One of the major themes that developed progressivism was women’s rights and suffrage. As women of the working class in the progressive era, they fought for their rights to receive the same wages as men, improved working conditions, and shorter working hours. Women protested against unequal pay and poor working conditions by going on strike. One of the organizations that influenced these strikes was the Women’s Trade Union League who organized working women into unions. In 1909 the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union went on strike to challenge the poor working conditions and small wages such as in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. In 1910 the strike ended and the women had obtained a victory, but the working conditions for some still
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Women had campaigned across the United States for their right to vote and won many victories within the western states. However, women would not be satisfied until every woman who was a citizen of the United States had the right to vote. In order to express their frustration to the White House women “...chained themselves to fences and went to jail, where many engaged in hunger strikes.”(Roark, pp.726). President Woodrow Wilson expressed annoyance toward the suffragists by saying, “They seem bent on making their cause as obnoxious as possible,”. However, after the American victory of the Great War, Wilson had a change of heart. After acknowledging the women’s role in the Great War, such as the women nurses and ambulance drivers who served in France, Wilson then gave his support to the women’s suffrage. He declared his support when “He conceded that it would be wrong not reward the wartime ‘partnership of suffering and sacrifice’ with a ‘partnership of privilege and right.’”(Roark, pp.727). After Wilson’s declaration of support for the women’s suffrage in 1918, the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, ratified in August of 1920.
The laws for women’s rights which were set in place during the progressive era were significantly transformative for the future of women in America.
Women had campaigned across the United States for their right to vote and won many victories within the western states. However, women would not be satisfied until every woman who was a citizen of the United States had the right to vote. In order to express their frustration to the White House women “...chained themselves to fences and went to jail, where many engaged in hunger strikes.”(Roark, pp.726). President Woodrow Wilson expressed annoyance toward the suffragists by saying, “They seem bent on making their cause as obnoxious as possible,”. However, after the American victory of the Great War, Wilson had a change of heart. After acknowledging the women’s role in the Great War, such as the women nurses and ambulance drivers who served in France, Wilson then gave his support to the women’s suffrage. He declared his support when “He conceded that it would be wrong not reward the wartime ‘partnership of suffering and sacrifice’ with a ‘partnership of privilege and right.’”(Roark, pp.727). After Wilson’s declaration of support for the women’s suffrage in 1918, the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, ratified in August of 1920.
The laws for women’s rights which were set in place during the progressive era were significantly transformative for the future of women in America.