Women: Where They Stood with Suffrage
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Women: Where They Stood with Suffrage
The question of enduring suffrage for whom came about shortly after the end of the Civil War. During this timeframe the Reconstruction of Politics began. The amendments that were brought to our already existing Constitution would bring up many obstacles and questions to be answered in the years to come. One of these questions would be whether women should be entitled for suffrage or should they continue to carry on their role in the home? This question alone would bring individuals out of the woodworks who supported and even opposed women
suffrage. It is even surprising to see that even some women opposed the thought of them having
suffrage and even fought to prevent this. We will go back in history and work our way towards how women suffrage came about and the obstacles endured in this quest.
First we must go back to 1787 and look at the Constitution of the United States which is the foundation on what the United States is built on. The Constitution of the United States of America Preamble starts out with, “We the people of the United States”. As you can see, no where does it state that people stands for only white male citizens.
As Shaw states, “Our demand is suffrage for women on the same terms as for men. Let us see just what this means. The men of this country have established and maintained what they call a democracy. The basic idea of a democracy is, they say, that it shall be a government of the people, by the people, for the people. So far so good. But “people” has been translated to mean male citizens only. We ask, therefore, not that the
established principle of government be changed but that is shall be held to apply to women citizens as well as to men citizens” (Shaw 1914, 94).
Now that we can see how the Constitution starts out we can look at the amendments that play against the words “We the People”. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments would bring debate for years to come based on the wording in the amendments clause. The Fourteenth Amendment of 1866 would bring dismay to womens rights advocates and would delay womens
suffrage for some time to come (Boyer 2004, 483). It was under this amendment that the word “male” was used for the very first time in the Constitution (Boyer 2004, 483). Basically, the amendment guaranteed male white citizens over 21 the right to suffrage which still prevented women the right to gaining suffrage (Boyer 2004, 482-483). It was stated, “Give the suffrage to all men and women of mature age and sound mind, and we accept it as the basis of State and National reconstruction” (Lorence 2000, 3). The Fifteenth Amendment only proved to be
another set-back for women suffrage. The Fifteenth Amendment of 1869 prohibited the denial of suffrage because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude (Boyer 2004, 487). Since the amendment did not mention suffrage based on sex it still excluded women. Once the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment were passed the question and argument began for the equality not of individuals but of sexes (DuBois 1987, 837). As Dubois states, “Thus began a long process by which ideas about the fundamental differences between women and men began
to be subsumed within a womens rights frame” (DuBois 1987, 837). One can only wonder if
this is what the founding fathers had in mind when the drafted up the Constitution back in the
1700s. We will look at the strength women back then had to stand up and fight for womens rights. Rights that I am sure that some women take for granted today.
Now that we have gone over the Constitution which is one obstacle that held women suffrage back we will now move onto the other obstacle: Anti-Women Suffrage. One would think that all women would be fighting for womens suffrage, but this was not the case. The anti-women suffrage came about when women suffrage had been accepted in the West (Jensen 1993, 41). The women in the eastern part of the country were the ones that made up the anti-women suffrage (Jensen 1993, 41). For the most part, women that were part of the anti-women suffrage were members of the privileged classes in the east. (Jensen 1993, 41). As Jensen states about these anti-suffrage women, “Their role is generally ignored in historical accounts because they were losers in the suffrage fight; but before the final suffrage victory in 1920, the Antis were a force to be reckoned with in the campaign for the nfranchisement of women, especially since they were living evidence that not all women wanted to vote” (Jensen 1993, 41). It is hard to believe that not all women would be fighting for their own suffrage. It goes to show that some woman were perfectly happy with the role they held in the home. Then again it could be that
these women were comfortable with their current role and hesitant to what change would really mean if they were to given the right to suffrage. It has been said that people do not take well to change for the fear of the unknown.
Now that the obstacles have been identified in what those in favor of women suffrage would have to face. We will go back into history to the end of Civil War and work our way to 1920 when women earn their right to suffrage. As we stated earlier that the passing of Amendments Fourteen and Fifteen pushed womens suffrage back for quite sometime. These Amendments pushed Womens Rights Advocates into action. It was during this time frame that
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony stepped up to speak out for women and their fight for suffrage. Both women agreed that the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments had disabled women (Boyer 2004, 486). Elizabeth states, ” Why fear new things; all old things were once new . . . We live to do new things” (Lorence 2000, 4)! She also states, “What an insult to the women who have labored thirty years for the emancipation of the slave, now when he is their political equal, to propose to lift him above their heads” (Lorence 2000, 4). Susan B. Anthony
was known for leading rallies, conventions, and staying visible year after year which advanced
womens rights (HIST 157, MOD 1). It was also during this timeframe when the womens rights
advocates split into two rival suffrage associations (Boyer 2004, 487). More was to be heard
from both these women in years to come.
It was