Women’s Suffrage

Or women’s right to vote


 In the early 1800s, women
were second-class citizens.
Their place was to maintain
the house, care for the
children, cook, and work if
needed. Women were not
encouraged to obtain a real
education or pursue a
professional career. Before the
1900s women had few rights.
Women could not vote, could
not own property after
marriage, or if married could
not keep their own wages or
sign a contract. In addition, all
women were denied the right
to vote. Only after decades of
intense political activity
women eventually won the
right to vote.
 The struggle to achieve equal rights
for women is often thought to have
begun, in France, with the
publication of Olympe de Gouges’
“Declaration of the Rights of Woman
and the Female Citizen”.
 Olympe de Gouges, the French
playwright and political activist,
published her work shortly after the
French constitution of 1791 was
created in the same year. . She was
alarmed that the constitution, which
was to promote equal suffrage, did
not address—nor even consider—
women’s suffrage. The Constitution
gave that right only to men.
 The Declaration is ironic in
formulation and exposes the failure
of the French Revolution, which had
been devoted to equality. It states
that: "This revolution will only take
effect when all women become fully
aware of their deplorable condition,
and of the rights they have lost in
society".
 

 Women’s suffrage – the right of women to vote – has been

achieved at various times in countries throughout the world. In
many nations, women's suffrage was granted before universal
suffrage, so women and men from certain classes or races were
still unable to vote. New Zealand was the first country to allow
women to vote (in 1893), while the King Abdullah of Saudi
Arabia granted women the right to vote in 2011.
 The word "suffrage" comes from the
Latin suffragium meaning "to
support." It already had the
connotation of voting in classical Latin,
and may have been used as well for a
special tablet on which one recorded a
vote.It likely came into English
through French.
 Suffragettes were members of women's
organisations in the late 19th and early
20th century which advocated the
extension of the franchise to women.
 A London newspaper first used the
term suffragette. British women in the
suffrage movement adopted the term
for themselves, though earlier the term
they used was "suffragist“.
 The journal of the Women’s Social
And Political Union the radical wing
of the movement, was called
Suffragette.
 Sylvia Pankhurst published her
account of the militant suffrage
struggle as The Suffragette: The History
of the Women’s Militant Suffrage
Movement 1905-1910, in 1911.
The United States

 The demand for the right to vote of
American women was first
seriously formulated at the Seneca
Falls Convention (1848). In 1869, a
rift developed among feminists over
the proposed 15th Amendment,
which gave the vote to black men.
Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, and others refused to
endorse the amendment because it
did not give women the right to
vote. Other suffragists, however,
including Lucy Stone and Julia
Ward Howe, argued that once the
black man was enfranchised,
women would achieve their goal.
As a result of the conflict, two
organizations emerged. Stanton and
Anthony formed the National
Woman Suffrage Association. Stone
created the American Woman
Suffrage Association. In 1890 the
two groups united under the name
National American Woman
Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
 As the pioneer suffragists began to withdraw from the movement
because of age, younger women assumed leadership roles. One of them
was Carrie Chapman Catt, who was named president of NAWSA in 1915.
Another prominent suffragist was Alice Paul. Forced to resign from
NAWSA because of her insistence on the use of militant direct-action
tactics, Paul organized the National Woman's Party, which used such
strategies as mass marches and hunger strikes. Perseverance on the part
of both organizations eventually led to victory. On August 26, 1920, the
19th Amendment granted the ballot to American women.
 Women’s Suffrage In Europe

 Other countries followed soon after New Zealand, with limited rights
granted to women.When World War I began in 1914, many suffrage
organizations shifted their focus to supporting the war effort, although
some activists continued to fight for suffrage. Because of manpower
shortages in warring countries, women took on many roles traditionally
held by men and changed the dominant idea of what women were capable
of doing, giving further momentum to the suffrage movement. Denmark,
Iceland, the USSR, the Netherlands, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland,
Sweden, Germany, Luxembourg had granted the vote to women by 1920.
 Other European countries did not grant women the right to vote until
much later—Spain in 1931, France in 1944, and Belgium, Italy, Romania,
and Yugoslavia in 1946.
 In Great Britain women were not explicitly banned from voting until the 1823 Reform Act.
Lydia Becker founded the first women's suffrage committee, in Manchester. Other
committees were quickly formed, and in 1897 they united as the National Union of
Women's Suffrage Societies. Like their American counterparts, the British suffragists
struggled to overcome traditional values and prejudices. Emmeline Pankhurst, assisted by
her two daughters, Christabel and Sylvia, founded the Women's Social and Political Union
in 1903. Her followers, practiced civil disobedience, and were frequently arrested for
inciting riots. When World War I started, the proponents of women's suffrage ceased their
activities and supported the war effort. In February 1918 women over the age of 30
received the right to vote. Suffrage rights for men and women were equalized in 1928.
 Other countries
 In Japan women received the vote in 1945.


 Colombia was one of the last countries in Latin America
to allow women’s suffrage and right to election (1954),
and since then women have been striving to infiltrate
the country’s political system.
 As the women’s
suffrage movement gained
popularity, African-
American women were
increasingly
marginalized. African-
American women dealt not
only with the sexism of being
withheld the vote but also
the racism of white
suffragists. The struggle for
the vote did not end with the
ratification of the 19th
Amendment. In some
Southern states, African
American women were
unable to freely exercise their
right to vote up until the
1960s. However, these
difficulties did not deter
African-American women in
their effort to secure the vote.
Women’s Suffrage importance

 The suffrage movement created higher expectations for women.
By the early twentieth century, women were able to attend
college and to train for professions, although not in the same
numbers as men. They began to enter male dominated
professions like law, medicine, clergy and corporate. Also
women initiated a bunch of new institutions. The Women's
Suffrage movement allowed for women to secure their place in
society and take a closer step to complete equality amongst the
people.
 Economically and socially both movements gained women more
rights/privileges. For instance, economically they achieved a
greater variety in job choices and higher salaries. As for social,
both movements were able to help society see women as strong,
hardworking individuals.
 

Proiect realizat de:

 Sandu Irina
 ∟Clasa a X-a B
 ∟Prof. Chereji Monica