...providing many opportunities the Radical Reconstruction made it very challenging for African American’s to take advantage of their “freedom”. In this paper my aim is to prove that African American women were relentless individuals, who controlled voting in southern African American communities through the use of their counterparts. Furthermore, African American women overcame the challenges that came along with the opportunities’ that were given during the reconstruction period, they utilized many strategies particularly violent ones. Elsa Barkley Brown article The Labor of Politics, substantially supports my argument. Brown provides numerous testimonies and examples of how African American women manipulated the vote through African American men. Throughout the article Brown uses African American women to emphasize her argument that ex-slaves developed their politics differently from their white Republicans allies. After the Civil War African American’s reconceptualizatize their role to vote in politics and one may wonder how can a group of people who have been recently emancipated do such a thing? Well Brown argues that the Black Richmonders, operated in two different political arenas, an internal and an external one. Brown argues that “within the internal political process women were enfranchised and participated in all public forums—the parades rallies, mass meetings, and conventions themselves” (Holt, pp. 77). However, Brown further argues that it was the State Constitutional...
Words: 1029 - Pages: 5
...Why had women not achieved the vote by 1914? Women worked hard to achieve the right to vote before 1914, using many different methods in order to persuade the parliament and general public that they deserved it. However, many different factors stopped women having the vote before 1914. The NUWSS was founded in 1987 by Millicent Fawcett and its goal was to organise the various women’s groups scattered across the country. They used a decentralised structure, which meant that they allowed the groups to govern themselves to a large degree. Each group became a representative of the NUWSS and unity was achieved where it would have otherwise been impossible; many women’s groups had conflicting opinions and would otherwise not have worked together. Despite this fair degree of cooperation, the NUWSS had no real authority over the separate women’s groups and no funds to promote women’s suffrage. They also had no way of dictating who would benefit from these funds. The fact that the NUWSS had no real authority over the individual societies meant that even though a sense of unity was provided, there was no real organisation over the separate groups. This meant the NUWSS would have had little effect over them apart from their seemingly united front. The scale of parliamentary support may also have been a factor which contributed to the fact women did not have the vote by 1914. Women’s societies had lobbied, petitioned and supported MP’s in order to raise the question of women’s suffrage...
Words: 999 - Pages: 4
...1920 is the first election that women were allowed to vote. That is very important because the fact the woman we're voting helps the country to understand the total View of what people want because everyone is voting if you are 18 and older, but of course some people still could not vote just because of their race and backgrounds. Chief election officers in the time of 1920-1927 was Oliver Mowat biggar. Oliver mowat biggar task was to find a system that focuses financial and organizational parts of federal election that needed improvement. When Oliver mowat biggar was the chief election officers federal election was better and more widely accessible. The federal election of 1920 charged few thing for people who are living in Canada. I know that the federal election in 1920 really open up the door for female. I say this because that's the first time when female’s was allowed to vote. I think if men's didn't allow females to vote in 1920 females might of never got to vote till this day if you didn't allow it in 1920. And if females didn't get to bit that means that females would of never have their voice which mean they would of never got there freedom of rights. I also know employees gets some time off to got out and vote. I think this is a awesome idea because I know that people are very busy, and might...
Words: 381 - Pages: 2
...It can be argued that British women had come a long way by August 1914 in terms of women’s suffrage and something that had been unimaginable to men and women alike only a few decades before had become a distinct possibility by August 1914. By the end of the 19th century, some progress had already been made towards women getting the vote. As early as 1865, John Stuart Mill, a man who was known to support women’s suffrage, was elected into the House of Commons as an MP. He continued to support the cause as an MP; presenting a petition that had been put together by Barbara Bodichon and accompanying it with a speech in support of female suffrage. It was him that also suggested that the 1867 Reform Act be amended so that it would allow suitably qualified women to vote on equal terms to men. Though this amendment was outvoted in the end, for the first time, female suffrage was on the parliamentary agenda and had been discussed seriously. In 1870, Richard Pankhurst introduced the first Women’s Suffrage Bill into the House of Commons in the form of a Private Members Bill. This passed its first two readings and was only defeated when the Liberal Prime Minister, William Gladstone, made it clear that the Government would not support the Bill, let alone take action on it. More bills were introduced into The House of Commons throughout the 1870s and succeeded in gaining a majority on a few occasions but the government prevented them from passing into law each time. Real progress was...
Words: 1658 - Pages: 7
...from the progressive era affected lives of women today? Think of the life you have today and imagine not being able to have the rights that other people do have. From 1848-1920 many women in the US fought to achieve the same political ranking as men. The women had to go through hard strikes and had many conventions to reach there goal. The women's suffrage movement during the progressive era affected the lives today in many different ways. In 1848 women and men gathered in Seneca Falls, New York (July 19-20) to talk about the problems of women's rights. The demands for women's suffrage began to get stronger in 1840s. For almost 100 years, women (and men) had been fighting to be able to vote. Women were made...
