Okla-homey
8/26/2006, 06:52 AM
August 26, 1920: 19th Amendment becomes the supreme law of the land
80 years ago today, the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is formally adopted into the Constitution by proclamation of Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. The amendment was the culmination of more than 70 years of struggle by woman suffragists. Its two sections read simply:
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex"
and
"Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/5531/march2ax.jpg
Suffrage Marchers...I think that "valley of never" part is a veiled reference to how often men who refuse to support women voting are likely to ever get the poo-nanny again.
The women's suffrage movement was founded in the mid-19th century by women who had become politically active through their work in the abolitionist and temperance movements. In July 1848, 240 woman suffragists, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, met in Seneca Falls, New York, to assert the right of women to vote.
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/3126/stanton23vh.jpg
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/6055/mott0vd.gif
Lucretia Mott
Female enfranchisement was still largely opposed by most Americans, and the distraction of the North-South conflict and subsequent Civil War precluded further debate and discussion.
During the Reconstruction Era, the 15th Amendment was adopted, granting black men the right to vote, but the Republican-dominated Congress failed to expand its progressive radicalism into the sphere of gender.
In 1869, the National Woman Suffrage Association, led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was formed to push for an amendment to the Constitution. Another organization, the American Woman Suffrage Association, led by Lucy Stone, was organized in the same year to specifically work on the state legislatures.
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/3332/10246lv.jpg
Lucy Stone
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/2144/susanbanthony7fm.jpg
Susan B. Anthony
In 1890, these two societies were united as the National American Woman Suffrage Association. That year, Wyoming became the first state to grant women the right to vote.
Both sides of the whole womens suffrage issue published propaganda of course. Here are a couple examples....
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/9199/10144kk.jpg
The Anti-women's voting perspective
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/2476/source1bimg4fy.jpg
The Women's suffrage perspective
By the beginning of the 20th century, the role of women in American society was changing drastically; women were working more, receiving a better education, bearing fewer children, and several states had authorized female suffrage.
In 1913, the National Woman's Party organized the voting power of enfranchised women in the states where chicks had the vote to only elect congressional representatives who supported woman suffrage, and by 1916 both the Democratic and Republican parties openly endorsed female enfranchisement.
In 1919, the 19th Amendment, which stated that "the rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex," passed both houses of Congress and was sent to the states for ratification.
On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, giving it the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it the law of the land. Eight days later, the 19th Amendment took effect.
Epilogue:
You've probably heard of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and maybe even Lucretia Mott, but I for one had read nothing about Lucy Stone until doing research for this little piece. To me, she seems like the coolest of the "Four Horsewomen of Womens Suffrage" -- my nickname, I don't think anyone else calls them that. :D
Anyhoo, here's a little more on Lucy Stone, amd its important to note it wasn't at all "one big happy family" among these suffragette wimmens.
Lucy Stone was born in Massachusetts in 1818. From childhood, she questioned her father's right to rule the household and her brother's right to be educated when she was the better student. When told that the Bible gave men the right to rule over women, she vowed to learn Greek and Hebrew so she could read the ancient manuscripts for herself. Spunky huh?
Since Lucy's dad would not pay for her education, she supported herself by teaching and put herself through Oberlin College in Ohio, becoming the first Massachusetts woman to earn a college degree. Yeah baby!
She then became an activist for abolition of chattel slavery and women's rights. Her radicalism made her a famous name and enabled her to earn a living by charging admission to her lectures. She helped organize the Seneca Falls women's rights convention in 1848. At the 1850 Worchester convention, she is credited with recruiting fellow abolitionist Susan B. Anthony to the women's rights cause.
In 1853, Lucy Stone married Henry Blackwell, a liberal businessman who also supported abolition and women's rights. She caused a sensation by keeping her own name after the marriage. After taking time off to raise a daughter, Stone jumped back into the fray after the Civil War, campaigning both for black folks' and women's suffrage.
She split with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton over the issue --See, Stanton and Anthony were very angered and indignant that women were denied the vote when it was granted to black men.
Thus, IMHO, Stanton and Anthony were hypocrites and Stone should have been the one put on that dollar coin nobody liked -- besides, she was waaaay better looking too. :D
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/1364/lucystone6jh.jpg
Lucy Stone in her younger days
From then on, the feuding Anthony and Stone led rival factions of the women's suffrage movement.
