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Women's Suffrage

Movement

Women were not given the right to vote by the Constitution. The first step toward women's suffrage took place in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention in New York. Present were the Grimke sisters (Angelina and Sarah), Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony. They agreed that women should have property rights, social rights concerning equality, and the right to vote. They passed the Declaration of Sentiments, in which they proposed changing the wording of the Declaration of Independence to say, "All men and women are created equal." After that, nothing happened and the suffrage movement became overshadowed by abolition, Civil War, Reconstruction, Indian wars, and the settling the of the West.

In 1890, the state of Wyoming became the first to give women the right to vote. By the turn of the century, the North American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was founded to advance the cause. The movement gained steam as a progressive reform issue before World War I. By that time, suffrage parades were common throughout the country. The final drive for suffrage began in 1915, when Carrie Chapman Catt took over control of the organization. Finally, the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1919 giving women the right to vote. After that, the NAWSA disbanded and was replaced by the National League of Women Voters, which sought to teach the new female electorate about politics and government. The first presidential election in which women participated took place in 1920, when they overwhelmingly supported the Republican candidate, Warren G. Harding.



Search Strategies:
Keywords:
Use the following words to search for information related to the Women's Suffrage Movement:
*Women's Suffrage Movement
*Seneca Falls Conventions
*North American Women's Suffrage Association
*League of Women Voters
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Susan B Anthony and life long friend Elizabeth Cady Stanton

*Nineteenth Amendment
*Suffrage Parades

Key Names:
*Susan B. Anthony
*Elizabeth Cady Stanton
*Carrie Chapman Catt
*Anglena Grimke
*Sarah Grimke

Dewy Location:
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Print Resources:
Susan B. Anthony
by Martha E. H. Rustad ; [Linda Clavel, illustrator].
Simple text and photographs introduce the life of Susan B. Anthony.

Susan B. Anthony
Peter and Connie Roop.
An introductory biography of the early feminists who fought for female suffrage.
Learning about fairness from the life of Susan B. Anthony
Kiki Mosher.
A brief biography examining the idea of fairness in the life of the woman known for her efforts to secure the right to vote for women.
Equal rights for all [videorecording].
This video is narrated by Irene Bedard. Topics include: The story of the Bill of Rights; Rights for everyone: the Abolitionists; The biography of Abraham Lincoln; The story of a child: the Emancipation Proclamation; The biography of Susan B. Anthony.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton:
You want women to vote, Lizzie Stanton?
Jean Fritz ; [ DyAnne DiSalvi-Ryan]
A biography of suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton that covers her childhood, her role in the abolitionist movement, and her struggles in the suffrage movement.


Internet Resources:

Pro Teacher web site has a list of interactive web sites for important women in American History. proteacher

The New York home of Susan B. Anthony is featured on this site. Plenty of facts accompany the virtual tour of her home.

Susan B. Anthony home

The web quest found at the following link has the students working in groups. Each group represents one of the key players of the movement. The final task has the players debating before the senate, portraying the ideals of their assigned person. Web Quest

Winning the vote has a "pick your suffraget" option where the visitor chooses a person and is taken to a bibliographical page. There are also links to images, time lines, resources, and general suffrage movement facts. Winning the Vote

This wonderful web-quest has different scenarios for different groups. Each group must write a letter to the President, make a picket sign, and give a speech! Web Quest

National Women's Hall of Fame has a searchable database of all inductees.
National Women's Hall of Fame

The Rochester Public Library has an awesome collection of Manuscripts from Susan B. Anthony and the Suffargists. The actual documents are assessable.
Letters Collection Rochester Public Library

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Picketing in front of the White House.