Words: 996 - Pages: 4
...asking me to join. I do feel that I deserve the right to vote, but my husband does not see the point. He told me if I joined the movement it would be a waste of my time and effort. My husband is strongly against my right to vote. He has plenty of reasons, but I do not agree with any of them, to be honest their not the most thought out ideas. His first reason against it is because he says that most women do not care if they have the right to vote (Barkhorn, 2012). If this was true do you think women would be fighting this hard to get this right? He also says that it is pointless because 80% of women that can vote are married and this means it would...
Words: 640 - Pages: 3
...Higher History - Attitudes to Women Essay Model Answer "Changing attitudes in Britain Society towards women was the major reason why some women received the vote in 1918". How accurate is this view? During the 1900s, many women were beginning to stand up for themselves and no longer wanted to be inferior to men. Prior to 1918, women were disrespected and under - valued in society. There was a change in attitudes towards women as the image of the "New Women" began to arise. They were becoming involved in various different jobs, having the ability to be better educated and get involved in politics. However, this view that the "New Women" was the only factor that contributed to women getting the vote is untrue. Women began their own campaigns in order to get the vote. This included the Suffragists and the Suffragettes as both organisations were tired of being ignored and seen as "undeserving"of the vote. Furthermore, another addition to the factors is the "Reward Theory". Women during World War 1 became greatly involved in helping Britain in the war (e.g taking up jobs which were dangerous and only men would have normally done them). Therefore, the views upon women had changed and had a great impact on the reason women got the vote, but this is not the only factor that aided their achievement. Due to the break-down of the "separate spheres" during the 1900s, women were able to become more ambitious and better themselves. Before hand, women were not allowed to earn their own...
Words: 1706 - Pages: 7
...Heather Bradley Women’s rights Should women have equal rights to men? Although things have slowly improved since the original movement for women's political rights movement: the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, women all around the world continue to be treated like they have less worth than a man. Men and women should have equal rights all around in the world, including education, the right to vote, and overall equality. Women should have the right to an education. “What we are learning around the world is that if women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish… And when families flourish, communities and nations do as well” (1). When women are given the opportunity to learn and have an education, they are able to teach their children when they are young and create better skills at raising a child. Denied education to young girls is still occurring, and each day they are falling behind in the world. Just imagine being stuck day after day in your house or your garden, slaving away for the men in your life. Never able to read a book or learn how everything works. Being beaten for even asking if education was a possibility. This discrimination still happens around the world to this day, and although the numbers are slowly decreasing, it is a problem that needs to be demolished. While many young girls in rural countries start school, “pregnancy and early marriage cut short adolescent girls’ schooling before they have completed secondary school”(2)...
Words: 618 - Pages: 3
...typically a freehold estate, as a qualification to vote. A freehold estate proved that someone was independent; when a person was definitely independent it was obvious that they had no serious need for change. Most landowners were free white men who were often wealthy. Voting often excluded people given the gender or race. Eventually, women wanted to vote; however, restrictions on voting directly said that this was not allowed, thus the Women’s Suffrage Movement was born. There was a central feeling among most men that women either did not want to vote, or...
Words: 1236 - Pages: 5
...allowed to vote according to their families and wealth. In 1824, the voting system was redefined. Voting became mandatory, however, only men older than 25years old and who had a lot of money were allowed to vote. Women, slaves and those in the working class were not allowed to vote. In 1881, direct voting was introduced and only 1.5% of the population could vote. On 17 January 1932, women were allowed to vote and 3years later women voted for the first time. Exactly 56years , the illiterate were allowed to vote in brazil. By 2013, voting became mandatory for people over 18 years but optional for those 16 or 17eyars olds, the illiterate and those over 70 years. This brought great delight to the people of the state, however, the mass media and the public did question the decision to allow those as young as 16years old to vote. ! NIGERIA: The legal voting age in Nigeria is 18years. Initially, under the colonial era, only taxpaying males earning 50-100pounds were allowed the right to vote. Thus women and those in the working class were disenfranchised. In 1954 women from the eastern part of the country were given the right to vote. In 1955, taxpaying women from the western region were allowed to vote in elections. In 1959, women from the southern part of the country could also vote in elections. And finally, in 1979, all women, including those in the north, had the right to vote in elections. Presently, in Nigeria, everyone above the age of 18years has the right to vote. Public...
