women's rights and campaigns up to the first world war

the campaign for prohibition

- a development which had a major impact on the suffrage campaign was women's fight for temperance, or prohibition. women had been urging this since the 1830's, but in 1874 the women's christian temperance union (wctu) became a major national organisation, gaining 800,000 members by 1920. the wctu and its powerful leader, frances willard, became a political force capable of lobbying state legislatures and getting local areas and even whole states to ban alcohol sales. prohibition activists had often been keen abolitionists and also supported the right of women to vote. the campaign had strong religious roots, but was given political weight by women voters. 

the campaign for women's suffrage

- disappointment that the right to vote had been given to african americans but not to women led susan b. anthony and elizabeth cady stanton to form the national woman suffrage association (nwsa) in 1869. protest about women's suffrage was weakened by the creation of a rival organisation, the american woman suffrage association, which admitted men and focused more on getting women to vote in state legislatures. the two organisations merged in 1890 to become the national american woman suffrage association (nawsa). 

the campaign for women's suffrage

- in 1875, as a result of legal challenges by the nwsa, the supreme court confirmed that women could not run for congress but local states could allow voting. wyoming (1869) and utah (1870) were early pioneers of women's suffrage, but there were often qualifications. some states allowed only married women with school-aged children to vote. southern states were unwilling to give any voting rights to african american women. there was also substantial opposition among some women's groups. they saw political participation as reducing the special place of women in caring for children and in social and charitable work. 

the 19th amendment

- the 1900's saw female activists influenced by the radical tactics of the british suffragettes. there was a protracted picketing of the white house by women demanding the vote. initially this provoked hostility, but after the usa entered the first world war, public opinion changed, as women's contribution to the war effort became apparent. alice paul and lucy stone founded the congressional union (the forerunner of the national women's party of 1916). the entry of the usa into the war in 1917 was a major turning point. the nwsa urged the federal and state governments to support women working for the war effort. 

the 19th amendment

- leading suffragists like anna howard shaw and carrie chapman catt worked on a special women's committee of the council of national defence. it seemed that a war for democracy against german militarism required true democracy at home - which meant women voting. the leader of the nwsa, carrie chapman catt, campaigned to persuade more states to allow women to vote. in 1919 congress passed the 19th amendment, which was ratified in 1920, allowing female suffrage. success had come - as a reward for war work and as a result of campaigns by women's organisations. the changing context was also important : many states had allowed women to vote and because of changes in the wider world (for example, britain had enfranchised women in 1918).

the 19th amendment

- however, these results were disappointing in the short term :  women still had to gain influence in the democrat and republican parties, which remained male preserves.  the women's movements were divided on how best to use the vote.  women did not vote in huge numbers in 1920, in the first national elections in which they were eligible to participate.  the nwsa became the league of women voters, but attracted fewer than 10 percent of its former members.