American Women & Civil Rights

Civil Rights: The rights of all Americans to equal treatment under the law. Voting is a Civil Right.

The US Constitution in 1789 gave women no rights; many women felt betrayed, as they had sacrificed much to help American men win the Revolutionary War.

Victorian ideals were strict, and four virtues for women were indicated: Piety: women were more religious & spiritual in nature than men Purity: women were not expected to have sex until marriage, and then, they must never enjoy sex; it was used for procreation only! Submission: women were expected to passively respond to men Domesticity: the woman was to be at home; this would serve as a safeguard against the temptations of everyday life.

Women could neither vote nor own property. A father and/or husband had unlimited authority over his wife and children. Women were “ladies”; they would never be offered a chicken breast at dinner, only “light meat.” Women did not have arms & legs, only “limbs.” Women could not work; this would lead to prostitution.

Many wealthy & educated women in the mid-1800s began to work for social reform, especially in the area of abolition.

Women began to demand reform in three areas: 1.Dress: corsets, bustles 2.Education and political participation: The right to be educated and to vote. 3.Working Conditions: poor women who were forced to work did so under deplorable conditions.

The first rights convention for women was held in 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York.

Watch the video clip; summarize the events of Seneca Falls;identify the two leaders at Seneca Falls.

After the Civil War, the suffragists were appalled that the 14 th and 15 th Amendments were ratified, only providing rights to men.

In 1912, T. Roosevelt’s Progressive Party became the first major party to endorse women’s suffrage.

There was also an anti- suffragist movement with both men and women who believed women did not need to vote.

In 1913, the women suffragists marched in Washington, DC, one day before President Wilson’s inauguration.

In 1917, a group of suffragists began to picket the White House, led by Alice Paul. They said, “If you want us to support the fight in Europe (WWI), then give us true democracy here!”

At first, Wilson was amused, but became less so as the protests continued. Wilson has the group arrested and sentenced to a work house, where they were beaten and tortured; the protests continued. Wilson called the women, “Insulting, unpatriotic, and unfeminine.” He did not believe that women should ever have the right to vote. Due to political pressure, however, he was forced to change his public stance. In order to gain political support for the war effort, he had to public ally support women’s suffrage.

Finally, in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed in Congress & ratified in the states.