For those of you who are interested, here is another small list of suffragist tidbits.
1. The first legal woman voter in Colonial America was Lydia Chapin. She was granted the right to vote at a town meeting in Uxbridge, Massachussetts, in 1756.
2. In 1869 the National Woman Suffrage Association was formed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. They wanted to gain passage of an amendment to the Constitution to allow women to vote. Because the Fifteenth Amendment only granted the right to vote to non-white males, they opposed its passage.
3. The American Woman Suffrage Association was a rival to the NWSA and favored the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment on the grounds that it would begin to open the door to women. The two organizations eventually merged.
4. Two women ran for the presidency of the United States in the 19th century, Victoria Woodhall in 1872, and Belva Lockwood in 1884. Oddly enough, this was possible because though women did not have the right to vote, the Constitution does not specify the gender of a candidate for president.
5. New Jersey banned women voters in 1807. It did not change the state constitution to allow women voters until 1947. Of course women were able to vote, regardless, because of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919, but it shows something of the mindset there.
6. Wyoming territory gave women the right to vote in 1869 and in 1879 so did the Utah territory. However women’s right to vote was taken away from Utah territory in 1887 by Congress.
7. In 1890 Wyoming became a state and kept the women’s right to vote. In 1893, Colorado became the second state to allow women to vote. In 1895 the state of Utah adopted a constitution restoring women’s right to vote. California voters gave women the right to vote in 1911. In 1913 Illinois gave women the right to vote. (Note in 2008, Illinois gave us the first successful black candidate for President.)
8. In 1979 the United Nations approved a convention that made women’s suffrage a fundamental human right.
Now that the 2008 election and its historic high turnout is history, there is much greater appreciation for the privilege of voting.
But most people don’t realize that out of 44 American presidents, only the last 15 were elected in a truly democratic fashion by all of our citizens — men AND women.
Until 1920 women were denied the vote, and few people have any idea of the struggle our suffragettes had to go through to right this wrong. It’s an amazing, awe-inspiring story!
Now you can subscribe FREE to my exciting historical e-mail series that reveals HOW the suffragettes won votes for women. Believe me, it wasn’t easy!
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