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The  Seneca Falls Convention, held in Seneca New York, was the first women's right convention. Founder/Organizer Elizabeth Cady Stanton held the convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman.

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"Ain't I A Woman" Speech by Sojourner Truth - 1850

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"Ain't I A Woman" Speech by Sojourner Truth - 1850

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Sojourner's speech is both about Women's rights and the abolishment of slavery and discrimination. Sojourner speaks of the inequality between black people and white people, even though both are the same, black people are treated like animals. Sojourner also speaks for women's rights when she says " Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him. "

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The Civil war halted the Women's rights efforts and focused more on the rights of black people and to abolish slavery. Many women helped the North's war effort by working as medics such as Clara Barton and even spies such as Sojourner Truth.

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Formation of the American Equal Rights Association - 1866

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Formation of the American Equal Rights Association - 1866

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The AERA was first founded by Lucretia Mott, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was an association that bought men and women together to battle for gender and race equality.

https://kami.app/3L4-cRK-KrS-pcW
https://docsteach.org/documents/document/aera-memorial

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American Equal Rights Association Memorial

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The American Equal Rights Association (AERA) was formed after the Civil War to fight for equality for all blacks and women. Its leaders included Lucretia Mott, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. They concluded their plea to Congress: "your memorialists most respectfully and earnestly pray that all discriminations on account of sex or race may be removed."

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Ratification of the 14th Amendment - 1868

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Ratification of the 14th Amendment - 1868

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The 14th amendment ratified all persons of color or opposite gender born in the United States to become a United States citizen.

https://kami.app/9hB-Qaa-ysW-QEA

https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/senate-and-constitution/14th-amendment.htm#:~:text=Passed%20by%20the%20Senate%20on,laws%2C”%20extending%20the%20provisions%20of

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Passed by the Senate on June 8, 1866, and ratified two years later, on July 9, 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized in the United States," including formerly enslaved people, and provided all citizens with "equal protection under the laws," extending the provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states. The amendment authorized the government to punish states that abridged citizens' right to vote by proportionally reducing their representation in Congress. It banned those who "engaged in insurrection" against the United States from holding any civil, military, or elected office without the approval of two-thirds of the House and Senate. The amendment prohibited former Confederate states from repaying war debts and compensating former slave owners for the emancipation of their enslaved people. Finally, it granted Congress the power to enforce this amendment, a provision that led to the passage of other landmark legislation in the 20th century, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Congress required former Confederate states to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment as a condition of regaining federal representation.

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Landmark Legislation: The Fourteenth Amendment

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Passed by the Senate on June 8, 1866, and ratified two years later, on July 9, 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized in the United States," including formerly enslaved people, and provided all citizens with "equal protection under the laws," extending the provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states.

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The 15 Amendment was ratified in 1869. It promised “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Many women suffrage activists were enraged by the 15 amendment because it didn't actually allow "every" citizen to vote however, only colored men to vote. Many women's suffrage activists argued that the 15th clearly stated that "all" citizens of the United States were given the right to vote, however women were still denied to vote.

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In 1776, as the emerging nation of the United States of America was being created, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John asking that the founders, "Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation."

John Adams replied, "I cannot but laugh. Depend upon it, we know better than to repeal our masculine systems." Nonetheless, the nation's new Constitution was drafted and promised rights would be fully enjoyed only by certain white males who met specific criteria. In accordance with social tradition and English common law, women were were denied most legal rights. In general they could not vote, own property, keep their own wages, or even have custody of their children.

It would not be until 1848 that the first visible public demand for legal gender equality was made. That year, at the first Woman's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott - who had met as abolitionists working against slavery - convened a two-day meeting of 300 women and men to call for justice for women in a society where they were systematically barred from the rights and privileges of citizens.

At the convention, "A Declaration of Sentiments" and eleven other resolutions were adopted with ease, but the proposal for women's suffrage was passed only after impassioned speeches by Stanton and former slave Frederick Douglass, who believed that the right to vote was the right by which all others could be secured through participation in democracy. However, the country was far from ready to take the issue of women's rights seriously, and the call for suffrage was the object of much ridicule.

After the Civil War, Stanton and suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth fought in vain to have women included in new constitutional amendments giving rights to former slaves. The 14th Amendment defined citizens as "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" and guaranteed equal protection of the laws - but in referring to the electorate, it introduced the word "male" into the Constitution for the first time.

The 15th Amendment declared that "the right of citizens ... to vote shall not be denied or abridged ... on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude" - but women of all races were still denied the right to vote.

