Essay: The First Women's Rights Convention

The first woman's rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York, in July 1848. A host of issues important to 19th-century women was addressed at this meeting, but suffrage in regarding to the right to voting quickly became the cornerstone of the movement. When Kansas Territory was organized six years later, women's issues, and suffrage, in particular, were of immediate concern. National leaders saw the newly established western territories and states as ideal battlegrounds for women's rights in America. Kansas women saw some early victories; they gained the right to vote in school district elections in 1861 and municipal elections in 1887. The crusade for equal voting rights, however, continued to elude supporters within the United
States. In 1912, eight years before the ratification of the national woman suffrage amendment, Kansas became the eighth state to extend equal voting rights to women. During this time, Clarina Nichols was a recognized leader in the women's rights movement, moved from Vermont to Kansas Territory in October 1854. Nichols would play a significant role at the constitutional convention July 5, 1859. When delegates assembled at Wyandotte to draw up a state constitution, Nichols presented a petition calling for equal political and civil rights for Kansas women.