Women Suffrage Essay Example

Women’s disenfranchised role in American society drastically changed with the advent of the women’s suffrage movement in the nineteenth century. Popular beliefs in the 1800s were “cult of domesticity” and “republican motherhood.” Both exemplified and corroborated the traditional, domestic role of women. The first challenger for women’s rights was Abigail Adams, who in 1776 wrote a letter to husband John Adams and boldly requested to “Remember the Ladies” and fight for better treatment of women. Furthermore, in 1776, New Jersey allowed certain privileged woman to vote. However, in 1807, this was considered unconstitutional and the practice was abandoned. For much of the former half of the 19th century traditional, stereotypical gender roles and disenfranchisement of women continued to dominate the societal and political landscape. The oppression of women’s politically and socially reached a breaking point at the 1840 World’s Anti-Slavery Convention in London. Women were not initially allowed to enter the country for the event, and even after they entered the country, female delegates were refused regular admittance to the convention. This promoted Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott to organize a women’s rights and suffrage convention. In 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention served as the catalyst for the American Women’s suffrage movement. At the convention, attendees signed a Declaration of Sentiments along with a list of resolutions, which mostly dealt with addressing gender inequality in the household, workplace, society, and education.
As the women’s suffrage movement increased in strength and numbers, two different fractions had differing strategies and ideologies for obtaining suffrage. The two leading organizations on the issue were divided on their support for the 15th amendment, which enfranchised African American males. The National Women’s Suffrage Association, headed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was against the 15th amendment,