Topic > A History of the Women's Suffrage Movement in America in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

An important issue that existed in America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was women's suffrage. Women across the country argued that they should have the right to have a say in political matters, especially when they affected themselves. The campaign began in the mid-1940s and various organizations were created. Two of the major unions were the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association. Leaders of the previous groups later merged the two into the National American Woman Suffrage Association, or NAWSA. They were Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To get what they sought, as did many other women, the key was persistence. Particular strategies included advertising, campaigning, protesting, picketing, and drawing inspiration from military tactics. Publicity was vital in gaining international recognition. The population needed to gain knowledge about current issues in their society. There were also people who opposed women's suffrage, known as traditionalists. They believed that women's place belonged in the home and that allowing them to be part of the political world would ruin family life, leading to the "moral degeneration of children and destroying the social fabric of the country." they were fighting for their rights, many organizations excluded African Americans. The National Association of Colored Women, founded by Nannie Helen Burroughs, campaigned for black women's suffrage. In an excerpt from the NAACP magazine known as Crisis, in 1915, Burroughs supports his position. Explaining that the “black man” is incapable of making conscious use of the vote, African American women must take on the role. He further states that "the Negro woman is quite superior in assuming moral responsibility." Comparing women to men regarding morality is absurd, because women pass on the obligations of church, school and economics to the home. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get Custom Essay Eventually, partial women's suffrage was achieved around 1918, with restrictions. The western and midwestern American states were the first to concede. Instead of uniting organizations all fighting for the same cause, women dispersed into groups fighting their own battles for their race separately. In 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, which established the right to vote of all citizens, regardless of sex and place of residence. After decades of unrest, tenacity and courage at their side, women finally managed to achieve victory, forever altering the American voting system..