Suffrage
"Oh, Lizzie! If thou demands that, thou will make us ridiculous. We must move slowly."
~ Lucretia Mott, on seeing the suffrage section of the Declaration |
"We must have the vote." ~Stanton, in reply to Mott |
"[Suffrage] is the point to attack, the stronghold of the fortress — the one woman will find most difficult to take; the one man will most reluctantly give up."
-Elizabeth Cady Stanton, letter to Ohio feminists
-Elizabeth Cady Stanton, letter to Ohio feminists
"I should feel exceedingly diffident to appear before you at this time, having never before spoken in public, were I not nerved by a sense of right and duty, did I not feel that the time had come for the question of woman's wrongs to be laid before the public, did I not believe that woman herself must do this work; for woman alone can understand the height, the depth, the length and breadth of her degradation..."
~Stanton's introduction of her support of suffrage at the Convention |
Before 1848, few feminists asked for suffrage. Many at the Convention, including Mott, argued that including suffrage made the other goals seem extreme. Nearly everyone at the Convention agreed that suffrage was a goal, but many disagreed with ignoring "practical" goals in favor of a "radical" political one. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass' eloquent speeches convinced a slim majority to accept the suffrage resolution.
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The Suffrage Movement
"For what shall you first petition? For the exercise of your right to the elective franchise — nothing short of this. The grant to you of this right will secure all others; and the granting of every other right while this is denied is a mockery."
-Elizabeth Cady Stanton, letter to Ohio feminists |
After Seneca Falls, feminists focused solely on suffrage, a new direction for the movement. Through the militant actions of many suffragettes, like Alice Paul, suffrage became the focus of a movement. |
Sam Bennett Audio Interview:
Alice Paul
"At the helm of WCF, Sam has fostered collaboration with many Sister Allied Organizations such as White House Project, National Organization for Women, Women's Media Center, Feminist Majority, Running Start, and WUFPAC."
-Women's Campaign Fund Website |