Woman's+Suffrage

=What hardships did the women involved in the woman's suffrage movement endure?= This page was developed by AS-OS and SH-OS. Why is this important to US history? **


Woman’s suffrage is an important part of our history. It was a building block that made us into the country we are today. We must reflect on what happened to them so history does not repeat itself. Women were not given the same rights as men, and one day they spoke out about it. Not only should we want to prevent this from reoccurring, but also we should acknowledge the women who stood up for what was right.


  Women's suffrage is something most people don't know many details about. It is a very important part of history for all people, but especially women. Women faced many difficulties at this time, all of which led up to women earning the right to vote and many other rights. Before this, women were viewed as inferior to men, but many women worked hard to change this. Women's suffrage is a very important part of American history and contributed to the equal rights women have today. (SH-OS)

  On July 19, 1848, several people, men and women, came to New York to the Seneca Fall’s Convention. On that day they heard about women’s rights and this was said to be the beginning of women’s suffrage. Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were the organizers of this convention. They created the Declaration of Sentiments and signed it along with several others. Soon more and more people got involved such as Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucy Stone. Each of these women made a difference and helped women around the country gain respect.

Women were fighting for their rights long before the convention in New York, by picketing, rioting, and doing hunger strikes. The suffragist had to endure many hardships such as being imprisoned or beaten. One Black Friday, during a suffragette assembly, policemen killed one woman and severely wounded several others. Mrs. Pethick Lawrence led a riot and was sentenced to one month in jail. Although these women went through these trials and tribulations they persevered towards getting equal rights. Susan B. Anthony, in 1837, fought for equal pay for women teachers. [|In 1851, at the Women’s Convention in Ohio, Sojourner Truth said her speech, “Ain’t I a Woman.”] It talked about how women are strong, and that they do not need men in order to be whole. Also, she stated how men want to help, but do not want to consider them as equal. After the Seneca Falls Convention, Lucy Stone planned the National Women’s Rights Convention in Massachusetts to reach more women. These few women and more contributed to the cause of equal rights.

In conclusion, women have fought for their rights for a long time. It started in 1848 and to this day some women are still fighting. They are still being arrested and they are still being mistreated. Even though equality is still an issue, it is a lot better now than it was then. (AH-OS)

The women involved in the suffrage movement faced many challenges and difficulties, but in the end, their goals were accomplished. Around the 1920’s, many women decided that they deserved the right to vote just as much as men did. Many of these women knew that in order to earn this right, they must fight for it. This included women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, and many other women dedicated their time and efforts to earning women the right to vote.

Although many people supported the Women’’s Suffrage Movement, there were also many who were against it. These people did everything they could to make life hard for the women involved. Women were arrested, put in jail, and mistreated by police, public figures, (such as in court), and jail keepers. Women who spoke in court were often ignored or their case not taken into consideration. This happened to Susan B. Anthony. If somebody called the police with a complaint of women’s suffrage convention or picket line, they were often treated harshly by police officers. Once in jail, if women refused to eat, some were [|force fed] through tubes. As you can imagine, this was not a pleasant or comfortable process.

Many of the women involved in women’s suffrage kept in touch with each other. Letters were commonly written to inform other women of what was going on involving the suffrage movement. [|One such letter, from Susan B. Anthony to Adelaide Johnson, talked of Anthony’s opinion of women’s rights]. One topic she spoke of was a wedding performed by a woman, and how somebody said that it was immoral. Anthony spoke to Adelaide very strongly of how she strongly disapproved.This was their way of keeping others updated on Congress decisions, hardships they faced, and warning signs to look out for to avoid getting put in jail. This led to many of the women becoming friends. You can see from these letters that though they suffered and fought together, they became close friends and relied heavily upon each other.

It is very important to understand that these women worked extremely hard and suffered many unfair punishments so that all women could have the same rights as men. We are very lucky that these women were there to work so hard to earn us the right to vote.(SH-OS)

http://www.albany.edu/%7Eeb7540/women.jpg

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/anthony/sbabiog.html

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mcc&fileName=063/page.db&recNum=0 (SH-OS)

http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/sojour.htm

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf?res=9403E7DC1E31E233A25757C2A9679D946096D6CF

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/stonelucy/a/lucy_stone.htm (AH-OS)