To Susan B. Anthony, the rejection of women's claim to the vote was unacceptable. In 1872, she went to the polls in Rochester, New York, and cast a ballot in the presidential election, citing her citizenship under the 14th Amendment. She was arrested, tried, convicted, and fined $100, which she refused to pay.

A ruling in 1875 by the Supreme Court in Minor v. Happersett noted that while women may be citizens, all citizens were not necessarily voters, and states were not required to allow women to vote.

Until the end of their long lives, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony campaigned for a constitutional amendment affirming that women had the right to vote, but they died in the first decade of the 20th century without ever casting a legal ballot.

The new century saw a profound change in the lives of women, as they joined the workforce in increasing numbers, led the movement for progressive social reform, and finally generated enough mass power to win the vote.

Carrie Chapman Catt and the National American Woman Suffrage Association were a mainstream lobbying force of millions at every level of government. Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party were a small, radical group that not only lobbied but conducted marches, political boycotts, picketing of the White House, and civil disobedience. As a result, they were attacked, arrested, imprisoned, and force-fed. But the country's conscience was stirred, and support for woman suffrage grew.

The 19th Amendment affirming women's right to vote steamrolled out of Congress in 1919, getting more than half the ratifications it needed in the first year. It ran into stiff opposition from states'-rights advocates, the liquor lobby, business interests against higher wages for women, and a number of women themselves, who believed claims that the amendment would threaten the family and require more of them than they felt their sex was capable of.

As the amendment approached the necessary ratification by three-quarters of the states, the threat of rescission surfaced. Finally the battle narrowed down to a six-week seesaw struggle in Tennessee. The fate of the 19th Amendment was decided by a single vote, that of 24-year-old legislator Harry Burn, who switched from "no" to "yes" in response to a letter from his mother saying, "Hurrah, and vote for suffrage!"

It was on August 26, 1920 that women finally won the right to vote in the United States of America. That morning, before breakfast, the Secretary of State in Washington, DC issued the 19th Amendment's proclamation immediately in order to head off any final obstructionism.

Thus mainstream and militant suffragists together finally won the first, and still the only, specific written guarantee of women's equal rights in the Constitution - the 19th Amendment, which declared, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."

It had been 72 years from Seneca Falls to victory, and ironically, the most controversial resolution had been written into law first. But many laws and practices in the workplace and in society still perpetuated men's status as privileged and women's status as second-class citizens.

It has only been 98 years since women won the right to vote, and 95 years since the Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced. Help ratify the ERA today!

Do you live in a state that hasn't ratified the ERA yet? Contact your federal, state, and local elected officials today! Use the script below as a starting point. (Remember to be polite to the aids answering the phone.)

A quick visit to USA.gov can help you locate your elected officials, on the local, state, and federal levels.

To call your representatives in Congress:

U.S. Capitol Switchboard: #(202) 224-3121

Hi! My name is [your name] & I am a constituent of [ official's name] from [ county]. I wanted to know the official's position on the Equal Rights Amendment.

If the official is in support the ERA:
Great! Would she/he be willing to bring this issue to the floor to get [ your state] to ratify?

If the official does not currently support the ERA:
That's unfortunate. The Equal Rights Amendment would truly legitimize women as equal to men in the eyes of the law, would help women to earn more and make it easier for abusers to be held accountable. Women are a large voting block in [ your state] & I would ask the senator to reconsider their position."

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Fight for the Vote - Equal Rights Amendment

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In 1776, as the emerging nation of the United States of America was being created, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John asking that the founders, "Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could.

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Formation of the National American Women's Suffrage Association - 1890

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Formation of the National American Women's Suffrage Association - 1890

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In 1890 two opposing women's suffrage activist groups merged. One group, the National Women's Suffrage, favored enfranchisement through a federal constitutional amendment. The second association, the American Women's Suffrage Association believed suffrage could be more easily obtained through state by state campaigns. Both associations decided to merge to orchestrate both techniques which greatly helped them secure the 19th amendment.

https://kami.app/vdb-gvt-zum-uNm

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The National American Woman Suffrage Association | Articles and Essays | National American Woman Suffrage Association Collection | Digital Collections | Library of Congress

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Formed in 1890, NAWSA was the result of a merger between two rival factions--the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), led by Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell, and Julia Ward Howe.

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Suffragists organize a parade in Washington, DC - 1913

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Suffragists organize a parade in Washington, DC - 1913

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The march on women's suffrage held in Washington DC by Alice Paul on March 3rd, 1913, was a protest that was the most influential protest of the Women's Right Suffrage movement. The protest also bought controversy as Alice Paul didn't want colored women in the march fearing that white women would not march with them. However, after some consideration colored women were allowed to march in the protest.

