Did you vote during this presidential election? Did you feel proud when a poll worker handed you a sticker? This election was my first time voting. I felt every aspect of an election—from accomplishment in voting to stress in announcing a new president. Women did not have this constitutional right until 1920. Before the Progressive Era (from 1890 to 1920), women maintained traditional gender roles, as wives and housekeepers. They were not considered full citizens of the United States. The Progressive Era sought controversial ideas—such as birth control and prohibition. More women were beginning to pursue employment outside the home—as seamstresses and educators. With the start of World War I (from 1917 to 1918), men went off to war and women
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With strength in numbers, suffragists formed the National Woman’s Suffrage Association in New York City. This organization helped recruit funds for the campaign. Miss Paul organized marches and public events to mobilize voters. In 1913, one day before President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, the suffragists marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. There, the women were viciously attacked by citizens that opposed their cause. Men spat nasty remarks at them and resulted to physical violence. One senator even blamed injured suffragists by saying that the girls should have been home! The mistreatment of women—who were protesting peacefully—lead to public outrage (Zahniser …show more content…
A room of legislators was divided into equal shares—48 for and 48 against suffrage. One man was to be the tiebreaker. His name was Harry Burns, who at a mere 24-years-old, was the youngest state legislator of Tennessee. Mr. Burns disagreed with ratification of the 19th Amendment. He was to vote against it. Yet, (moments before the final decision) he received a strongly worded letter from his mother which prompted him to change his stance. Historians believe that Mr. Burns feared his mother more than he feared grown men in a political assembly! Ultimately, it was her persuasion that altered the course of history—and granted women the right to vote (Cohen
With strength in numbers, suffragists formed the National Woman’s Suffrage Association in New York City. This organization helped recruit funds for the campaign. Miss Paul organized marches and public events to mobilize voters. In 1913, one day before President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, the suffragists marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. There, the women were viciously attacked by citizens that opposed their cause. Men spat nasty remarks at them and resulted to physical violence. One senator even blamed injured suffragists by saying that the girls should have been home! The mistreatment of women—who were protesting peacefully—lead to public outrage (Zahniser …show more content…
A room of legislators was divided into equal shares—48 for and 48 against suffrage. One man was to be the tiebreaker. His name was Harry Burns, who at a mere 24-years-old, was the youngest state legislator of Tennessee. Mr. Burns disagreed with ratification of the 19th Amendment. He was to vote against it. Yet, (moments before the final decision) he received a strongly worded letter from his mother which prompted him to change his stance. Historians believe that Mr. Burns feared his mother more than he feared grown men in a political assembly! Ultimately, it was her persuasion that altered the course of history—and granted women the right to vote (Cohen