Thesis
For a long time in the history of the world, women were never allowed to participate in shaping the histories of democracy .They were classified as minors whose main activities were confined to family affairs. Men dominated the political arena where conventions formed the basis of constitutional amendments. They protested against Slavery from the colonialist until they gained freedom. Women felt that they also needed to voice their opinions against being undermined by men. Scholars argue that the history of women suffrage could be traced to the periods of antislavery. The struggle started when Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an ardent abolitionist attended the Word Abolitionist Convention in London In 1840.She was denied a chance to contribute in the debate. She Felt that women‘s contribution needed to extend beyond championing antislavery movement and engage fully in national politics.
Elizabeth along with other women organized the “First Woman’s Convention” at Seneca Falls in 1848 where approximately 300 men and 40 women attended including a 19year old girl who had ambition to become a printer ,a career reserved for men. At the end of the convention, several resolutions were made. They held that all and women are equally treated. Further they unanimously concurred that men had imposed an absolute tyranny over women. They felt that women were subjected to adhering to laws that they never participated in their enactment. The civil war resulted in 14th amendment that granted all citizens right to vote but excluded women. At last, the struggle yielded good results in women’s suffrage struggle. In 1910,Washington state allow granted women right to vote while California followed in the following year .Kansa Oregon and Arizona also followed the same trend. Eventually Women fully participated in exercising their civil right through the ballot in the year 1920.The voting was so significant in that Charlotte Woodward, the only surviving member if the Seneca Falls Convention participated in the democratic process.
This research paper will in details discuss the how women struggle to gain suffrage has affected the current generation of women in political activities. Further, it will feature the difference between the past and the current women generation.
The 1920 election set the precedence of women participation in exercising their democratic right through the ballot. However, it was a guarantee that women would also participate competitively in senior political positions. The voting set a fair ground for women to challenge men in seeking political posts .America’s political influence in the world was the reason freedom of expression by women achieved significance within a short period. Country after country followed the trend and now women can fully participate in any electoral post and bid for votes competitively. For instance, by 1920 women formed an approximate 20% of the labor force, occupying most jobs previously held by men in the industry sector (Childes, 285).Declaration of President Wilson support for the Anthony amendment on women suffrage. Anthony’s amendment stated that the right to vote by American citizens was not to be based on gender. The 19th amendment was approved by both houses by a margin above the required two-thirds majority. As a result, women were lawfully recognized as rightful voters. The historical analysis reveals the revolution of women whose duties ware confined to domestic chores and her participation in national issues was not allowed. Since then women have emerged from their confinements of fear and civil oppression to challenge gender discrimination in America. (Childers, 285) According to statistics ratio of women to men in the workforce and in political field is almost equal with women participating greatly in advocating for equality between boys and girls. Women are versatile and can multitask in many jobs thus; their participation in the rapid growth of the economy could not be ignored.
Wineapple, an American scholar highlighted the efforts of the United States to allow minority citizens privilege to vote. Sarcastically, women were regarded as minors who would only take orders from men .This issue was used by the American legislature to justify their considerate nature in equalizing its citizens. The article highlights gender inequality between men and women that motivated the formation of movement of women to counter their male counterparts on their biased legislative roles. The fact that males dominated the legislative assembly compounded the women struggle for their rights to be recognized.(Wineapple,2013) Levels of sexism featured greatly in the women suffrage struggle. Minorities form the basis of any contentious issue against discrimination .Therefore by granting certain minorities right to vote was significant to quell the pressure exerted by women movement towards the executive, a predominance of men .A legislative declaration that voting right would not be biased on race or any condition of servitude hijacked the women’s effort to be rightfully recognized as voters. Excuses by men for men to take care of the children during the world war hampered women concerted effort to strive quickly in their quest for equal platform in voicing their stance through the ballot. (Wineapple, 2013)
In North Carolina, women had to struggle for their right to equal consideration amongst a male dominated society. The struggle for women’s suffrage was long and a difficult one as noted by Scholar Steven Mintz. The agitation for these rights were marked by a long passage of time with the proponents of the status quo, that of male supremacy, often providing blocks towards the accordance of suffrage rights to the women of North Carolina. The passage of the nineteenth amendment, for instance, took seventy two years to come to passage. From the call for the women suffrage in a conference held in Seneca fall, New York in 1848, the passage of the amendment was achieved in 1920 finally affording women their right to vote. (Amar, 2005).
