Women's civil rights - political campaign 1865-1960

Question 1

What is prohibition?

Answer 1

For many women this was the introduction to greater participation in public life, and for the development of the suffrage movement.
The first major change was the foundation of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1874.
This appealed to protestants in the midwest, and worked to ban alcohol to safeguard the family, this needed lots of organisation.

Question 2

How did the WCTU grow?

Answer 2

By 1880 they were a national organisation in 24 states with 27,000 women.
By the 1880s they had 168,000 and by 1920 800,000.
Women organised it and set out its programme and strategy.
This gained them valuble experience in publicity and mobilising support for a national cause.

Question 3

Who led the WCTU?

Answer 3

Under Frances Willard, they were successful in persuading local legislatures to ban alcohol.
The campaign involved political pressure with lobbying and mass meetings.
Much of this energy was channelled into temperance.

Question 4

Which parts of America supported prohibition?

Answer 4

In the north many supported abolitionism and women’s suffrage.
In the South most of the appeal was to restrict sale of liquor to African Americans, as they thought drunkenness would make them violent.
AA women were enthusiastic morally and religiously.

Question 5

What is the rural change?

Answer 5

The greater food production of the 1870s meant falling prices and pressure on farms.
Smaller farms came under competition and needed a political voice to represent their interests, particularly with the high cost and influence of the railway companies.
This led them to support the populist party.

Question 6

How were women involved rurally?

Answer 6

Women were active in rural protests e.g. the Grange Movement and the Farmer’s alliance.
They spoke in public meetings against the spread of railways and the need to protect farmer’s income.
Elizabeth Lease was big in the Populist Party and helped lead protests despite hostility.

Question 7

How were Native American women involved rurally?

Answer 7

The reforming impulse that swept through rural america in the gilded age also included native american women.
In 1883 formed the Women’s national Indian Association for Native American rights.

Question 8

How were women involved in urban matters?

Answer 8

Female activity often centred around charities to help the poor.
The Charity Organisation Society was a major outlet for their energies.
This experience led many cities and states to appoint women to administer public charities, giving them experience of influencing local government.

Question 9

What are examples of women’s urban involvement?

Answer 9

Women were effective in persuading many states to pass pension legislation in the 1900s, assisting mothers, widows and wives whose husbands could not work from disability.
Female graduates pioneered the settlement house movement in the 1880s, with 400 houses in cities.
So poorer people could find educational, recreational and cultural activities to relieve the bleak districts.
Sometimes these provided meeting places for social reformers.

Question 10

What is abolitionism?

Answer 10

Initially, a strong impetus came from abolitionism with the founding of the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) in 1866 to remove restrictions on rights of race and gender.
Republicans were able to secure rights for African Americans in the 14th and 15th Ammendments.

Question 11

How did abolitionism affect women?

Answer 11

There were unintended consequences for women:
The 14th guaranteed equal rights but penalised states which denied rights to any of the male inhabitants of such state.
The 15th said rights could not be denied by race, colour or previous slavery, but didn’t mention sex.

Question 12

What is the significance of abolitionism on women?

Answer 12

Abolitionists felt African Americans commanded their first responsibility, not women.
There was little support for women’s suffrage groups, and because abolitionists had distanced themselves from the suffrage movement, it weakened their cause.

Question 13

What is the NWSA?

Answer 13

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed an organisation specifically focused on women’s suffrage in 1869 - the National Women Suffrage Association.
Membership was restricted to women.
They had no allies with abolitionism.

Question 14

What is the AWSA?

Answer 14

The old link with abolitionism was maintained by rival organisation Amercian Women Suffrage Association.
Led by Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe.
They included men.
Suffrage cause was weakened by their divide, as they had different strategies.

Question 15

How were the NWSA and AWSA different?

Answer 15

AWSA aimed to get women voting in individual states for state legislatures whereas NSWA wanted national change.
AWSA were a one-issue organisation whereas NWSA took a broader view, and opposed male domination in a number of spheres.
They did merge in 1890 to be NAWSA but their split caused many women to focus on temperance and social reform instead.

Question 16

How was there progress in some states?

Answer 16

Individual states granted the right to vote to some women - Wyoming in 1869, Utah in 1870.
In Utah the Mormons wished to show that polygamy did not mean that women were exploited or had no rights.

