Essay Series 6.4: U.S. women advocated successfully for human rights during the 1800s and early 1900s.

Many women became politically active in the 1800s and fought for their own and others’ human rights and to preserve their families. Their advocacy was against enslavement (Abolitionists), for the right to vote (Suffragists), and against the consumption of alcohol (Temperance advocates). These fights were intertwined throughout the 1800s and into the early 1900s. Women helped abolish slavery, limit consumption of alcohol in an attempt to preserve families, and win the right to vote. Writing this essay taught me that women’s advocacy was vital to the success of major reforms in the 1800s.

Women’s Clubs

Women’s advocacy had its roots in the clubs that White and Black women had formed by the mid-1800s. White women’s clubs were controversial at the time because women were moving into non-domestic activities. These clubs usually started with self-education like discussions about the books and papers that members wrote. Over time, many of the clubs became community institutions. They took on social justice issues, such as giving women more rights during divorce, ensuring women got the pay they were promised for their work, providing free legal aid, and establishing kindergartens.⁴⁵⁴

Black women had their own clubs, with roots in the societies that these women formed in the 1700s for mutual protection and aid. By the 1800s, most of their clubs evolved from self-education and protection to social justice advocacy. Black women educated themselves about African civilizations, protested lynchings, and worked for the right to vote.⁴⁵⁵

Abolition

By the 1830s, anti-slavery associations had arisen across the Northern United States. Sarah and Angelina Grimké were prominent White women of the American South who wholeheartedly joined this movement. They moved north to Philadelphia from South Carolina to do so. They spoke publicly when women weren’t supposed to be doing this, and some church leaders attacked them for being outspoken. The Grimké sisters observed that women should feel sympathy for slaves because women were also deemed inferior and denied education. Once the sisters found out their brother had fathered Black sons, they helped them get an education, and their nephews became a part of their family.⁴⁵⁶

During the 1800s, White women reformers often were racist. For example, there was a long debate about whether Black women could join abolitionist groups. And White women connected with the Suffrage and Temperance Movements sometimes allied with racist politicians who opposed the vote for Black men.⁴⁵⁷

Due to many factors, including women’s advocacy, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery in 1865, after the end of the Civil War.

Seneca Falls Convention

The first big event relating to women’s human rights in the United States happened in 1848 when about 300 people, including 40 men, attended the first women’s rights conference in Seneca Falls, New York. They wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, which followed the pattern of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Sentiments addressed the rights of women and their need for independence. It described the oppression of women, including:

1. Not having the right to vote.

1. Being civilly dead when married.

1. Having no property rights when married.

1. Being unable to keep their own wages.

1. Being required to obey their husbands.

1. Having no power during divorce.

1. Having no right to employment in the professions.

1. Having no right to education at the college level. ⁴⁵⁸

The Declaration went on to say that:

1. Men claim to rule women; they can beat and lock women up.

1. Men do everything they can to undermine women so that they accept their own subordination.⁴⁵⁹

Among the roughly 300 attendees at the Seneca Falls Convention, 68 women and 32 men signed this Declaration. It’s clear that a minority of some men advocated for women’s rights in the 1800s. And the Suffragist movement couldn’t have been successful without men’s votes in the early 1900s.⁴⁶⁰

This first phase of the fight for women’s human rights led to significant gains for women, including certain property rights and expanded educational and professional opportunities. However, the fight for women’s right to vote lagged behind, except in a few Western areas of the United States. The then territories of Wyoming and Utah granted women the right to vote in 1869 and 1870, respectively.⁴⁶¹ By 1916, 12 states had given women the right to vote; many were in the West. Some experts say that women got the vote there because men wanted to attract women settlers with the hope that they in turn would attract men. Others point out that the territories also needed more voters to become states.⁴⁶²

Women’s Suffrage Setbacks

Black men technically gained the right to vote in 1870 through the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits discrimination in voting based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Women weren’t on this list.^463,464 Despite this amendment, Black men faced many obstacles to voting until the passage and implementation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Many White women suffragists believed their abolitionist allies had abandoned them when Black men gained voting rights before White women. In essence, the White men’s power structure had pitted Black men’s rights against women’s rights. This split the suffragists into two groups, one of which prioritized granting Black men the right to vote. The other group’s priority was women gaining the vote first.⁴⁶⁵

Some women formed an anti-suffrage movement in the latter half of the 1800s. They believed that:

1. If women got the vote, this would destroy families.

1. Women lacked the judgment to vote.

1. Women voting was against God’s will.⁴⁶⁶

This wasn’t the last time that women worked against their own self-interest in the United States.

18th, 19th, and 21st Amendments to the U.S. Constitution

World War I stalled advocacy for women’s right to vote in the United States. All energies were devoted to the war effort. After the war ended, some men, including President Woodrow Wilson, recognized women’s war efforts and felt pressure from Alice Paul’s National Woman’s Party (NWP). The NWP used tactics similar to some of the tactics British women used, including marches, songs, and hunger strikes. These women were attacked and arrested, and endured brutal prison conditions.⁴⁶⁷ Women got the vote in 1920 through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

The 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol, became law in 1919. Women advocated for Prohibition because men flocked together to drink alcohol, and women believed this disrupted families. After the fight for the 18th Amendment, women became less interested in social reforms and tended to vote like their husbands did.⁴⁶⁸

Men continued their drinking behavior. So, liquor production, sales, and consumption became one of the biggest industries in the United States and led to one-third of federal criminal convictions at that time. The 21st Amendment to the Constitution repealed Prohibition in 1933 because it wasn’t practical.⁴⁶⁹

Reflections

In doing the research for this essay, I learned just how effectively the White men’s power structure divided the country against itself. The structure pitted abolitionists against suffragists by playing on the racism and misogyny that plagued the country then and now.

The phenomenon of a subset of women working against their own interests persists. Likely, this occurs for women who follow conservative versions of religion. Women may also grow up believing the myths about women’s capabilities and so internalize society’s misogyny. Some women may believe they are better off when depending on men financially. However, this is risky because relationships can fail, or men may not be able to be providers due to disability or death. Other women may value the public recognition they can gain through crusading against women’s human rights. Whatever their reasons, a subset of women still works with men against women’s interests.

It’s important to note that men’s participation was critical to women gaining the vote. However, those in the manosphere now advocate for rolling back women’s rights. Please see essay 5.2 for more information on this group of men.

Men need to learn about the disadvantages women still face in this country. So do women who don’t know the full story behind women’s struggle for equal human rights. I was in this position before I started writing these essays.

How can we persuade the people we know to advocate for women’s human rights?