Women's Suffrage in the United States

The term “suffragist” is applied to anyone who fights for the right to vote, whether conservative or radical, male or female. The term “suffragette” is usually associated with women in England who used more radical means to get their point across; although, there were women in the US, especially in the years immediately prior to passage of the nineteenth Amendment, who used more aggressive tactics and deserve the name suffragette. Women in the US were able to vote in western states as early as 1869 (Wyoming), but finally won the right to vote in national elections with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in time for the 1920 presidential election.

Seneca Falls Woman's Rights Convention
It is difficult to say when the women’s suffrage movement began. One landmark event, however, was the Woman’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, held July 19 – 20, 1848. According to Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s own account it was organized on short notice. Lucretia Mott and her husband were visiting the area and five women met for tea – Lucretia Mott, Mary Ann McClintock, Martha Coffin Wright, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Jane Hunt. Together they decided to hold a convention and placed an ad in the local newspaper the next day, July 14, 1848.

The convention was attended by approximately 300 people, men and women, and resulted in the adoption of a Declaration of Sentiments. This document, written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was loosely based on the Declaration of Independence and included the resolution to secure the franchise for women.

Resolved, that it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise.

The document was signed by 68 women and 32 men. Read more about the convention and link to the Declaration of Sentiments.

The “triumvirate” of women’s suffrage in the United States
Over the 70 year period from 1848 until the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919, there were many women involved in the movement. There are three, however, who stand out and are often referred to the "triumvirate" of woman's suffrage. Each of these women had different backgrounds and reasons for championing women's rights and the need for suffrage. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony worked together for most of their lives leading the National Woman's Suffrage Association. Lucy Stone initially worked with them, but after the Civil War started her own organization the American Woman's Suffrage Association which was less radical than the NWSA. Eventually they reconciled and created a joint organization in 1890. Each of these women brought a unique perspective and specific gifts to the cause that made them giants in the movement.You can read more about each of these women at the links below.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815 - 1902)

In many ways, Elizabeth Cady Stanton provided the philosophical bedrock for the women’s movement in the United States. She is known for fighting for women’s suffrage, but she never lost sight of the bigger picture of women’s rights or other reform issues. Throughout her long life she would concern herself with such things as the abolition of slavery, the right for married women to own property, birth control, custody for mothers, education for girls, and relief for suffering families after the Civil War. Her overriding concern was that all individuals have the right of self-determination and should be allowed to have all the tools necessary to do this. Continue reading.


Lucy Stone (1818 – 1893)

Lucy Stone was born in 1818, the eighth of nine children to Francis and Hannah Matthews Stone. Unlike Stanton, she was not born into a family of means. Francis Stone owned a small farm in Massachusetts where everyone in the family had to contribute to survive. The boys fished and hunted; the girls made cheese and did piecework to help make ends meet. Francis was also a drinking man and one that believed firmly in a “woman’s place.” He was physically and verbally abusive and Hannah often had to beg him for money to get things for the girls. Where Stanton’s father wished she were a boy because he wanted a boy, Lucy’s mother wished she and her sisters were boys because “a woman’s life is so hard.” Read more.

Susan B Anthony (1820 – 1906)

Susan Brownell Anthony was the second of seven children born to Lucy Read and Daniel Anthony on February 15, 1820. While Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucy Stone grew up with the idea that it was a disadvantage to be a woman; that wasn’t the case with Susan. Daniel Anthony was a Quaker who instilled in his children a sense of their own self-worth and that of all human beings. Although women and men sat on opposite sides of the meeting house, Susan’s grandmother was an elder and her aunt preached freely when she was moved to do so. Her grandfather believed so strongly in education that he built a school on his own property for his children and the neighbors. Later when Susan’s teacher didn’t see the need to teach girls long division, Daniel Anthony did the same thing. Continue reading.

Women have a rich history in American and the world. In the 21st century we have a lot to thank these women for, but more work is still to be done. Please leave comments or questions. Thanks for reading.