Question 17

How were the Amendments challenged?

Answer 17

To test the 14th and 15th, Susan B. Anthony and 150 other women tried to vote in 1871 and 72.
They registered, voted and then were arrested for malpractice.
The judge refused them to speak, found them guilty and then fined them.

Question 18

What is supreme court rulings with voting issues?

Answer 18

1875 Virginia Minor sued Missouri for preventing her from voting, and the Supreme Court ruled women were not allowed national voting rights.
But individual states could given women the right to vote.
By 1912 there were campaigns in 33 states, but only Colorado and Idaho let women vote.

Question 19

How was there some progress in voting?

Answer 19

The late 1880s to early 1900s saw small but steady progress on voting on local issues, but these were hedged with restrictions.
20 states permitted only widows with school-age children to vote, but even then hostile crowds prevented them voting.
Many men saw it as unnatural and a distraction from their domestic duties.

Question 20

What was women opposition to suffrage?

Answer 20

The National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage 1911 was the largest group.
They thought rights eroded their special place and respect for women in the home, raising children and working for good causes.
They feared equality would work against the interests of those happy with their status.

Question 21

What was other opposition to suffrage?

Answer 21

Some immigrants, and Catholics supported by their priests felt it weakened the family.
Southern Democrats feared that women in politics would introduce labour laws which might hurt the south, or the African American restrictions.

Question 22

How much progress had been made by 1900?

Answer 22

Old splits in organisations had not entirely healed.
Southern organisations would not give African American women the vote.
There was not complete agreement about which type of women could vote.
Opposition had been built up.
The movement was distracted by other causes - temperance.
The links with temperance were seen by some as ‘too protestant’.

Question 23

How did Britain influence America?

Answer 23

In the 1900s the US movement was influenced by the British suffragettes.
Under Harriet Stanton Blatch there were public parades and more links to trade unions.
Burns formed the more militant Congressional Union, which became the National Women’s party in 1916.

Question 24

How was WW1 more important socially in the development of women’s rights than the civil war?

Answer 24

The allied propaganda of a liberal alliance with progressive France and Britain, against an autocratic and militarist Germany, shifted opinion.
How could one fight for democracy and then keep women disenfranchised.
After the war women enjoyed greater freedoms - the roaring 20s, though not all women did.

Question 25

How was WW1 important politically in the development of women’s rights?

Answer 25

The support given by some women to a Women’s Peace Party, which was against war, showed the need to maintain support for the war.
States including New York and Illinois enfranchised women in 1917, South Dakota, Michigan and Omaha in 1918.
By 1919 Congress was willing to pass the 19th ammendment, giving all of them the vote.

Question 26

How was WW1 more important politically in the development of women’s rights than the civil war?

Answer 26

They gained the vote following WW1, but civil war was also important in gaining them political experience.
Prior to war, 11 states had full suffrage, but following it 25 did.

Question 27

How was WW1 important economically in the development of women’s rights?

Answer 27

It increased economic activity and meant that women’s contribution to the workforce was important.
But this was a similar impact to the civil war, where they gained financial independence, but lost this when men returned.

Question 28

What could women gaining the vote in 1920 be seen as?

Answer 28

A reward for war work.
A symbolic extension of US democracy.
An extension of the movements towards giving political rights, seen in some states before war.
A major move towards using women’s particular interests and abilities on a national scale.

Question 29

What are the limitations of the 19th amendment?

Answer 29

It emerged as gratitude for war work and effective campaign by the NAWSA, but probably not because men believed women actually deserved it.
The reform did not mean they could gain everything they wanted.
Once in congress, women had to conform to the male-dominated society, voting how their husband favoured.
Much economic and social change during the war was short lived.

Question 30

Was the 19th Amendment good?

Answer 30

After many years, the 19th Amendment seemed to some leaders like confirmation that women were free and equal citizens.
Yet they still faced discrimination through wages, social attitudes and the ability to exercise their rights.
African American women in the north fared much better than in the south.

Question 31

What were the problems with the suffrage organisations?

Answer 31

Some thought that women should work within the existing 2-party system, others thought this was hopeless.
It was unlikely either party would choose substantial numbers of women as candidates or that women would be on the same level as men.
They thought to form a separate party.
But without the unifying cause of gaining the right to vote, there were divisions and different causes took their energies.

