OCR textbook - campaign for political rights (1) 1865-1900 Flashcards
prohibition
- major reason for develop. of suffrage movement
- women introduced to greater public participation
- foundation of womens christian temperance union (1874)
-^^gave women valuable experience in publicity/mobilising support
1874
womens christian temperance union (WCTU) founded
WCTU in 1880
- national organisation in 24 states
- membership of 27,000 women
membership (women) increase of WCTU
1880 = 27,000
1880s = 168,000
1920 = 800,000
leader of WCTU & what did they achieve/how
- frances willard
achieved:
- political aims –> persuaded local legislatures to ban alcohol
how?
- campaign involved political pressure eg. lobbying & mass meetings
important aspect of civil rights movement of 1950/60s
link between religion & political demands
rural & urban political involvement
rural
- women active in rural protests - esp. grange movement & farmer’s alliance
- women spoke at public meetings eg. railway expansion
urban
- charity organisation society
populist part
US people’s party founded in 1891 & represented discontented southern/western farmers
well known orator for populist party
elizabeth lease
unintended consequences of 14th/15th amendment for women
14th amendment = guaranteed equal rights but penalised states which denied rights to ‘any of the male inhabitants of such state’
15th amendment = stated voting rights couldn’t be denied ‘on account of race, colour or previous condition of servitude’ - did not mention sex
suffrage organisations
- leaders of women suffrage campaign: susan b. anthony & elizabeth cady stanton
- 1869 - NWSA founded
- lucy stone & julia howard founded AWSA
- AWSA & NAWSA merged in 1890 –> NAWSA
how was the suffrage cause weakened in the 19th century
divide between rival suffrage organisations NWSA & AWSA as aim was different
what did NWSA campaign for
- national change
- broader view & adopted feminist line –> opposing male domination in several spheres
what did AWSA campaign for
- aimed to get women voting in individual states for state legislatures
- one-issue organisation
susan b. anthony
- quaker opposed to slavery
- founded temperance society with elizabeth cady stanton in 1852
- joint founder of NWSA in 1869
- led united suffrage movement after 1890 as head of new NAWSA
- gained notoriety for her arrest for attempting to vote in 1872
progress in some states - 19thC
- individual states granted some women the right to vote eg. wyoming 1869 & utah 1870
voting issue by women in 19thC
- (test 14th & 15th amendments) susan b. anthony & ~150 other women tried to vote in 1871 & 1872
- arrested & tried for electoral malpractice
- late 1880s/early 1890s there was progressing on voting on local issues but these were hedged by restrictions
- men saw women voting an unnatural & a distraction from their domestic duties
groups of women opposed to suffrage
- national asssociation opposed to womens suffrage (1911) –> 1 of largest & supported by special journal: ‘the remonstrance’
- groups saw women’s rights as undermining the special place/respect for women in their work in the home, raising children & working for good causes
other ways women faced opposition
- (among some immigrants) catholics, supported by priests, saw suffrage reform as weakening the family
- southern democrats disliked womens suffrage
why did southern democrats dislike women’s suffrage
- may introduce labour laws which would harm the south
- work against restrictions it had imposed of AA (jim crow)
how much progress had been made by 1900
suffragists made little impact:
- splits in organisations not entirely healed
- southern organisations unwilling to give AA the vote
- not complete agreement on which women should be eligible to vote
- progress made/groups organised BUT opposition had built up
- movement distracted by other causes eg. temperance
- links with temperance seen by some as too ‘protestant’
