Carrie Chapman Catt Women's Suffrage

Do you like having a voice? Do you like feeling empowered? Well, if it weren’t for Carrie Chapman Catt in the 1900’s, half of our population still wouldn’t have that luxury.
In early 20th century America, many people did not even think of women voting as an option for themselves or the people around them. Many were misinformed about the topic of women’s suffrage, until people like Carrie Chapman Catt worked with organizations, such as the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA), to educate and motivate the masses. Catt gave commanding speeches, provided much-needed enthusiasm, and was an excellent organizer, making her years working with and leading the NAWSA a huge success. Her leadership disrupted the style and strategy
of their organization, but ultimately succeeded in granting suffrage for women nationwide. Carrie Chapman Catt’s experiences throughout her past led her to fight for suffrage for women in the full-force way that she did. Catt attended Iowa State University in 1880, which was rare for a woman at the time, and became a superintendent of schools in Iowa (Fowler and Jones 131). Catt was sexually harassed by a male co-worker in the 1880’s, which sparked her commitment to equality for women in the workplace. She led the Iowa Woman Suffrage Association in 1889 and gained praise for her work from the Iowa branch of the NAWSA. Catt spoke at an annual NAWSA convention in 1890. Soon after, Catt was appointed national organizer of NAWSA in 1893 and Chair of the National Organization Committee in 1895-1900 (Fowler and Jones 132). Because of her major effort, commitment, and enthusiasm for the cause, Catt was elected president of the NAWSA in 1900 (Fowler and Jones 133). While her first term was not very successful, she became president for the second time in 1916 and brought the women’s suffrage cause to victory in 1920 (Fowler and Jones 135). Catt based her stance on suffrage for women on the idea of human diversity and the idea that women must have suffrage in order for democracy and the society as a whole to evolve.
Catt agreed with the idea of Social Darwinism. She believed that the only way for America to advance from a barbaric society to civilized society would be through granting suffrage for women (Amidon 307). Instead of staying behind all other civilized and advanced cultures, she believed they instead should push ahead when it comes to democracy through woman’s suffrage. Americans came to America with the idea of democracy in their hearts and should not let other countries pass them by in their quest for a democratic society because they will not give women their right to vote (Catt 6). Also, she believed that there is human diversity for a reason. Catt fiercely argued that the evolution of different sexes supported more rights and roles for women (Amidon 308). This idea shows that women were created for a reason right along side men. God created women to be in equal relationship with men and that started with letting women have a say and not be completely pushed aside. These ideals show through very prominently throughout her work, as she attempts to shine light on the necessity of women having a voice for the sake of equality and the prosperity of American
democracy. As president, Catt created a new strategy for the NAWSA, switching focus from state laws to achieving a federal Amendment first. When Catt became president for the second time in 1916, instead of focusing all energy on getting states to pass the law allowing women to vote, Catt took the bold step of heading straight for a federal Amendment allowing all women nationwide to vote. Catt believed that if a federal Amendment was passed, the states would follow soon after and woman’s suffrage would be guaranteed (Fowler and Jones 135). This was taking a big risk because she was putting a lot of effort into one big law to help all women, but if it failed, they would have to start over until it passed. However, she did what she felt would get suffrage for ALL women and not just women in certain states. Fortunately, Catt’s Plan was a success and after gaining the Amendment, she turned focus back to gaining state’s votes. The House of Representatives passed the Anthony Amendment in 1918, and Catt then shifted her focus back to getting state’s votes, which followed the federal decision as planned (Fowler and Jones 140). While many people were skeptical of her “Winning Plan,” Catt knew what she was doing and only had to focus on state approval afterwards. By getting the big decision in the Amendment out of the way, small rallies could be held nationwide to fulfill her Plan. Catt took a giant leap in changing the strategy of the NAWSA, but it was well worth it and proved to have been a great move for the women’s suffrage movement and the NAWSA. To achieve her “Winning Plan”, Catt raised funds and invested in publicizing the woman’s suffrage movement through newspapers, conventions, and suffrage schools.
