Key Ideas
1. The fight for women’s suffrage took on new urgency in this era due to the social reform movements of the period.
2. Women of diverse racial, economic, and social backgrounds campaigned for the right to vote using a variety of strategies and tactics.
3. There was a powerful anti-suffrage movement that campaigned against granting women suffrage.
4. The ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment outlawed voting discrimination on the basis of sex, but it was not the end of the story.
Introduction
Women’s Suffrage
The fight for women’s suffrage dates back to the founding of the United States, but it took on new urgency at the turn of the 20th century.
The rise of social reform and progressive politics convinced many women that they needed the right to vote to make lasting change in the country. Membership in the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) jumped from 13,000 in 1893 to around 75,000 in 1910.
Demonstrations and parades took the movement into the streets and raised public awareness. But there were many divisions within the movement. There was a fundamental disagreement over whether the movement should seek a constitutional amendment or take a state-by-state approach. Some suffragists used militant, confrontational tactics to raise awareness, while others emphasized women’s special domestic qualities to rebrand themselves as non-threatening reformers. Although women of diverse backgrounds campaigned across the nation, the movement’s leadership remained predominantly white and middle class. Women of color were forced to fight on the margins and faced racism from suffragists who saw social justice issues as an unnecessary distraction. Finally, not all women wanted the vote. These anti-suffragists vehemently campaigned to maintain the status quo.
National women’s suffrage was finally achieved on August 26, 1920, when Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. While this was a success for the movement, it did not mean the end of suffrage activism. Most states had laws that restricted the voting rights of women of color, and only one third of eligible women voted in the election of 1920. There was plenty of work still to be done.
“Votes for Women” Pennant, 1910-1920, United States. The New York Historical
Teaching Materials
Resources in this Topic
Arguments for and Against Suffrage
A pair of documents that present competing arguments for and against women gaining the right to vote.
Black Suffragists
An article about why the right to vote was particularly important to Black women.
Election Day 1920
A front-page story about Election Day 1920, the first national election after the Nineteenth Amendment outlawed voting discrimination on the basis of sex.
Mabel Lee on the Women’s Suffrage Movement
Women’s suffrage arguments from Chinese American suffragist Mabel Lee.
Race and Suffrage
Two sources that illustrate that anti-suffragists campaigned on the belief that granting women the right to vote would undermine laws that restricted voting for people of color.
Race and the Suffrage Parade
A collection of sources that reveal how suffrage leaders discriminated against Black suffragists, and how Black suffragists responded.
Reaching Spanish-Speaking Voters
A broadside that illuminates how Spanish-speaking suffragists campaigned in their communities.
Southern Anti-Suffrage
A photograph that demonstrates how Southern anti-suffragist campaigns were closely aligned with efforts to glorify and preserve the Old South.
Suffrage Stunts
A collection of resources that demonstrate the extreme measures taken by militant suffragists to raise awareness about their cause.
The NAACP Fights to Protect Voters
An excerpt from Congressional testimony from 1920 that narrates the challenges Black women faced when they tried to exercise their right to vote.
Jeannette Rankin
First Congresswoman. The story of the first woman member of Congress.
Alice Paul
Militant Suffragist. The story of the suffragist who founded the National Women’s Party to start a more militant campaign for national women’s suffrage.
Carrie Williams Clifford
Organizing Black Women Activists. The story of a suffragist who founded the Ohio Federation of Colored Women’s clubs to coordinate all Black activism in her state.
Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin
Modern Ojibwe Activist. The story of an Ojibwe activist and suffragist.
Nina Otero-Warren
Hispana Suffragist. The story of the suffragist who organized campaigns that engaged Hispanos in New Mexico.
Mary Church Terrell
Fighting for Civil Rights and Suffrage. The story of a lifelong activist who campaigned on local, national, and international stages.
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