The delay in the accordance of women their right to vote in north Carolina is representative of a similar struggle occasioned across all the other states in the U.S. indeed, the relative success enjoyed in north Carolina was hard to replicate across the other states. Wyoming, Colorado Utah and Idaho blazed the trail, but as scholar Akhil Reed notes, "By the end of 1918," women had won the right of full suffrage in only "15 of the 48 states’. But the tide was turning and women were increasingly finding themselves on a privileged position when it came to matters relating to their struggle for suffrage rights. The circumstances that occasioned this change came as a result of the already empowered women who presented a real threat to the politicians who were against the suffrage movement. This increasing power held by the women led to the attainment of suffrage rights in the United States in what Amar describes as the success as ‘thunderclap’ moment, an epic event in which "10 million women" became enfranchised—making the 19th Amendment the "single biggest democratizing event in American history. Despite the magnificence of this achievement, there was still some factions warring heatedly both for and against the enfranchisement of women. Some males of white ancestry in particular held the notion that the enfranchisement of the women would further empower the Negroes while in fact, evidence suggested otherwise. In "in North Carolina, for instance, the white population is 70% and the negro 30%, hence there are 50,000 more white women than all the Negro men and women put together". The according of women their suffrage rights therefore was boosted by the reassurance that white supremacy would still persist, even after the full enfranchisement of women.
The notions guiding traditions, such as women are the domestic partners in a relation to their place in male/female relations mirror the suffrage movement and the obstacles it faces. Women were traditionally viewed as the properties of their male counterparts which in turn afforded them the role of the supporting cast in an orchestra, at times sidelining them to mere spectators. Fischer notes, that even at the celebration of the seventieth anniversary, the misconception of male supremacy still persists in some circles making it hard for women to compete favorably with their male in politics. In the 1800s, women were perceived as lesser beings intellectually, and as such were incapable of making informed choices at the ballot. This notion is supported, even after the enfranchisement of women, they were not fully trusted with their right and the ability to chose, their choice, ridiculously being questioned on the merits of being ‘wise’ or ‘unwise’.
The struggle for women suffrage in the united states has much in common with all the other struggles against discrimination, be it racial, class, or by religion; the perpetrators of these discriminatory actions often being one, and the struggle against one form of discrimination often overlapping with the struggle for the other. The United States has experienced a positive trajectory in terms of the according of universal suffrage and the liberation of other disenfranchised peoples (Fraser et.al, 2012). However, there have existed laws and restrictions that within the already recognized rights, limit the participation of all. The suffrage of the population in the United States has suffered from this phenomena where by the 1800s for instance, constituted of property owning white men. Being a white man was not enough to warrant an individual the right to choose their leadership, despite whites being the privileged race. Similarly, following fears that the enfranchisement of women would lead to a phenomenon called ‘Mobocracy’. As Fraser et.al notes in their work, ‘there is always the persistent fear by male politicians that women would vote against them in the case of a mob democracy, and thus the need to limit their voting chances, either by denying them the chance to vote, or reducing the number of women registered to vote.
Conclusion
Women suffrage attainment has had a long history with the journey being a long and a winding one. While a majority of the successes are already attained their needs a strengthening of the position of women on matters affecting their welfare. While there is opposition to the universal suffrage, not only for women, but across the board, women need to be more vigilant and assertive of their positions. Letting off the foot from the gas pedal will afford the chance to detractors in derailing the process towards a truly inclusive and representative universal suffrage regime for women. The struggle for the rights of women to participate in democratic processes is not a onetime thing, rather, a continuous process.
Works cited
Amar, Akhil Reed. "How Women Won The Vote." Wilson Quarterly 29.3 (2005): 30-34. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.
Childers, Amy. 100 YEARS AGO. (2013). Saturday Evening Post, 285(3), 95.
Fischer, Gayle Veronica. "The Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Of Woman Suffrage In The United States." Journal Of Women's History 7.3 (1995): 172. Academic Search Complete.Web. 12 Oct. 2013.
Fraser, Steve, and Joshua B. Freeman. "IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR: The Counter-Revolution Against "Mobocracy." New Labor Forum (Murphy Institute) 21.2 (2012): 105-108.Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.
WINEAPPLE, BRENDA. "Ladies Last." American Scholar 82.3 (2013): 28-38. Academic Search Complete.Web. 12 Oct. 2013.
