Remember The Ladies: Women's Suffrage In The 20th Century

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On August 18 1920, women could finally vote. No longer were they treated the same as children, the tender of their children and house, the cook, the cleaner. Liberty and freedom was granted to what was perceived as the ‘fairer sex’. On that date, the 19th Amendment passed. But what was the long road to that amendment? What is the story, and why did it take so long to get there? Women winning the vote in 1920 not only represented an important and vital step to equality, foreshadowing the future fights for civil rights and equality for all women. However, not every woman was actually able to vote, though the right applied to every woman.

It began with Abigail Adams, who in 1776 wrote a letter to her husband and future president John Adams
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If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to form a rebellion and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.” This letter brought up the idea of First Wave Feminism, a movement of the rights of women throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, including the evolution and progress that would soon become the fight for the woman’s right to vote. This wave of feminism was carried out through an amazing organization called NAWSA or the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Created February 18 1890, the organization began as means to push congress to allow women the right to vote and hold power in the

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