The Struggle For Women’s Suffrage

The movement to get women the right to vote faced strong opposition Liquor interests feared they would vote for prohibition Business feared that they would demand better wages and working conditions Some believed that it would rob women of their virtues

Forces in the Movement National American Women Suffrage Association Grass roots. Worked to change things on a local level. Elizabeth Cady Susan B. Anthony Congressional Union for Women Suffrage/ National Women’s Party Focused on passing an amendment to the Constitution. Favored protesting, picketing and hunger strikes. Alice Paul By 1919, 30 states had granted women full or partial voting rights

Pres. Wilson did support of the idea of women’s suffrage, but did not believe it to be a pressing

The eventual ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which gave women the right to vote, would change the social order in the U.S. by drawing women into the public realm and redefining their role in society.

Emma Goldman Russian Immigrant Became a leading spokesperson for the American Anarchist movement and feminist movement She advocated free speech, equality, birth control, and worker protection Jailed several times (2yr term for protesting against World War One Deported by the US back to communist Russia in Not all women believed that universal suffrage would then turn to equality

Police arrested and photographed Goldman in their attempt to implicate her in the assassination of President William McKinley.

Questions on the Woman Suffrage: Is Goldman opposed to women gaining the right to vote? What does she say about the idea that women will "purify" politics and government? Why does she describe the suffrage movement as a "parlor affair"? Does Goldman see equality within the suffrage movement? Explain. If you were a suffragist, how would you answer Goldman's criticism? Is Goldman against women's suffrage? Explain What is her beef with Australia and New Zealand?

Bringing it Home In your school, are there an equal number of males and females in elected offices? What positions do the females hold? the males? If a candidate in your school ran a campaign focused on women's issues, what would those issues be? Would a candidate's gender influence your decision to support him or her? Is there such a thing as a "woman's vote"? How would you define it? How would more women in public office make a difference?