The historical event under investigation is the women’s suffrage movement and the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In the eighteenth century, the role of women in society was limited culturally and legally. While they were able to vote in some elections in a small number of states, the right to suffrage was taken from women after 1776, when states passed their separate constitutions (Thomas, 2020). As a result, women became fully excluded from any participation in the political development of their country. In 1848, the American women’s suffrage movement began during the Seneca Falls Convention (Wayne, 2020). More than 60 years later, the Nineteenth Amendment prohibiting voter discrimination based on sex was added to the U.S. Constitution. The event is significant because it entrenched women’s equality in law.
The secondary sources used to investigate this topic further recall the chronology of the women’s suffrage movement and the positions and activities of activists. First, the book Women’s Suffrage: The Complete Guide to the Nineteenth Amendment by Wayne (2020) presents a complete guide to the events that led to the development and acceptance of the Nineteenth Amendment. The source includes dates, names, and events that help one better understand the issue and its resolution. Moreover, Wayne (2020) discusses the movement’s pitfalls and the opposition to suffrage. The second source is an article, “Reclaiming the Long History of the “Irrelevant” Nineteenth Amendment for Gender Equality” by Thomas (2020), in which the author challenges the view of the amendment as “irrelevant” to modern politics. Furthermore, the paper discusses the controversial statements of suffragists to gain the public’s support while opposing social justice for African-American men and women. The sources have many similarities in their descriptions of suffrage, but the second paper relates to the modern world, and that is why they were selected. The works were chosen to present a full history of the movement and offer some reflection on the events.
Among the primary sources, two documents stand out as interesting and relevant to the topic. The first is the Congressional resolution that presents the phrasing for the new amendment and proposes its addition (The U.S. House of Representatives, 2023). It relates to the secondary works as a seminal part of suffrage achievements. The second source is a petition submitted to the U.S. Senate by the Women Voters Anti-Suffrage Party of New York. In this document, the party members outline their reasons against the considered amendment and urge the Senate not to vote in its favor (The U.S. Senate, 2023). It is interesting to connect the document to the arguments made by Thomas (2020) where the author shows that the issue of anti-feminism persists. These sources add to the researcher’s understanding of the challenging process that suffragists had to complete to achieve equal voting rights.
An interesting question arises based on the sources and the information presented in them. It is apparent that both men and women opposed the suffrage movement. However, the reasons behind such resistance varied greatly between individuals, including the fear of racial equality, as described by Thomas (2020) and Wayne (2020), and gender equality, as presented in primary documents (Records of the U.S. Senate, 2023). At the same time, the suffrage movement also gained supporters with differing views by exploiting some of the public’s fears of Black people’s voting rights (Thomas, 2020; Wayne, 2020). Thus, the research question for the paper is as follows: How did the anti-suffrage movement and public concerns about civil rights affect the suffragists’ message?
The historical event and its investigation may interest women and people of color, as it explores the complicated history behind the movement and its relationship with other activism efforts. Activists working for change now may also benefit from learning more about this topic to see the effect of public opinion on argument formulation. Therefore, it is necessary to tailor the message by outlining the main events in the paper and adding a brief explanation of terminology and theories if they are used in the essay. To communicate effectively, one must present clear connections between ideas, hypotheses, and arguments.
References
The U.S. House of Representatives. (2023). House Joint Resolution 1 regarding the 19th Amendment. DocsTeach. Web.
The U.S. Senate. (2023). Petition from Women Voters Anti-Suffrage Party of New York to the Senate. DocsTeach. Web.
Thomas, T. (2020). Reclaiming the long history of the “irrelevant” Nineteenth Amendment for gender equality. Minnesota Law Review, 105, 2623–2657.
Wayne, T. K. (Ed.). (2020). Women’s suffrage: The complete guide to the nineteenth amendment. ABC-CLIO.