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The Women's Movement

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The Women’s Rights Movement
The beginning of the fight for women’s suffrage in the United States grew out of a larger women’s rights movement. The reform evolved in the 19th century emphasized a large spectrum of goals before focusing on securing the franchise for women. Women’s rights movements are concerned with making political, social and economic status of women equal to men and establish safeguards against discrimination. Just like any movement there were enemies, but in this case the enemy was not a foreign citizens or different cultures but the enemy was men. Early before 1849 the idea of a women’s rights movement came to the United States and many women decided to take a stand and they stood up against the men of the country to fight for their rights as American Citizens.

In 1789, when the United States constitution went into effect only 60% of American citizens could vote. Those voters were wealthy white men that held a large sum of land. “Many white men and most African Americans, Native Americans, and women were excluded” (WB 4). During this time women were not considered equal as citizens and were not given the equal rights they deserved. At the time of this segregated suffrage the idea of women’s suffrage leaders came about. Women’s suffrage leaders would often disagreed about the tactics for their reform efforts and could never agree on how to start the movement. Ultimately, the suffrage movement provided political training for some of the early women pioneers in Congress, “but its internal divisions foreshadowed the persistent disagreements among women in Congress and among women’s rights activists after the passage of the 19th Amendment” (History, Art & Archives). The idea of leaders and women’s rights conventions were only the beginning for the head strong women of the 19th century.

In the United States the first definitive position on women's rights was taken in 1848 under the leadership of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Women have come a long way in the fight of equal freedom. There are still large gaps that has gained without struggle, women’s first won their right to vote in this country Wyoming in 1869. But yet it was not until 1920 that universal suffrage was finally obtained. The battle of women’s rights is still part of the larger battle of people’s freedom. It will be waged and won partly by constitutional amendment, but for most of all by changing the people’s habits of thought.

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