Question 32

What is the LWV?

Answer 32

The NAWSA changed into the League of Women voters, but this was divided between those who wanted women to campaign on women’s issues, and those who wanted women to intergrate into life as equal citizens.
They spent a lot of time and energy in persuading women to vote, and only 5-10% of the NAWSA members joined the LWV.

Question 33

How far did the vote lead to other changes?

Answer 33

Turnout of women voters in the 1920 election was low.
There was continuity of the pre-war period for women to be involved in the church organisations, groups promoting educational improvement, better working conditions and for temperance and moral uplift.

Question 34

What were non-party political issues?

Answer 34

The women’s international league for peace.
The Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, which urged federal action against violence against African Amercians.
Conservative associations were also popular, mainly the Daughters of the Amercian Revolution.

Question 35

What was the continuing opposition of the 1900s?

Answer 35

Female suffragists were seen as unwomanly, while many women opposed flappers and more sexually emancipated women of the 1920s.
Many thought men should have first access to jobs in the depression, and supported a return to the home after WW2.
The National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage later opposed the ERA.

Question 36

How did the NAWSA still show division?

Answer 36

Despite the NWSA and AWSA merging in 1890, there remained different ideas of who would be eligible, some wanting it universal while others for the white elite.
A Southern Committee linked suffrage to temperance and charitable work, but the NAWSA feared loss of support, so did not encourage African American participation.
Though there was a growing interest among them.

Question 37

What did the inter-war campaigns include?

Answer 37

A struggle for independent citizenship.
The right to own land.
The right to run for public office.
The right to register as voters in some states.
The right to have access to all posts in the civil service.
The right to serve on juries.

Question 38

How did the right to vote raise other issues?

Answer 38

The vote depended on residence, which the husband decided where they lived and so voted.
Some states, even by the 60s would not allow married women to sign contracts independently, despite the vote implying they were equal citizens.
Men continued to dominate public life, and society did not accept that women should have social or economic equality to men.

Question 39

What is the ERA?

Answer 39

The National Women’s Party tried to consolidate the reforms by appealing for an Equal Rights Amendment, which would confirm equality.
But this divided opinion - a fear that equal rights might remove some protections, for example working hours.
More radicals argued it would mean the protection would have to be extended to men.

Question 40

What regulation of women working hours was there?

Answer 40

First, Massachusetts regulated in 1876, though it was still 10 hours.
By 1900, 36% of states had regulated, ranging from 8-10 hours.
A supreme Court decision in 1912 declared it legal and by 1920 75% had regulated work.

Question 41

What other oppositions to ERA were there?

Answer 41

Some felt if equal pay was introduced it would reduce women in work as employers would not be able to afford to employ women workers.
Only Wisconsin passed equal rights legislation in 1921.
The issues over existing laws, which did discriminate but often for women, were too complex.

Question 42

What were the problems in voting?

Answer 42

In national politics, women often followed their husbands vote.
Registration was not easy, as married women had to re-register to vote and there were problems in meeting some local residency requirements.
It was often difficult for women to look after children and travel to voting stations.
Voting participation was often low where there were many immigrants.
Political parties were keen to mobilise women voters, but women achieved substantial representation only in a minority of states by 1940.

Question 43

What were the state problems with voting?

Answer 43

Some states were slow to amend legislation allowing women to be candidates in office.
Oklahoma prohibited this until 1942.
By 1933 there were 146 women in state legislature and by 1945 234.
In 20 years since the 19th amendment, only 2 women were governors of states, and they were just standing in for their husbands.

Question 44

What were African American problems with voting?

Answer 44

African American women could vote in theory in the south but not in practice.
They were restricted by literacy tests, and the threat of verbal and physical harrassment.
It would only be in 1960s that these would be overcome.
In some states, both men and women Native Americans were prevented.

Question 45

How did Eleanor Roosevelt help women rights?

Answer 45

The first lady pushed for more women in public office.
The most significant appointment was Frances Perkins as secretary for labour and cabinet member.
Women were significantly represented by the New Deal, because it was thought social reform was appropriate for them, but still faced problems.

Question 46

How did the New Deal still show problems?