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Women Marching in Suffrage Parade in Washington, DC

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In the second decade of the 20th century, suffragists began staging large and dramatic parades to draw attention to their cause. One of the most consequential demonstrations was a march held in Washington, DC, on March 3, 1913, the day before Woodrow Wilson's first presidential inauguration.

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First woman elected to the House of Representatives - 1917

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First woman elected to the House of Representatives - 1917

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On April 2nd, 1917, Jeannette Rankin was sworn into the House Of Representatives as a delegate from Montana. She was the first woman to be elected into congress. Rankin won one of Montana's At-Large seats and began her House service when Congress was called into an April session after Germany declared submarine warfare on all Atlantic shipping.

https://kami.app/dPQ-JCa-Sdt-hAF

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On this date, Jeannette Rankin of Montana, the first woman elected to Congress, was sworn into the House. Rankin had campaigned as a progressive in 1916, pledging to work for a constitutional woman suffrage amendment and emphasizing social welfare issues. Long a committed pacifist, she did not hesitate to let voters know how she felt about possible U.S. participation in the European war that had been raging for two years: "If they are going to have war, they ought to take the old men and leave the young to propagate the race." She won one of Montana's At-Large seats and began her House service dramatically when Congress was called into an extraordinary April session after Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare on all Atlantic shipping. She arrived at the Capitol to be sworn in along with the other Members of the 65th Congress (1917-1919). Escorted by her Montana colleague, Representative John M. Evans, Rankin looked like "a mature bride rather than a strong-minded female," an observer wrote. "When her name was called the House cheered and rose, so that she had to rise and bow twice, which she did with entire self-possession."

Related Highlight Subjects

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The Swearing-In of the First Woman Elected to Congress, Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives

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On this date, Jeannette Rankin of Montana, the first woman elected to Congress, was sworn into the House. Rankin had campaigned as a progressive in 1916, pledging to work for a constitutional woman suffrage amendment and emphasizing social welfare issues. Long a committed pacifist, she did not hesitate to let voters know how she felt about possible U.S.

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Ratification of the 19th Amendment - 1920

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Ratification of the 19th Amendment - 1920

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The 19th Amendment finally allowed American women to vote. Starting from the 1840's, women fought for their right to vote and finally achieved in in 1920. Many organizations united to prioritized the ratification of the 19th amendment. It took almost 70 years for women to gain the right to vote, and finally after years, activists have accomplished their goal.

https://kami.app/G8r-YxV-st4-rVJ

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Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote.
The 19th amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle-victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution. Few early supporters lived to see final victory in 1920.

Beginning in the 1800s, women organized, petitioned, and picketed to win the right to vote, but it took them decades to accomplish their purpose. Between 1878, when the amendment was first introduced in Congress, and August 18, 1920, when it was ratified, champions of voting rights for women worked tirelessly, but strategies for achieving their goal varied. Some pursued a strategy of passing suffrage acts in each state-nine western states adopted woman suffrage legislation by 1912. Others challenged male-only voting laws in the courts. Some suffragists used more confrontational tactics such as picketing, silent vigils, and hunger strikes. Often supporters met fierce resistance. Opponents heckled, jailed, and sometimes physically abused them.

By 1916, almost all of the major suffrage organizations were united behind the goal of a constitutional amendment. When New York adopted woman suffrage in 1917 and President Wilson changed his position to support an amendment in 1918, the political balance began to shift.

On May 21, 1919, the House of Representatives passed the amendment, and 2 weeks later, the Senate followed. When Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment on August 18, 1920, the amendment passed its final hurdle of obtaining the agreement of three-fourths of the states. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the ratification on August 26, 1920, changing the face of the American electorate forever.

The campaign for woman suffrage was long, difficult, and sometimes dramatic; yet ratification did not ensure full enfranchisement. Decades of struggle to include African Americans and other minority women in the promise of voting rights remained. Many women remained unable to vote long into the 20th century because of discriminatory state voting laws.

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19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's Right to Vote (1920)

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EnlargeDownload Link Citation: Joint Resolution of Congress proposing a constitutional amendment extending the right of suffrage to women, approved June 4, 1919.; Ratified Amendments, 1795-1992; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives.

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The 19th amendment was the turning point of the Women's Suffrage movement because it gave women the right to vote which is what suffragists were longing for.