The Fight for Women’s Suffrage Essay Example

Voting is now something that everyone in the USA has a right to, but what about before the 1920s? Women were not given the same liberties as men when it comes to many things such as working, equal pay, and even voting. Many people realized how wrong it was to discriminate against women and keep them from voting, so they began the women’s suffrage movement. The start of the fight for suffrage began around the 1820s and 30s (History.com) and continued into the mid 1960s (Gale.com). The women’s suffrage movement opened new doors and changed the course of history for women.

One could consider the most notable event of the suffrage movement to be the Seneca Falls convention. The Seneca Falls convention was hosted in 1848 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott (History.com). The purpose of this gathering was to discuss women’s voting rights and plead in favor of them (History.com). Although this may seem like it would only be attended by women, many men showed up to listen to their cases. Elizabeth Cady Stanton presented a “Declaration of Sentiments” which demanded legal, moral, economic, and political equality between men and women (Gale.com). After this convention, the movement started gaining attention.

Unfortunately, the publicity of the women’s suffrage movement wouldn’t last for long. Upon the upcoming civil war, the people's focus shifted to the battle at hand (History.com). Soon after the war, the 14th and 15th amendments were ratified. This raised hopes in women suffragists for universal suffrage. Some, however, retaliated, refusing to support the 15th amendment. These people sided with racist white southerners, arguing that if women were able to vote, it would neutralize the vote of black men (History.com). 

Around 1869, a large group of women gathered together to form the National Woman Suffrage Association, founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (History.com). Together, they began fighting for a universal suffrage amendment. This went without trouble though, within the group some people began arguing that the NWSA endangered black enfranchisement. The two sides split, the rebels created the American Woman Suffrage Association and fought for the franchise state-by-state (History.com). This conflict would later be resolved, with the two sides joining to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (History.com).

Outside of associations, the average Americans were fighting small battles of their own. Getting the attention of the people was easy enough, but gaining the attention of the government was a much more difficult task. Large protests and petitions were held and sent in hopes of making a lasting change. Maude Malone hosted a major protest in New York that was attended by just thirty  women but over 2,000 men (Gale.com). Sadly, some states were displeased by this and would arrest peaceful protestors for speaking out (Paranick). Petitions were sent by the NWSA and various other organizations, requesting that voting rights be extended to women (Paranick).

Slowly but surely, states began to allow women to vote, with Idaho and Utah being the first. By the 1920s the United States had given women the right to vote (History.com). Finally, on August 26th, 1920, 26 million women over twenty-one were able to vote for the first time ever. Trouble did not stop there however, much like the struggles of black men voting, women would be given literacy tests and other crude measures to prevent them from voting (Paranick). Black women also still had to fight for their rights to vote and were granted the right forty-five  years later, in 1965 (Paranick). 

Through trials and tribulations, women made great strides fighting for their rights for suffrage and later their equality. Without the hard work of the women generations before us, we may not be anywhere near the same level of equality we have today. Think about all of the women in office, working for the government, or even just being able to vote and have jobs in general. The women’s suffrage movement opened new doors and changed the course of history for women. 

Works Cited

Paranick, Amber. “Women have the vote!”. The Library of Congress, November 3, 2020

Editors, History.com. A&E Television Networks, October 29, 2009. 

https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/the-fight-for-womens-suffrage

Editors, Gale.com. “Women’s Rights Movement: Collections”. Gale.com. Gale, 2022

Editors, National Archive. “ Women’s Suffrage and the 19th Amendment” Archives.gov,

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, June 2, 2021.