On August 18th, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified giving women the right to vote. Currently it is the centennial for women’s suffrage in the US. Within the last hundred years, much has changed in the US. It went through WWII, the Cold War, political shifts, and the civil rights movement. What has not changed, was women’s political activism and support through these events. They would seek to gain an equal footing with men for civil rights and economic equality, however they would have to face off against American traditionalism and the growing resistance it had toward American feminism in the 1960’s. With the right to vote, women had continued the fight for equality, both economic and political, that they had been searching for while fighting against traditionalist values.
Women’s suffrage might have been a big issue during the progressive era, but its roots date back to the founding of American independence. In 1776, Abigail Adams had asked for John Adams to “remember the ladies” when writing new laws, such remembrance for women’s civil liberties would not come in her lifetime (Abigail and John Adams converse). Women in America at the time had men take their property when married, no right to their offspring, and could not vote, sign a contract, or divorce their husband (Religion and Reform). However, women’s rights movement in the US would begin to take shape in the 1830’s. Women began to take political action, from promoting women education to abolitionist. One such woman was Sarah Grimke advocating for women’s rights in 1838, comparing the current state of wife similarly to being a slave and their husband a master (Sarah Grimké Calls for Women’s Rights). With no right to vote, they could not use direct political action to change certain aspects of society, but they had used fervent petitioning to get their beliefs heard. Even with their political support for the abolitionist movement, there was still a distain for women in politics. Eventually leading to the Seneca Falls Convention in July 1848, where women, and men, had come to create the Declaration of Sentiments to outline their grievances and solution that they proposed. The Declaration of Sentiments would ultimately be the foundation for the women’s right movement.
Women would continue to be politically active, but their efforts would become fully realized during the Progressive Era. In the 1890’s women had started to form national women’s club, such as the General Federation of Women’s Clubs and the National Association of Colored Women. Even with the racial tension between Black women and white women within these own communities, they still fought for the equal rights of women. Women had brought much social and political change during this time, such as supporting the temperance movement. They also took part in social relief, with Hull Houses supporting the working class and exposing the working conditions of sweat shops (Progressive Era, American Yawp). Jane Addams, the founder of Hull Houses, was also the first women to ever give a nominating speech at a major party convention. Women were involved everything and were everywhere, except in politics. The women rights movement was gaining a foothold, dominantly in the west with certain states giving women the right to vote. However, it was meeting resistance in the North and the South, with women gaining support through their various reform efforts. Many suffragists believed that women’s votes were necessary to combat social evils and clean up politics. That women wanted to use the vote to better their economic interests and gain respect for working-class women (Progressive Era, American Yawp). There was also a growing belief in the south, and in the north, that the women’s right to vote would allow white supremacy to take hold again. Whatever their reason was, women’s suffrage movement was gaining ground. After many organized protest and marches, one of which on the white house lawn that led to the imprisonment of over a 150 women in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson declared his support for the women’s suffrage amendment and later in his presidency the 19th Amendment would be ratified.
With the 19th Amendment ratified women had become equal with men on the voting level, however the 1920’s and the beginning of the 1930’s would not be a time of economic equality for women. Besides the flappers and the few women who worked as clerks or secretaries. Women were predominately in the home as housewives still. The struggle for economic equality that they had been fighting for, would not come until US involvement of WWII. Women were often in feminized positions such as nurses and teachers, while occupations such as law and medicine were overwhelmingly male (The Twenties). However, the time of the roaring twenties was a culture shift for women. Even if economically women did not improve, flappers had inspired women to break away from the traditional housewife role, to become more independent and free. This was not the case of all women, it was mainly the case for middle-class, white women. Working-class, white women and African American women had little to no part in this flapper live style, the flapper was still an icon for them though.
The shift toward economic equality happened with WWII with most of the men drafted into the war, women started to take their place. Industrial labor, an occupation that was dominated by men, was having labor shortages due to the war. This gave women a job opportunity that they would have never had before, women all over the country applied for these jobs. Rosie the Riveter became an icon for the women’s industrial work force. Women had also taken up jobs in government position, over a million local, state, and national level administrative jobs had transferred from men to women during the duration of the war (World War II). Women not in the labor force found other avenues such as the volunteer opportunities in the American Red Cross and in military service. Over 350,000 women served in several all-female units of the military branches (World War II). Marine Corps units gave women the opportunity to serve as either commissioned officer or enlisted members at military bases and the Nurse Corps Reserves had commissioned 105,000 army and navy nurses recruited by the American Red Cross. Even with quota restrictions on women and African American women in certain military branches, things were looking up for women in the American work force and in the military. That is until the end of the war, when the men who were fighting came back home. Most women had voluntarily left the workforce or lost their jobs, while former military women had faced a number of obstacles in obtaining veteran’s benefits after the war. Even with women returning back to the role of a housewife, the role of women in society had never been so prominent in America. With women holding jobs in the government and even in the military. Even if their economic freedom was short lived, it gave women a taste of their new economic freedom and political freedom, and something to fight for.
The 1960’s and 1970’s led the way for much social and economic ground for women, becoming what is now known as second wave feminism. The civil rights movement not only helped African Americans and other minorities, but also women. The 1964 Civil Rights Act banned employment discrimination, allowing women to get jobs that would normally be considered for men. Women sued to gain access to traditionally male jobs such as factory work and used the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to gain even more protections. There was also the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women in 1961, which was established to find discriminatory provisions in the laws and practices of industrial, labor, and government organization (The sixties). The reports from this commission were used to advocate for changes on the conditions of women’s opportunity in the US and attack discrimination against women. Suggested changes ranged from federal tax and benefit policies affecting women’s income to labor laws. The same year that the report came out was when The Feminine Mystique was published. The book focused on the dissatisfaction that most American housewives had with their lives and instead of directing the blame on the wife or the marriage, it was society’s fault. With the release of both The Feminine Mystique and the commission report, women were now pushing for a change in government policy, the National Welfare Rights Organization which was formed by mothers who were on welfare. The National Organization for Women was formed during this time and sought to create true equality for all women in America. They wanted to get economic equality for women, with a majority of women in in low-end job and unequal pay (Statement of Purpose). They also wanted women to understand the importance of higher education. The feminist movement in America would start to decline during the late 1970’s, from the resistance of the Equal Rights Act. Phyllis Schalafly’s STOP ERA organization had split the movement with the advantages of being a homemaker and mother (The Unraveling). The new right had impeded the rapid change of the feminist movement in turn for more conservative values. Slowing down the movement and even trying to some of the progress it has made.
2020 is the centennial of the 19th amendment and is an important milestone for women in America. However, it is important to note that American women did not get that milestone without constant political pressure. The Women’s rights movement has been going on long since the progressive era, but the 19th Amendment played a large role in expanding women’s role in their country. Women had direct access to voting and could use it for their economic advantage. For the last hundred years American women has gone from a housewife to an independent woman who can vote, divorce, have a will, and own property separate from the husband. Even after a hundred years, women still have to continue fighting for their rights, issues such as Roe v Wade are still debated about to this day and the pay gap is still an issue. Just like before the 19th amendment, women still have an ongoing fight for equality.
Picture sources:
First Picture: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97500299/
Sources:
American Yawp progressive era
The Twenties, American Yawp
WWII, American Yawp
The sixties, American Yawp
The unraveling, American Yawp
Abigail and John Adams
National Organization for Women, “Statement of Purpose” (1966)
Sarah Grimké Calls for Women’s Rights, 1838
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