Women’s Suffrage

In the early part of the 1900s, an era of reform began to sweep across America. One important part of this movement was granting suffrage to women. The passage of the fifteenth amendment gave all men the right to vote, as African-American men were given the same privilege as white males. However, women of any race still lacked the same privilege to vote that all males in America had already achieved.

The suffrage movement led by such women as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the start of equal rights for women. These early suffragettes helped pave the road to give women the right to vote. Many people were against giving women this privilege—including some women! People during this time often believed women could not handle the responsibility of voting and should leave such decisions to the men. This attitude, however, did not stop the determined women of the suffrage movement.

Gatherings known as suffragette parades were one method used to gain attention for the cause. At first, the parades were greeted with much opposition, but eventually the determined citizens won support for their cause. The passage of the nineteenth amendment finally gave adult women of all races the much deserved right to vote.