02. 1865-1915 - Activists, reformers and campaigners (right to vote) Flashcards
Question
Answer
What did many Americans still believe in when it came to men and women?
That they had ‘separate spheres’ of responsibility
Was social campaigning considered socially acceptable?
Yes – for (some) intelligent married middle class women it was considered a sensible outlet for their energies
What did Jane Addams establish in 1889?
Hull House in Chicago - a social centre to support the settlement of new immigrants
What did Jane Addams and her fellow workers campaign for during the late 19th c.?
Social issues - particularly slum housing (and its associated evils)
What was the Temperance movement?
A movement advocating the moderation of alcohol
What was the aim of those pushing for ‘prohibition’?
The outright ban on alcohol
Why did women generally support the Temperance movement?
It was thought male drunkenness damaged family life
What was the 1873 Women’s Crusade?
The first mass movement of US women – demanding the prohibition of the sale of alcohol
When was the Women’s Crusade launched?
1873
What was the key pressure group related to the Temperance movement?
The Women’s Christian Temperance Movement (WCTU)
In what way did women have some success relating to alcohol in Ohio in 1873?
They took to the streets and forced the closing of saloons and liquor outlets
What was the National Consumers’ League (NCL)?
A group which campaigned for the rights of women in the work place
Who established the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)?
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton
How many branches of the WCTU existed by 1900?
7,000
Who was the National Consumers’ League (NCL) associated with?
The workers of Hull House in Chicago
When was the National Consumers’ League established?
1899
What was the main black women’s group during this period (1865-1914)?
The National Association of Colored People (NACW)
When was the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) established?
1896
How many members did the NACW have by 1915?
50,000
Did the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) focus on the same issues as the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement (WCTU)?
No - the NACW also focused on issues like basic civil rights and lynching (notably via the work of Ida B. Wells)
When did the campaign for women’s rights formally begin?
In 1848 at Seneca Falls, New York State
What did Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Stanton found at Seneca Falls in 1848?
The Women’s Rights Convention
Why did the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments split the women’s movement?
Some women pledged to support African American men getting the vote – others opposed the 15A as they wanted a constitutional amendment giving women the vote.
What did Lucy Stone found in 1869?
The American Women’s Suffrage Association (AWSA)
What did the American Women Suffrage Association (AWSA) campaign for?
Just the vote (thus its aims were narrower than the National Women’s Suffrage Association)
Who founded the National Women’s Suffrage Association (NWSA)?
Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
When was the National Women’s Suffrage Association (NWSA) founded?
In 1869 (the same as the AWSA)
What did the NWSA campaign for?
The vote – but also other reforms to make women equal members of society. The AWSA, by contrast, just focused on the vote.
What happened to the women’s campaign groups in 1890?
They merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
How widespread was support for the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)?
It was limited. It only had 17,000 members in 1905 and 100,000 by 1915. This was half the number of women involved in the temperance/prohibition movement.
How did Carrie Catt’s leadership of the NAWSA from 1900 change its focus?
Catt shifted to a moderate campaign of lobbying politicians, distributing leaflets, holding meetings etc. – and made some headway on a state by state basis.
Under who did a more radical wing emerge in the years before the First World War?
Alice Paul - who in 1913 formed a breakaway organisation, the Congressional Union for Women’s Suffrage (later the National Women’s Party)
In what way were Alice Paul (and the Congressional Union for Women’s Suffrage) more radical in their methods?
They organisation mass demonstrations and picketed the White House
What happened to Alice Paul after she was locked up for voting in a presidential election?
She went on hunger strike
Did the National Association of Women’s Suffrage Association achieve much by 1918?
The state by state approach had an impact: 20 states had given women the right to vote in STATE elections
How did the war affect the campaign for the vote?
Women played an important role on the home front which won them support. President Wilson called for a constitutional amendment in 1918. In 1919, Congress approved the Nineteenth Amendment. It was ratified by enough states by 1920.
When did women gain the right to vote in national elections?
In 1920
Was the women’s suffrage movement a mass movement?
No – it was largely a white, middle class movement.
