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So what was the fight for womens suffrage..

The fight for women's suffrage was an enduring battle since the early dawn of America, with many suffragists focusing their life on fighting for universal rights. The Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 was seen as a first step towards true mobilization of women and created an impactful step towards change. During this time, some American women began to shift away from the traditional ideals of the "Cult of Womanhood," which emphasized being a submissive wife focused solely on domestic duties. Instead, women started to challenge these social expectations. As more women's conventions followed the one in 1848, public advocacy for suffrage grew stronger. However, the aftermath of the Civil War in the 1860s caused a decline in support. The ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments raised questions about citizenship and voting rights, creating divisions within the suffrage movement. Some women saw this as an opportunity to push for universal suffrage and aligned with traditionalist southern groups, even opposing the 15th Amendment because it excluded women. This led to a racial divide within the women suffragists because some were concerned on why Black Men were given the right to vote before they were. Soon after, the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was founded to campaign for a federal amendment granting women the right to vote. The movement's focus began to shift—activists argued that women deserved the vote not because they were the same as men, but because their unique perspectives were equally valuable. By the 1910s, two distinct approaches to suffrage emerged. Carrie Chapman Catt, leading the NWSA, advocated for a gradual, state-by-state strategy. Meanwhile, Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party took a more radical approach, organizing protests, picketing, and hunger strikes. While both paths were unique, they pushed for similar goals. Through these efforts and hardships, the 19th Amendment was finally passed in 1920, granting women the right to vote. That same year, 8 million women casted their ballots in the election.

Alice Paul

Edmonston, Miss Alice Paul, 1915, https://loc.getarchive.net/media/miss-alice-paul-new-jersey-national-chairman-congressional-union-for-woman, 2025.

Alice Paul

Suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist

Alice Paul was one of the most recognized leaders of the women's suffrage movement in the early years of the 20th century. Born in 1885, she was a highly educated activist who believed in the use of direct, nonviolently disruptive action to publicize the cause of women's rights. Alice Paul studied in England and was engaged in the British suffrage movement before returning to the United States to use the same militant tactics. She was a co-founder of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, which later became the National Woman's Party (NWP), and instead of focusing on state campaigns for women's suffrage, the NWP pursued a federal amendment to secure the right to vote for all women. Alice Paul was famous for organizing protests, including picketing the White House which resulted in several of her activists going to jail, and responding with hunger strikes to keep public attention on the issue. In her testimony to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Alice Paul asked the committee to act on the Susan B. Anthony amendment and grant women in the United States a right to vote. She made it clear that the National Woman's Party was purely nonpartisan and that their agenda only dealt with giving suffrage to women nationwide. Paul took some time in her testimony outlining her perception that state suffrage wins were not enough and explaining why federal intervention was necessary. She pictured that in many western states, women not only enjoyed the right to vote, but they were becoming major political players keeping the parties in check. Paul defended the NWP's strategy of attempting to pressure political parties, especially those in power that had previously thwarted suffrage, and made it clear that they were supporting or opposing candidates based on their views on women's suffrage—not on party affiliation. Paul's testimony showed her savvy understanding of political strategy and her dedication to equality.She argued that women were already demonstrating that they could be responsible citizens and responsible voters, and so the federal government had a responsibility to assign that right to all women. Paul's testimony helped shape the national suffrage debate, and moved it one step closer to its goal which was finally attained with the passage of the nineteenth amendment in 1920.

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Jeannette Rankin

Library of Congress, Head and shoulders, 1917, https://picryl.com/media/jeanette-rankin-1880-1973, 2025

Jeannette Rankin

First woman elected to U.S. Congress

Jeannette Rankin was a pioneering rebel who would not play according to the rules if the rules were not reasonable. She was born in 1880 in Montana, on a ranch where she grew up laboring as hard as her family and, as a young girl, experienced firsthand the manner in which women were subjected to certain areas of work and experienced limited social life. Once she had graduated from the University of Montana, she experimented with social work but soon found her voice in the women's suffrage movement. She campaigned across the country—Washington, California, New York, and D.C.—for women's voting rights, and in 1916 she was the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress. That alone was historic, but she wasn't a token, she put in work. She supported national women's suffrage on the House floor, helped push the debate for what would become the 19th Amendment, and lobbied for laborers, miners, and children. She was as dedicated to peace as she was to justice. That translated into opposition to both World Wars, being essentially the only one and aware well in advance it would cost her politically. Following her second anti-war vote, she was booed out of Congress and did not seek re-election, but she never stopped pushing. She was a peace activist for many decades, operating in conspiracy with prominent anti-war organizations, and in 1968, at nearly 90 years old, she led a 5,000-woman protest in D.C. against the Vietnam War. That group called themselves the Jeannette Rankin Brigade. Her legacy is one of courageous honesty, unspoken rebellion, and stubborn hope.

Conclusion

It did not come easily to the women to gain their right to vote. They protested, disobeyed, and held on to faith for years. People like Alice Paul and Jeannette Rankin did not go the easy way. They challenged the system, were controversial, and yet progressed for reform. It was not one law that fueled it all. It was about changing the way the nation thought about women and what they could do. And yes, the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, but that wasn't the end. It isn't even close to it. Because the woman who broke the trail for us, the door is now open. Now it's our turn to continue moving forward.