Answer 46

Federal agencies were largely run by men.
New Deal legislation discriminated against mothers and married women in an attempt to boost employment for men.
African American women suffered discrimination in the south.
Pensions assumed that the men worked and women looked after the home.
There was no attempt to secure equal wages.

Question 47

How were these inequalities dealt with?

Answer 47

These inequalities were accepted by the women on advisory boards in the new deal.
The desire for equal rights expressed by the more radical National Women’s party had limited influence.
There remained a huge gap between the implications of equality and the actual equality achieved.

Question 48

What was the obvious progress made between 1865 and 1940?

Answer 48

Women in 1941 were now eligible to vote as a result of a constitutional amendment.
They were members in congress and local legislatures.
They held office both locally and nationally and there was a woman cabinet member.
Both parties now campaigned for women’s support.
In 1865 women could do none of this.

Question 49

What were the limitations of progress between 1865 and 1940s?

Answer 49

The campaign for the ERA was not much more supported than in 1865, and maybe less than when the suffrage organisations merged in 1890.
There were more problems with this change and more divisions in female opinion.
Women in power and influence in the new deal were less devoted to equality.
Divisions were as apparent as during the period of division in the 1860s and 70s.

Question 50

How had attitudes changed from 1865 to 1940s?

Answer 50

Women were allowed to attempt to vote now.
The attitude to women working, equal pay and in some states legal rights resonated with the 1870s.
The ability of ethnic women to vote and hold office had little change from the 1860s due to southern states being able to restrict it.

Question 51

How did WW2 show change?

Answer 51

More women went to work.
Restrictions to protect men’s jobs fell away as factories needed labour, and men were into the war.
The propoganda gave the impression of considerable expansion of opportunity and responsibility for women, and there was a special Women’s Advisory committee to utilise them into work.

Question 52

How did WW2 show political change?

Answer 52

Women in state legislatures increased from 144 to 228.
There was some increase in women in congress and public office, though not extensively.
Women worked in more skilled jobs and may have had increased confidence and status.

Question 53

What were the limitations of WW2?

Answer 53

Women were not involved in wartime decision making.
The new deal practice of government being dominated by men continued.
Women could not secure support for work like childcare and cheap restaurants that British women achieved during the war.
Women had to accept unequal pay.
Women remained with little real influence in political parties.

Question 54

What were the ethnic limitations of WW2?

Answer 54

Despite having an organisation called the National Council of Negro Women, African American women had little consultation or could join war jobs.
After Pearl Harbour, life for Japanese American women became harsher with discrimination and confinement.
Women remained divided, conservative groups believe war should not erode traditional family values.

Question 55

What are the results of WW2?

Answer 55

The increased economic activity led to more prosperity, which led to the greater domestication of women.
There was greater emphasis of women in the home, away from the public sphere and public issues.
Greater prosperity led to a reduction of social issues which women campaigned for.
The cold war meant people saw campaigning for rights as supportive of communism.

Question 56

What are the results of WW2 compared to WW1?

Answer 56

Women were rewarded by the right to vote after WW1, but after WW2 it was less political.
They were offered prosperity, labor-saving technology and to be entrusted with bringing up children to respect American values.
So it was stagnation, even regression.

Question 57

What were the losses after the war?

Answer 57

In 1946 2 million women were fired from heavy industry and 800,000 lost their jobs in 1945.
Not all women workers returned home, but had to accept lower pay and status, and exclusion from key jobs.
Sexual exploitation increased as new consumerism tried to take advantage of women’s appeal, which was often the only way to get some jobs.

Question 58

What were the continuation of losses after the war?

Answer 58

Women were still expected to combine work with domestic responsibilities.
They were still concentrated in nursing, teaching and social work.
There political roles mirrored the post civil war period.

Question 59

What were the problems for African Americans after the war?

Answer 59

For African American women the wage difference was worse, but it was more expected they would work, even in low pay and domestic work.
Economic discrimination was even more linked in the south with political discrimination - states really prevented them from voting and subjected them to discriminatory laws like the 1890s.

Question 60

How were African American women involved in civil rights?

Answer 60

Rosa Parks initiated the Montgomery protest 1955, Elizabeth Eckford was in Little Rock 9 in 1957.
Ella Baker was involved in many organisations, e.g. NAACP and SCLC.