Women Suffrage Movement During 1865-1900 Argumentative Essay Samples

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Introduction
The onset of women’s suffrage begun to take root back in 1840s after a movement was formulated from the women’s rights campaign for their legal right to vote in United States. However, it was until 1869 that the pioneering suffrage organizations in that country wereestablished. These contending organizations were led by Elizabeth Candy Stanton and Susan B. Anthony while the other one was led by Lucy Stone. After years of severe rivalry, the two organizations joined hands and formed one organization named National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) headed by Susan B. Anthony in 1890.Suffragists had earlier attempted to vote during elections held in 1870s but were not granted permission to do so which propagated them to fill lawsuits.The paper shall evaluate woman suffrage in details and expound intensively the struggle that women went through between the years 1865 to 1900.

Women’s Rights in Constitution

Americans Equal Rights Association was formulated by women after African American men were given a go ahead to engage in voting activities at the end of the Civil war.Women received opposition from radical Republicans who ran the congress and their plea to include their bill in the Fourteenth Amendment thwarted. During the Fifteenth Amendmentin which disfranchisement was abolished, the republicans did not consider women. An association on equal rights collapsed resulting to formation of two suffrage movements after the congress failed to involve women in voting exercise. One of the organizations named American Women Suffrage Association; (AWSA) was formed by Lucy Stone Blackwell in 1869 with the aid of her husband. They decided to move from state to state campaigning for women’s right to vote. Concurrently, they published a journal in 1870 named The Woman’s Journal that lasted until 1920.
A rival National Women Suffrage Association, (NWSA) was formed by Elizabeth Candy Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Their journal named Revolution was published but after two years it failed. Black women also failed to support them since they had parted ways with the Radical Republications. NWSA argued that the Fourteenth Amendment protracted a franchise that targeted everyone hence they had a legal right to vote.A departure from Judiciary Committee that was mandated by the House of Representatives was represented by Victoria Claflin Woodhull in 1871.
Henry Ward Beecher an abolitionist minister was involved in a scandal with Woodhull according to the press and it led to shutting down of Woodhull’s campaign and she was arrested.Attempts by other suffragists to register as voters were in vain.The new departure elucidation of Fourteenth Amendment was ruled against in the year 1875 by the Supreme Court by stating that voting was not a right but a privilege. A campaign by NWSA to include women in elections was started in the same year and during Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1867, NWSA claimed that women had a right to vote.

Reconstruction and Redemption

When Civil war finally came to an end, black codes in the states of the southern part of America were passed to re-subordinate slaves who had freed. It was during the reconstruction era that various education institutes such as universities and colleges were founded.Howard University founded in 1867 offered education to African Americans and Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary was founded later in 1881 by John D. Rockefeller. This institute offered education to teachers who would extend education to African American community. It was as a result of hard work and education that brought forth the rise of middle-class communities that consisted of blacks in Atlanta, Richmond as well as New Orleans. Black women consequently attended meetings that were political. Poorer white women in U.S. formed new organizations for example the Grange, whose mandate was to offer opportunities in education as well as social opportunities.

Slavery’s Aftermath

Violence erupted after slavery was abolished with black women who continued to work for the whites getting sexually assaulted. In 1892, 160 AfricanAmericans were lynched and these led to a campaign against it began by Ida B. Wells from Tennessee who was a black journalist. She was supported by several whites hence drawing black women into her movements. She claimed through publications about the nature by which blacks were viewed as sexually dangerous.

The Triumph of Women in Industrial Capitalism

Between 1860 and 1890, the wage earning percentage increased in women who were involved in American workforce elevated from 10.2 percent to a promising 17 percent. 3.6 million Women in 1890 worked outside agricultural sector. Statistics show that not more than 30 percent of white women were involved in domestic service. Office opportunities also presented themselves in 1870 for skilled women in the textile industry as well as office related jobs.However, most white women who earned wages were single hence received smaller amounts of wages with an explanation that they didn’t have any one else to support. After successfully protesting against wage cuts and layoffs in 1877, women were included in construction of railroad.

Women and Leisure

Women who belonged to both the upper as well as middle class shopped at stores that were regarded to be expedient. Women clubs emerged and they had a strong control over the civic non-governmental life. A grouped called Sorosis was formed in 1868 by women from New York City to protest against failure by the government to include them in writers’ event that was dominated by males. By 1890s, the women’s clubs which were only cultural and literal topics in 1870s as well as projects in the society in 1880s emerged to be national and regional alliances whose role was to influence politics. They would do so by founding hospitals, museums, libraries as well as orphanages. Women of common background and interests were drawn together by these clubs.
Generally, women who were on the forefront in formulating protests used to chair such clubs. One very powerful club was founded in 1874 and was named Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). The WCTU took over the liquor industry after successfully criticizing personal drinking routines.This union also advocated for prison reform, training of the youths for vocational jobs as well as proclaiming global peace.This union was led for many years by Frances Willard and it sanctioned the suffrage by women in 1884. It was the most powerful organization formed by women in the whole nation during 1880s and Susan B. Anthony together with her NWSA movement joined forces with WCTU to take suffrage movement to international platform.

Conclusion

Suffrage activism entered the 20th Century with the leadership of NAWSA being taken by Carrie Chapman.This movement continued to advocate for woman suffrage until the Nineteenth Amendment entitled Susan B. Anthony Amendment was consented on August 18 in the year 1920 by Tennessee and later becoming a law on August 26 the same year.To sum up,the paper has analyzed woman suffrage in details and discussed intensively the struggle that women went through between the years 1865 and 1900.

Bibliography

Buhle, Mari J. The Concise History of Woman Suffrage: Selections from History of Woman Suffrage by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage. Urbana, Ill: University of Illinois Press, 2005. Print.
Florey, Kenneth. Women's Suffrage Memorabilia: An Illustrated Historical Study. , 2013. Print.
Frost-Knappman, Elizabeth, and Kathryn Cullen-DuPont. Women's Suffrage in America. New York: Facts on File, 2005. Internet resource
Taylor, Marsali. Women's Suffrage in Shetland. Great Britain? Lulu.com, 2010. Print.