came the subsequent rise of anti-suffragists. Surprisingly, however, many of those who opposed woman suffrage were women themselves. In fact, in a letter written to the editor of the New York Times in 1873, one woman maintained, "for every one woman who desires the vote, there are ten [at least] who do not wish to do so" (qtd. in Bjornlund 80). But with so much opposition, why was it that the anti-suffragists lost this battle? It all came down to their tactics. While anti-suffragists were genteel and dignified in their approach, a method consistent with the nature of women (Marshall 352), suffragists were more radical and militant. Though diametrically opposed in their strategies, it was essentially the extremist approach of the suffragettes that ultimately resulted in the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
A women suffrage amendment was brought to the U.S. Congress in 1868 but failed to win support as well as a second amendment in 1878. In 1869 a woman named Elizabeth Cady Stanton got together with Susan B. Anthony, a women’s rights activist, and organized an association called the National Woman Suffrage Association. With this union they would gather with women and fight for women’s suffrage. Later, in 1890 they joined with their competitor the American Women Suffrage Association and became the National American Women Suffrage Association. “NAWSA adopted a moderate approach to female suffrage, eschewing some of the more radical feminism of other women’s rights groups in favor of a national plan designed to gain widespread support” (3). What the association did was they changed their initial tactic towards suffrage for women so that they can be able to obtain support from all over. Having little to no movement on the national front, suffragists took the next step to sate level. That was when Eastern states granted women suffrage, but hadn’t spread to Western states.
In the 1840’s, most of American women were beginning to become agitated by the morals and values that were expected of womanhood. “Historians have named this the ’Cult of True Womanhood’: that is, the idea that the only ‘true’ woman was a pious, submissive wife and mother concerned exclusively with home and family” (History.com). Voting was only the right of men, but women were on the brink to let their voices be heard. Women pioneers such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott wrote eleven resolutions in The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments; this historical document demanded abolishment of any laws that authorized unequal treatment of women and to allow for passage of a suffrage amendment.
While the issue of women’s suffrage has roots based in every country in the world, most think that the initial inroads were painfully carved through the efforts of early women pioneers in America. This perception is easily formed due to the early publication of Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Right’s of Women in 1792. However, the movement gained national attention in New Zealand in 1893 and in Australia in 1902, eclipsing the suffrage movement in Britain, Canada and America by at least 25 years. The struggle for women’s rights has been ponderous and slow moving throughout the years and not without internal divisions.
Sixty- nine years after the Declaration of Independence, one group of women gathered together and formed the Seneca Falls Convention. Prior and subsequent to the convention, women were not allowed to vote because they were not considered equal to men. During the convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivered the “Declaration of Sentiments.” It intentionally resembles the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal…” (Stanton, 466). She replaced the “men” with “men and women” to represent that women and men should be treated equally. Stanton and the other women in the convention tried to fight for voting rights. Dismally, when the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced to the Congress, the act failed to be passed. Even though women voiced their opinions out and urged for justice, they could not get 2/3 of the states to agree to pass the amendment. Women wanted to tackle on the voting inequalities, but was resulted with more inequalities because people failed to listen to them. One reason why women did not achieve their goals was because the image of the traditional roles of women was difficult to break through. During this time period, many people believed that women should remain as traditional housewives.
The women’s suffrage movement achieved victory with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920. For the first time in more than 110 years, women were given the right to vote. However, nine states at this time already guaranteed the women’s vote. At this time, all nine states lay west of the Mississippi, (Rothschild, p.8). Indeed, “Although the ideology of suffrage and equal rights was born in the East, the implementation of equal rights came in the West,” (Rothschild, p.9). This is also a reflection of the progressive nature of Western men during this era. This attitude will be seen again in reference to the passage of women’s suffrage in Arizona in 1912.
What does “movement” mean? There are many definitions for the word. In this case, I am referring to a political meaning. Movement is a series of organized activities working toward an objective. There have been many groups in history to start up movements throughout the decades. One that stands out to me the most is the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Women’s movements are led by powerful, courageous women who push to better the lives’ of women or lives’ of others. Most familiar movements are those involved in politics, in efforts to change the roles and status of womanhood in society. Groups of women also attempt to improve lives of others with the help of religious and charitable activities. Either it was a political, religious, or charitable women’s movement, each woman of each group have made an impact on today’s view of women and achieved greater political involvement.
Being active in temperance, education, and abolitionist movements Women in the 1800’s and early 1900’s could NOT vote. Susan B. Anthony believe that the only way for women to gain rights and get what they want was if they had a voice in the government. Susan B. Anthony published her newspaper The Revolution with the moto “Men, their rights, and nothing more; Women, their rights, and nothing less”. The two women suffrage groups combined to form National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) with Stanton as the president and Anthony as the vice. They went around to different states campaigning, gathering signatures for the petition, and arguing that the constitution did not forbid women to vote.
Although they were fighting for a worthy cause, many did not agree with these women’s radical views. These conservative thinkers caused a great road-block on the way to enfranchisement. Most of them were men, who were set in their thoughts about women’s roles, who couldn’t understand why a woman would deserve to vote, let alone want to vote. But there were also many women who were not concerned with their fundamental right to vote. Because some women were indifferent in regards to suffrage, they set back those who were working towards the greater good of the nation. However, the suffragettes were able to overcome these obstacles by altering their tactics, while still maintaining their objective.
The entire Women’s Movement in the United States has been quite extensive. It can be traced back to 1848, when the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. After two days of discussions, 100 men and women signed the Declaration of Sentiments. Drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, this document called for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women. This gathering set the agenda for the rest of the Women’s Movement long ago (Imbornoni). Over the next 100 years, many women played a part in supporting equal treatment for women, most notably leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which allowed women the right to vote.
Woman’s Rights to the Suffrage” is most compelling to me because she uses a lot of good rhetorical devices and gets her point across.Using information about the problem and trying to fix it.
The Women’s Suffrage Movement was successful in that it achieved its original goal of earning voting rights for women. This movement officially began in the United States in 1848 at the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. They drafted 12 resolutions calling for voting rights for women and overall equal treatment of women. This historic conference created a primary goal of obtaining voting rights for women. The first national women’s rights convention was held two years later in 1850 in Worcester, Massachusetts. This convention held over 1,000 participants and started an annual national convention.
In the early 1900’s, women made one of their chief advancements for their cause. In 1869, the NAWSA did a statewide campaign to have states adopt the legislation that the suffrage created (Loveday, Women’s Suffrage). By 1912, only nine states had adopted the legislation (Loveday, Women’s Suffrage). Since they needed a two-third majority to make it national, NAWSA and other feminists began to be more active than they had been (Loveday, Women’s Suffrage). They organized rallies, parades, silent vigils, and even hunger strikes...
The women’s suffrage movement was the struggle for the right of women to vote, run for office, and is part of the overall women’s rights movement. In the 19th century, women in several countries most recognizably the U.S. and england formed organizations to fight for suffrage. Beginning in the mid 19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and participated in civil strike to achieve what many Americans considered a revolutionary change in the Constitution.