The Suffrage Movement

• Common causes--Three great social movements of the 1800s that were particularly important to women--the temperance movement, the abolition of slavery, and fight for women's suffrage. Those who worked for one were generally advocates of the others. Susan B. Anthony first began to work for temperance, but soon she was exposed to the ideas of suffrage and rights for women. She was also an abolitionist.

• The early suffrage movement--A small gathering of women at Seneca Falls, New York in 1848 was perhaps the first women's suffrage convention in the United States. This was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Susan B. Anthony was not at this convention, but she learned about it, and the ideas from the convention began to shape her own thinking. In 1850, in Worcester, Massachusetts, there was the first national convention on equal rights for women. It was in the 1850s that Susan B. Anthony joined the movement. Although she could be radical in her strategy for bringing attention to the cause, her integrity was without question and her character was a symbol of the moral force of the issue.

• Early suffrage victories--The West led the United States in granting suffrage to women. In 1869, Wyoming was the first state (at that time the Wyoming Territory) to allow women to vote, hold office and serve on juries. In 1870, Esther Morris of Wyoming became America's first female Justice of the Peace. In the 1890s the vote was given to women in Colorado, Utah and Idaho. By the time of passage of the 19th Amendment, most of the western states had granted full suffrage.

• The Woman's Christian Temperance Union--The WCTU was interwoven with the cause for women's suffrage. Founded in 1874, this organization advocated total abstinence from alcoholic beverages, and sought to end the trade and traffic in liquor. In 1873, there was a Women's Temperance Crusade which was the precursor for the WCTU. The work of the WCTU was in part responsible for the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States which banned manufacture, trade and consumption of alcoholic beverages in this country. This amendment was in effect from 1920 to 1933. The organization is still active in educating youth and adults about the effects of consumption of alcohol and controlled substances.

• The War Years--In World War I, the place of women in the war effort was well recognized. Support was needed for success in the work force at home as well as in the battle arena. The political advantage was not lost on the suffrage movement. In 1917, a women's suffrage amendment was submitted to the House of Representatives. By the end of the war, the amendment had cleared both houses of Congress. In August, 1920 it had been passed by the required 36 states and became the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. It was called the "Susan B. Anthony Amendment."

• In the world--Around the same time that women were given the vote in the United States, many other countries granted suffrage. Before World War I, suffrage was given in New Zealand (1893) and Australia (1906), and in Scandanavia and nearby countries--Finland (1906), Norway (1907), Denmark (1915) and Iceland (1915). During the war, suffrage was granted in Russia, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg and Poland. In subsequent years there were many others. Great Britain did not allow women complete voting rights until 1928. Today there are only a few nations without women's suffrage.