80 years ago today, the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is formally adopted into the Constitution by proclamation of Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. The amendment was the culmination of more than 70 years of struggle by woman suffragists. Its two sections read simply:
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex"
and
"Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/5531/march2ax.jpg
Suffrage Marchers...I think that "valley of never" part is a veiled reference to how often men who refuse to support women voting are likely to ever get the poo-nanny again.
The women's suffrage movement was founded in the mid-19th century by women who had become politically active through their work in the abolitionist and temperance movements. In July 1848, 240 woman suffragists, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, met in Seneca Falls, New York, to assert the right of women to vote.
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/3126/stanton23vh.jpg
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/6055/mott0vd.gif
Lucretia Mott
Female enfranchisement was still largely opposed by most Americans, and the distraction of the North-South conflict and subsequent Civil War precluded further debate and discussion.
During the Reconstruction Era, the 15th Amendment was adopted, granting black men the right to vote, but the Republican-dominated Congress failed to expand its progressive radicalism into the sphere of gender.
In 1869, the National Woman Suffrage Association, led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was formed to push for an amendment to the Constitution. Another organization, the American Woman Suffrage Association, led by Lucy Stone, was organized in the same year to specifically work on the state legislatures.
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/3332/10246lv.jpg
Lucy Stone
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/2144/susanbanthony7fm.jpg
Susan B. Anthony
In 1890, these two societies were united as the National American Woman Suffrage Association. That year, Wyoming became the first state to grant women the right to vote.
Both sides of the whole womens suffrage issue published propaganda of course. Here are a couple examples....
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/9199/10144kk.jpg
The Anti-women's voting perspective
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/2476/source1bimg4fy.jpg
The Women's suffrage perspective
By the beginning of the 20th century, the role of women in American society was changing drastically; women were working more, receiving a better education, bearing fewer children, and several states had authorized female suffrage.
In 1913, the National Woman's Party organized the voting power of enfranchised women in the states where chicks had the vote to only elect congressional representatives who supported woman suffrage, and by 1916 both the Democratic and Republican parties openly endorsed female enfranchisement.
In 1919, the 19th Amendment, which stated that "the rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex," passed both houses of Congress and was sent to the states for ratification.
On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, giving it the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it the law of the land. Eight days later, the 19th Amendment took effect.
Epilogue:
You've probably heard of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and maybe even Lucretia Mott, but I for one had read nothing about Lucy Stone until doing research for this little piece. To me, she seems like the coolest of the "Four Horsewomen of Womens Suffrage" -- my nickname, I don't think anyone else calls them that. :D
Anyhoo, here's a little more on Lucy Stone, amd its important to note it wasn't at all "one big happy family" among these suffragette wimmens.
Lucy Stone was born in Massachusetts in 1818. From childhood, she questioned her father's right to rule the household and her brother's right to be educated when she was the better student. When told that the Bible gave men the right to rule over women, she vowed to learn Greek and Hebrew so she could read the ancient manuscripts for herself. Spunky huh?
Since Lucy's dad would not pay for her education, she supported herself by teaching and put herself through Oberlin College in Ohio, becoming the first Massachusetts woman to earn a college degree. Yeah baby!
She then became an activist for abolition of chattel slavery and women's rights. Her radicalism made her a famous name and enabled her to earn a living by charging admission to her lectures. She helped organize the Seneca Falls women's rights convention in 1848. At the 1850 Worchester convention, she is credited with recruiting fellow abolitionist Susan B. Anthony to the women's rights cause.
In 1853, Lucy Stone married Henry Blackwell, a liberal businessman who also supported abolition and women's rights. She caused a sensation by keeping her own name after the marriage. After taking time off to raise a daughter, Stone jumped back into the fray after the Civil War, campaigning both for black folks' and women's suffrage.
She split with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton over the issue --See, Stanton and Anthony were very angered and indignant that women were denied the vote when it was granted to black men.
Thus, IMHO, Stanton and Anthony were hypocrites and Stone should have been the one put on that dollar coin nobody liked -- besides, she was waaaay better looking too. :D
http://img228.echo.cx/img228/1364/lucystone6jh.jpg
Lucy Stone in her younger days
From then on, the feuding Anthony and Stone led rival factions of the women's suffrage movement.