In the 19th century, women were treated unfairly. They weren’t treated equal to men. They had no say in their government or even their own lives. Many women took action creating the Women’s Rights Movement. People like Alice Paul, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sourjourner Truth and many other suffragettes tried to change the way women were treated in society. Women could not vote. If a husband and wife got divorced, the husband got the property and custody of the children. Many women of the 19th century did not just sit back. They protested and campaigned for women rights. Women who fought for the right to vote were called suffragettes. This movement was successful because women took action. In those times women could not speak up against the law. The women of the 19th century made a positive change to women’s history.
There were many injustices in those times. Women could not vote. Alice Paul said that
America is not a democracy if 50% of the population cannot vote. Most of the population was made up of Women and African Americans and they could not vote. Women were treated second class to women. Many women didn’t work. If a woman did work she got paid less than a man would. There is a photo of woman suffragettes marching on
Washington in 1914. The suffragettes are fighting for not only their rights to vote but for every women who was denied any rights and African American Rights as well.
To fight for their rights, women suffragettes protested, picketed, and marched peacefully. People like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott joined forces to work for women’s rights as well as abolish slavery. The 15th amendment abolishes slavery but they cannot vote. There is a document profiling Alice Paul and the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Paul wanted to change the U. S Constitution because it says that all men are equal. Paul organized marches on D. C. Many women were arrested and beaten but that didn’t stop them from fighting for their rights. Their methods were successful because they fought peacefully and they didn’t quit.
In 1920, the 19th amendment was created saying that women can vote. This was a great achievement for women suffragettes.
This movement is important to study. It explains how things are today. Being a young woman, especially a young woman of color, studying women’s rights is important to understand how I got my rights and be thankful.
The movements struggle makes me feel proud about the rights I have today. I also feel bad because women in the 1900’s had to fight so hard for their rights and equality when these rights were there for me since the day I was born. Although, I am thankful for their fights and struggles for me and every woman in the
United States of America.
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