1. The American Woman Suffrage Movement 1848-1920

2. Seneca Falls, NY 1848
In early 1800s, women involved in abolition (no slavery), temperance (no alcohol)
Group of men and women gather in Seneca Falls, NY in 1848
Led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott
Write Declaration of Sentiments

3. Fifteenth Amendment, 1871
Grants African-American men the right to vote
Disappoints many women who thought African American men and women would be enfranchised together
African Americans split over whether men should get vote before women

4. Before 1910 Women’s suffrage movement splits, but then unites in 1890
National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
Big leaders: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Two big strategies:
Try to win suffrage state-by-state
Try to pass a Constitutional Amendment (but this would need to be ratified by 36 states--or three-fourths)

5. Anti-Suffragists:
Those who opposed suffrage
(many “Anti’s”
were women)

6. Arguments of Anti-Suffragists:
Women were high-strung, irrational, emotional
Women were not smart or educated enough
Women should stay at home
Women were too physically frail; they would get tired just walking to the polling station
Women would become masculine if they voted