Women were considered sub-sets of their husbands, and after marriage they did not have the right to own property, maintain their wages, or sign a contract, much less vote. It was expected that women be obedient wives, never to hold a thought or opinion independent of their husbands. It was considered improper for women to travel alone or to speak in public. In this paper the author will present the trace of the rise, the key players, the division within the movement, and what the overall effect was.
Trace the Rise
Timelines are often a dull list of events in chronological order found on walls or in appendices of books. The come in variety of forms and can be used for many different purposes. The Women's suffrage movement was formally set into motion in 1848 with the first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Women won the vote in the United States through a constitutional amendment, finally ratified in 1920. But along the road to winning the vote, states and localities gave the right to vote to women within their jurisdictions. This list documents many of those milestones in winning the vote for American women.
“1776: New Jersey gives the vote to women owning more than $250. Later the state reconsidered and women were no longer allowed to vote. 1837: Kentucky gives some women suffrage in school elections. 1861: Kansas enters the Union; the new state gives its women the right to vote in local school elections. 1869: Wyoming territory constitution grants women the right to vote and to hold public office. 1870: Utah territory gives full suffrage to women. 1893: The male electorate in Colorado votes "yes" on woman suffrage. 1894: Some cities in Kentucky and Ohio give women the vote in school board elections. 1895: Utah amends its constitution to grant women suffrage. 1896: Idaho adopts a constitutional amendment granting suffrage to women. 1902: Kentucky repeals limited school board election