Words: 410 - Pages: 2
...Why had the vote not been won by 1914? Male attitude towards votes for women Male prejudice still existed despite the arguments put forward by women’s groups. A generally held view was that women in the later 19th century were considered to be second class citizens, physically, mentally and morally inferior to men and therefore incapable of voting. It was argued that women and men operated in different ‘spheres’ with their social roles being based on their differing abilities. While men were the protectors of family and the ‘breadwinners’ who had a role to play in government and professional life, woman by contrast, should focus on rearing the children and do ‘good deeds’ in charitable religious and educational work. As was said in a parliamentary debate in 1872, “we regard women as something to admire, to love . . . . she is the silver lining which lights the cloud of man’s existence.” Therefore, for many men there was no place for women in politics. Such attitudes of the majority MPs and working class men in British society delayed women’s suffrage as for it to occur they needed the support of the ‘dominant’ and powerful group in society i.e. Men. Female attitudes towards votes for women Very few women initially supported women’s fight for suffrage. In fact many women were strongly against giving women the vote or any form of education for women or rights. As Sarah Sewell, herself opposed to women’s suffrage said, “profoundly educated women rarely make good wives...
Words: 2170 - Pages: 9
...you know that 50 years before women got to vote, there was a woman named Victoria Woodhull who ran for political office? You see, 168 years ago, in 1848, Women’s Rights began because women Couldn’t vote, this revolution lasted 72 years before women could finally vote in 1920. In the Victorian Era, scientists proved that women were by nature inferior to men. They even claimed that their skull size and brain were small. Well that’s wrong because women are smart and there are reports of women having a very high IQ, some higher than Albert Einstein. Most doctors of the Victorian period felt like women felt no or very little sexual desire and that only atypical women felt strong sexual desire. Why did so many states deny women the right to vote? In my...
Words: 1386 - Pages: 6
...Victoria Ward Bonnie McMeans English 112 March 30th, 2015 Votes for Women: The Struggle to Get Women from the Household to the Polls In “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the protagonist Mrs. Mallard is told her husband has died. At first she is sad, and weeps in her sisters arms. Soon after though, she is sitting in her room and she becomes relieved when she realizes that she is now free. She notes that she often didn’t love her husband, and vows to live her life for herself. At the end of the story, her husband walks through the door, having been alive the whole time. Mrs. Mallard literally dies of grief at seeing he is alive and well. This intrigued me, as I wondered why she was so upset he wasn’t dead, and I wanted to find out more about women’s roles in 1894. At the time this story was written, women did not have many rights. They could not seek higher education, own land or property, and they could not vote. In 1894, the fight had started but the battle was still a long way from being won. This story was inspiring to me, and it made me want to learn about the fight for women’s suffrage since 1848, which is when the Seneca Falls Convention was held on July 19 and 20th (“Rights for Women”). According to the National Woman’s History Museum, it took women more than seventy-two years to get right the vote (“Rights for Women”). I find it amazing that the United States denied women the right to vote for that long. The fight for women’s suffrage, which started with the Seneca...
Words: 2619 - Pages: 11
...History Essay Votes For Women In Britain during the late 19th and early 20th century women, especially the middle and lower classes were becoming more frustrated at the fact they were being refused the vote. Pressure groups like the Suffragists who were funded in 1897 to try and gain the vote for all women. In 1928 the introduction of the Representation of the People Act allowed women to finally equal as men in terms of the voting system. There were many reason to why women were given the vote, they include: the NUWSS, the WSPU, the Impact of WW1, Changing Society and Events in Other Counties. The suffragists did play a key role in female suffrage but many other factors must be considered to be equally important. The NUWSS, nicknamed the Suffragists, were formed in 1897 and led by Millicent Fawcett. The suffragists were mainly comprised of middle class and very few working class women; they had a member ship of just over 53,000. They used non-violent tactics such as marches, writing letters to the government, holding meeting and giving out free newspaper. These tactics had very little effect on the public as the government didn’t see them as a threat and they didn’t find women’s suffrage as an important issue, so they began to ignore them. Therefore women’s suffrage was gradually going down on the political agenda. The suffragists were realists as they recognised that only parliament could deliver the vote, so MP’s had to be persuaded. In this, they were successful...
Words: 1421 - Pages: 6
...Equal Rights Women equal rights had an impact on women's suffrage movement. This was historically significant by inspiring women to join the movement. For a long time, people didn’t consider women have equal rights like men. Men were the head of the house and they were the risk taker for their family. They were not allowed to work outside or to go to college. Women didn’t have rights to work in offices. If women go to college it is hard for them to find a job. The highest job for a woman was being a librarian, a teacher, a nurse, a chef, and a housewife. Women were not hired for the work that was considered males works such as, lawyers, doctors, managers, members of Congress. The News Wise stated that “through history, women have faced intense...
Words: 1314 - Pages: 6
