From the President, 0820 WYBJ, Vol. 43 No. 4. 8
| Author | Kelly M. Neville Brown & Hiser, LLC Laramie, Wyoming |
| Position | Vol. 43 4 Pg. 8 |
It's About Time: Celebrating 100 Years of Women's Suffrage
Kelly M. Neville Brown & Hiser, LLC Laramie, Wyoming
The year was 1920. The United States was recovering from the Great War. President Woodrow Wilson’s efforts to establish the League of Nations came to fruition. The 18th Amendment banning the manufacture, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors came into effect, commencing the 13-year era of prohibition. The world was stricken with the Spanish Flu pandemic. The University of Wyoming established its own law school. Arguably, the biggest impact on democracy and our system of government was the ratification of the 19th Amendment on August 18, 1920
Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John as he worked with other Founding Fathers to frame the laws of the new nation. “If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation,” she admonished. In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton called for women to have the vote at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York, as work for women’s suffrage began in earnest. Four years later, Susan B. Anthony founded the National Women Suffrage Association.
In 1875, Ms. Anthony drafted an amendment granting women the right to vote for Congress’s consideration. However, the movement was split over competing priorities over who would get the vote first – black men or white women. Her amendment sat in limbo in Congress for more than 40 years. Ms. Anthony’s amendment was proposed for the 16th Amendment. As other amendments passed, it was proposed for the 17th Amendment, then the 18th Amendment, and finally the 19th Amendment.
Each individual state held the power to grant women the right to vote. Wyoming is proud of its heritage as the first state to do so in 1890, and this was followed by Colorado in 1893. Other states followed suit, mostly in the West where women were a small proportion of the population and suffrage was viewed as less consequential. By 1919, more than a dozen states had granted women the right to vote in every election. Some permitted only presidential suffrage and others permitted voting in municipal or other local elections. Almost ten states allowed no form of suffrage to its female citizens.
Finally, after 41...
To continue reading
Request your trial