History

A History of the American Suffragist Movement

By Invalid
  • Women's Rights Convention

    Women's Rights Convention
    The World Anti-Slavery Convention is held in London. Abolitionists Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton attend, but they are barred from participating in the meeting. This snub leads them to decide to hold a women's rights convention when they return to America.
  • Seneca Falls Convention

    Seneca Falls Convention
    Three hundred people attend the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Among the attendees are Amelia Bloomer, Charlotte Woodward, and Frederick Douglas. Lucretia Mott's husband James presides. Stanton authors the Declaration of Sentiments, which sets the agenda for decades of women's activism. A larger meeting follows in Rochester.
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    Seneca Falls Convention

    Three hundred people attend the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Among the attendees are Amelia Bloomer, Charlotte Woodward, and Frederick Douglas. Lucretia Mott's husband James presides. Stanton authors the Declaration of Sentiments, which sets the agenda for decades of women's activism. A larger meeting follows in Rochester.
  • American Equal Rights Association

    American Equal Rights Association
    The Eleventh National Women's Rights Convention, the first since the beginning of the Civil War, is held in New York City. Lucretia Mott presides over a merger between suffragists and the American Anti-Slavery Association: the new group is called the American Equal Rights Association.
  • The Split

    The 14th amendment passes granted former slaves the right to vote. The amendment specifies the word “male” officially excluding women’s suffrage. Anthony and Stanton are outraged. Arguments lead to a split in the movement.
  • Invites Men

    Invites Men
    Stanton and Anthony form the National Woman Suffrage Association; it allows only female membership and advocates for woman suffrage above all other issues. Lucy Stone forms the American Woman Suffrage Association, which supports the Fifteenth Amendment and invites men to participate.
  • Illegal Voting~Protest

    Illegal Voting~Protest
    • Susan B. Anthony is arrested in Rochester N.Y. for illegal voting. Anthony refused to pay her streetcar fare to the police station because she was "traveling under protest at the government's expense."
  • Granted Voting Rights

    Granted Voting Rights
    Women in the Washington territory are granted full voting rights. Prominent suffragists travel to Liverpool, where they form the International Council of Women. At this meeting, the leaders of the National and American associations work together, laying the foundation for a reconciliation between these two groups.
  • 8,000 Women Parade

    8,000 Women Parade
    1913 - Suffragist Alice Paul organizes 8,000 women for a parade through Washington.
    She becomes the leader of the Congressional Union (CU), a militant branch of the National American association.
  • Nineteenth Amendment Fails to Win

    Nineteenth Amendment Fails to Win
    President Wilson issues a statement supporting a federal amendment to grant woman's suffrage. President Wilson addresses the Senate in support of the Nineteenth Amendment, but it fails to win the required 2/3 majority of Senate votes.
  • Win Full Voting Rights

    Win Full Voting Rights
    Despite the political subversion of anti-suffragists, particularly in Tennessee, three quarters of state legislatures ratify the Nineteenth Amendment on 26 August. American women win full voting rights.