Womens Suffrage 2 Flashcards
How did the League of Women Voters come about?
In the 1920s many women felt that the two party system could be worked within, while other females didn’t feel represented and wanted female candidates.
NAWSA turned into the League of Women Voters, (LWV), but was divided between women like Jane Addams who wanted to focus on women’s issued and Carrie Chapman Scott who wanted to integrate women into political life.
Why was voting low in the 20s for women?
What was the WIL and Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching?
In the 1920s female voting was low, women focused on working in Church organisations, improving working conditions, and promoting family values.
The Women’s International League for peace targeted non-party issues, alongside the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching which urged federal action against racial violence in the South.
What did conservative associations argue?
Conservative associations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution promoted female involvement in America’s independence. Conservative organisations such as this one agreed with the National Association Opposed to Women’s Suffrage that men in the Great Depression should be prioritised for employment.
What were changes to protect women in work and arguments surrounding it?
The National Women’s Party wanted an Equal Rights Amendment but there were issues to equality in work. In 1876 Massachussets regulated hours for women to 10, and by 1900 36% of states had hours between 8-10. By 1912 the Supreme Court ruled that state regulation was legal and by 1920 75% of states restricted hours. However, while some radicals argued more protection was needed, others argued equal wages would increase unemployment.
What were limits to women gaining independence and freedom with the vote?
.Women tended to vote in the way their husbands did. Women had to re-register as individuals and some struggled to travel to the stations with children to care for. With lots of immigrants, such areas had a low vote turnout. Party committees attempted to tackle this but by 1940 only a minority of states had substantial representation.
How did style change with the Roaring 20s?
In the Roaring Twenties, women abandoned restrictive clothing and adopted the Flapper Style, going clubbing, wearing short hair, drinking, and smoking. However, in the rural South this was disapproved and the decline in farming restricted money for makeup and fashion. Women were increasingly sexualised.
Who was Margaret Sanger?
In 1917 Margaret Sanger opened a contraceptive clinic and sold the diaphragm but this was impractical for the poor and she was arrested for obscenity. By 1936 birth control was finally allowed to be imported but before it was legalised in 1973 there were 1 million illegal abortions per year. In the 50s birth control was allowed.
How did employment change for women, and who benefited from gaining the vote?
In the 1920s only 12% of married women were in work, primarily African Americans and immigrants to support the home. In the 30s single women were largely clerks, saleswomen, and hairdressers, with more educated becoming teachers or nurses. A minority of the middle class women benefited from the 19th Amendment but didn’t know how to use the vote to heighten their position, from 1923 onwards many feminists promoted the ERA. There was disagreement by men as they believed women should remain in their separate sphere.
What criticisms did feminists receive?
Right wing anti-feminist groups portrayed them as spinsters and lesbians with an auxiliary branch of the KKK forming.
Who was Mary Talbert?
Mary Talbert was an African American who obtained a highers degree and promoted women’s suffrage while using leisure tours to highlight the treatment of African Americans and lynching.
What was the Women’s Bureau, and the Shepherd-Towner act?
In 1920 a Women’s Bureau was set up in the Department of Labour to improve working conditions for women but met resistance from unions and employers. In 1921 the Shepherd-Towner Act tried to provide maternity and infant health education but its funding was terminated in 1929 with the medical profession resisting provision of free medical aid and financial aid.
What were educational changes?
Women gained increased education but met resistance in medicine and law.
Martha Carey Thomas set up the Bryn Mawr Summer School for working class women in 1921 to increase opportunities for African American women.
How did birth rates change, and why?
Declining birth rates among middle class families suggested some contraception use though the Comstock Laws banned the mailing of obscene materials including birth control and advice. In poor white families and African American families, birth rate was maintained and as Roman Catholic and Protestant families valued procreation, birth control was viewed with distaste. Only in the Connecticut v Griswold ruling was contraception finally allowed.
What was the ABCL?
The American Birth Control League, ABCL, was set up in 1921 and established the first legal clinic in 1923. The ABCL had 27,500 members but only 10 branches across 8 cities. Only in 1938 were Comstock laws lifted with federal legality of birth control.
What precondition was needed for the Progressive Era?
A precondition to make the Gilded Age progressive was economic boom.
If there hadn’t been economic progress, less would have entered the middle classes, providing women with opportunities to access higher education.