Catt got donations which saved her movement and allowed her to make the issue of woman’s suffrage known to everyone. She bought the Woman’s Journal in 1916 and renamed it Women’s Citizen in 1917, and placed Rose Young in charge of publicity for the movement, making sure everyone knew (Fowler and Jones 138). Everything was organized so that all women could learn about what they were missing and should be given, and so that the men could learn how important woman’s suffrage was, not only for women but for their government. In addition to publishing a newspaper, Catt established suffrage schools which taught the history of suffrage, debated issues of the time, and created successful participation in the movement (Fowler and Jones 137). She also organized and supported conventions as a method of expansion. She even spoke at the annual NAWSA convention in 1890, which united the American Woman Suffrage Association and National Woman Suffrage Association (Fowler and Jones 132). Because of the many attempts at publicity and expansion, women and men had many different ways to get involved and be informed. Catt was very persistent in getting the message of the necessity of women’s suffrage out to the
nation. Because of the level of commitment and desire Catt had for women’s suffrage, she abandoned her ideas of racial equality in hopes of further promoting and prioritizing women's suffrage. In her early years of leadership in the NAWSA, some of Catt’s ideas were viewed as racist because she put her personal beliefs on racial equality behind to get woman’s suffrage ahead. She wanted to gain woman’s suffrage first and then would focus on suffrage for people of color. She played the racial card to her advantage by saying that white women were just as literate, if not more, than colored men, yet colored men were the ones with the votes (Amidon 319). Catt also did not speak of women of color often because she wanted primary focus to be on white female suffrage (Amidon 309). In many ways, Catt threw people of color under the bus to make her case for woman’s suffrage even more obvious and expected. While she personally may have believed in racial equality as well, she put that on hold to focus all her efforts on what she felt was more important, suffrage for women. In a similar way to changing her ideals to support her cause, Catt led the NAWSA in proclaiming its support for America’s involvement in the war to avoid being seen as unpatriotic and hindering their cause. She made sure that the NAWSA was in on the war effort to show the organization was patriotic. Catt thought that the government should repay women for their war effort by granting them suffrage (Fowler and Jones 139). By being seen as patriotic, people could not use it as a reason to dismiss them and their cause. She also showed that other countries had already rewarded their women with suffrage after the war, yet America had not (Catt 1). America was supposed to be the almighty, equal, and powerful country which other countries would look up to as an example for democracy. However, other countries were beating them to it. Catt made sure, through all her work, that the NAWSA would help and work hard throughout the war because being unpatriotic would not be a reason they would be silenced or ignored. Instead, Catt did everything in her power during the war to use the war to their advantage. Catt’s extraordinary work within the NAWSA as the NAWSA vigorously fought for women’s suffrage payed off when women’s suffrage became the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1918 and was passed in ¾ of all states by 1920. After the federal Amendment was passed, Catt still needed to get ¾ of the states to pass the law in order for it to hold true on a federal level. Catt worked in states for weeks to convince them to pass the amendment. By 1920, Tennessee was the last state needed for the ¾ majority vote for nation wide women’s suffrage and Catt saw success when the Tennessee legislature finally passed the Amendment (Fowler and Jones 130). After a long and hard journey, Catt was finally able to see the day when women could vote, and know that she had played an instrumental role in making it happen. Carrie Chapman Catt brought a new light to the NAWSA through her enthusiasm and command concerning women’s suffrage, and played an instrumental role in creating the voting culture we know today. She attempted to reveal to everyone the struggles women were facing through publicity and exposure, which helped educate many about the reality of the situation. Catt was so dedicated to her cause that she even abandoned some of her own ideals, such as racial equality, and adopted others, such as war support, all in hopes of putting women’s suffrage first and doing everything to make it possible. If not for Carrie Chapman Catt and the NAWSA, women might have had to wait much longer for their right to vote, and still might not have been given the right 97 years later.