1 Li

Jacky Li
11-20-17
Period 5

CT Suffragettes

Suffragettes were beaten and tortured for seeking to vote. Some were even jailed 4

times a day for voting. Women were treated unfairly before the 19 Amendment due to the

many beliefs. Then the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association was created by Frances Ellen

Burr, Isabella Beecher Hooker, and Edna Purtell. After many years the 19th Amendment was

finally created. ​CT suffragettes improved the local community by allowing women to get a

better quality of life and by getting equal and having a chance to vote.

How women were treated before the 19 Amendment

Women were treated unfairly before the 19 Amendment due to the many beliefs.

During America's early history as a nation, women were denied some of the key rights enjoyed

by male citizens. Since female citizens did not share all of the same rights as men, many women

were jailed due to the fact that they tried to vote. Women were kept in the house since they

could not have a proper job. The jobs they had to do were just cleaning the dishes, cleaning the

house, sewing clothes, and other housewife stuff. Men, on the other hand, could be doctors,

lawyers and etc. Married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money

they might earn if they did get a proper job. They also could not open a bank account and get a

credit card. And finally, they couldn't get birth control. Before the 19 amendment, life was a lot

less fair and have a worse quality of life than now.

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Seneca Falls Convention

Seneca Falls was the first step in getting the 19th Amendment. In 1848, at the Wesleyan

Chapel in Seneca Falls, N.Y., a woman's rights convention–the first ever held in the United

States–convenes with almost 200 women in attendance. The convention was created by people

who wanted to acquire a woman's right to vote. On May 15, 1869, the National Woman

Suffrage Association (NWSA) was founded, for the women's rights movement in the United

States. This helped the creation of the CWSA, also known as the Connecticut Woman Suffrage

Association. This was a big step to ratify the 19th Amendment.

The Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association

Then, the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (CWSA) was founded on October 28,

1869, by Isabella Beecher Hooker and Frances Ellen Burr at Connecticut's first suffrage

convention. The CWSA's first meeting was an attempt to attract new members to organize

similar organizations at a local level. "First, the meetings attracted new members and solicited

pledges from these members to organize similar organizations at the town and city level" (19th

Amendment: The Fight Over Woman Suffrage in Connecticut). Also, these meetings allowed

people to find out about CWSA. It allowed CWSA leaders to effectively coordinate large-scale

campaigns and other things like demonstrations. "Finally, these meetings also allowed for

far-reaching organization and, consequently, allowed CWSA leaders;effectively coordinate

large-scale demonstrations and mailing campaigns"(19th Amendment: The Fight Over Woman

Suffrage in Connecticut). The CWSA's main goal was to persuade the Connecticut General

Assembly to ratify the 19th amendment, giving women in Connecticut the right to vote.

Throughout its 52 years of existence, the CWSA helped to pass local legislation and participated
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in the national fight for women's suffrage. Hence the CT Suffragettes helped to get the 19

Amendment.

The women Activists

Isabella Beecher Hooker, Frances Ellen Burr, Edna Purtell, and Catherine Esther Beecher

are some of the many people that contributed to the 19th Amendment. They helped to get the

19th Amendment by holding important events. Isabella Beecher Hooker founded the

Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association in 1869 and drafted a bill her state legislator

introduced that granted property rights to women and Edna Purtell was arrested four times in

one day in Washington D.C., she was demonstrating the right to vote for women. All the things

they had in common was that they all wanted to be "equal" to men. They did whatever it took

to get the 19th Amendment.

Getting the 19th Amendment

Finally, the 19th Amendment was finally created on August 18, 1920. It took many years

and effort to get it. The 19th Amendment was the constitution guarantees all women who are

US citizens the right to vote. (1920) Due to the fact that the CWSA spent so many years trying to

vote for woman, it helped women by changing the point of view of the government. “” ()

Conclusion

The CT Suffragettes succeeded getting the 19 Amendment by working together and

being persistent for over 50 years. They worked very hard to get it so that many women in the

future generation can vote by making organizations and making events to "shift" the way the

government thinks. Even though many governments have declined the offer from the CWSA,
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they ever gave up. "They have demonstrated to the future generation that the "laws" can be

changed.

CT suffragettes improved the local community by making women get a better quality

of life and by getting equal and having a chance to vote​. Since women were treated unfairly

before the 19 Amendment there were many women disagreeing with the law and were trying

to find ways to get "equal rights". Hence the first ever woman meeting to oppose the law was

the Seneca Falls Convention on July 19, 1848 – July 20, 1848. After Seneca Falls, Then the

National Woman Suffrage Association was created with and Connecticut Woman Suffrage

Association was created in 1869 by Frances Ellen Burr, Isabella Beecher Hooker, and Edna

Purtell, some of the many Suffragettes to try to obtain "woman rights" Which is now called the

19 Amendment. After many years the 19th Amendment was finally created with the National

Women's Rights Convention that was created on June 30, 1966; by a group of activists who

wanted to end sex discrimination.

Works Cited

“19th Amendment.” ​History.com​, A+E Networks, 2010,

www.history.com/topics/womens-history/19th-amendment. Accessed 1 Nov. 2017. The

website explained in detail the 19th Amendment and how it affected women’s right to

vote. The publisher has been around since 1984 and is an American media company that

owns a group of television channels available via cable & satellite in the U.S. and

abroad.
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“19th Amendment: The Fight over Woman Suffrage in Connecticut.” ​Connecticut History.Com​,

Connecticut Humanities,

connecticuthistory.org/19th-amendment-the-fight-over-woman-suffrage-in-connecticut/.

Accessed 1 Nov. 2017. The website explained the 19th amendment and how women were

treated before and after it. They included the founding of the women’s rights

movement. . The publisher was CTHistory and is not a primary source.

Boydston, Jeanne, et al. ​The Limits of Sisterhood​. Edited by Linda K. Kerber and Nell Irvin

Painter, U of North Carolina P, 1988. This book is reliable because it has many

documents and bibliographies from the women that helped in the suffrage. Also the

authors all graduated Oxford University so it’s pretty reliable. It is an primary source

because it shows the documents and bibliographies of the women from the suffrage.

“The Fight for Women’s Suffrage.” ​History.com​, A+E Networks, 2009,

www.history.com/topics/womens-history/19th-amendment. Accessed 1 Nov. 2017. The

website explained in detail the 19th Amendment and how it affected women’s right to

vote. It also explained the important people that helped in the women’s right to vote

organization.The publisher is a reliable because A+E networks is an American media

company that owns a group of television channels available via cable & satellite in the

U.S. and abroad. So technically they’ve been approved to go on TV. They are not a

primary source.

“Isabella Beecher Hooker.” ​Connecticut History.Com​, © Connecticut Humanities,

connecticuthistory.org/people/isabella-beecher-hooker/. Accessed 1 Nov. 2017. The

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website explained Isabella’s background and how she became the leader of the woman

suffrage movement. The publisher is CTHistory and is not a primary source.

“Women’s Suffrage: Crash Course US History #31.” ​Youtube​, uploaded by CrashCourse,

Google, 26 Sept. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGEMscZE5dY. Accessed 2 Nov.

2017. The video explained the 19th amendment and how women were treated before and

after it. They included the founding of the women’s rights movement. It also

explained the important people that helped in the women’s right to vote organization.

This is an reliable source because all the sources they got the information on is reliable.

This source is not primary.