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l Advocacy
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Introduction
on election day in 1920, millions of American women exercised
their right to vote for the first time. It took activists and reformers
nearly 100 years to win that right, and the campaign was not easy;
disagreements over strategy threatened to cripple the movement
more than once. But on August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to
the Constitution was finally ratified, enfranchising all American
women and declaring for the first time that they, like men, deserve
all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Referred to as the
Susan B. Anthony Amendment, it states, "The right of citizens of the
United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or by any State on account of sex."
The passage of the 19th Amendment had its formal beginnings on
July 19, 1848 at the first Women's Rights Convention, held in Seneca
Falls, New York. Although the issues of women's rights had been
raised at public meetings and in the press, often in connection with
SEPTEMBER 2010
other reforms, the two-day Seneca Falls conference was the first time
people came together to work specifically for women's rights.
Movement Building
Women entered into public life more and more in the years after the
Seneca Falls convention. In part this was linked with the expansion
of educational opportunities at the time. Women's colleges sprouted
up all over the country, enrolling young, mainly white middle-class
women. By 1870 there were 11,000 female students at these institutions of higher education. A decade later, there were 40,000. These
women received a progressive education and, in their college experiences, found an inspiration to put their knowledge to good use.
The Wave of Agitation
Democracy during the first 150 years of American history excluded
half of the population. Women were forced to fight for their rights
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