Women play an important part in early progress
215. The Women of Our Nation.Women have had a large part in the progress of our nation. In colonial days women often had to defend their homes against Indians. They endured the hardships of the first settlements as bravely as did the men. They had larger rights and greater freedom than in England at that time, because their help was so plainly necessary in this new country.
By 1850 nearly one-fourth of the nation's manufacturing was done by women, but otherwise until that time women's lives were spent almost entirely in their homes. Though no colleges were open to women until 1833, many mothers knew enough of books to prepare their sons for college at home.
Women's service in war
During the Revolution women formed a society called "Daughters of Liberty," to spin and sew for their soldiers. They gave their treasured pewter spoons and dishes to be melted up for bullets. As women have always done, they cared for the sick and wounded after battles.
ELIZABETH CADY STANTONFrom a photograph
ELIZABETH CADY STANTONFrom a photograph
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON
From a photograph
In the great Civil War, women were needed still more to nurse the wounded, for even then there was no Red Cross or large body of women who were nurses by profession to call upon. Women took the place of the men called to war in many ways, and especially in teaching schools. On both sides women worked in the fields, and sometimesacted as spies, or served, disguised, in the ranks. Southern women also entered the factories in large numbers. They had to meet even greater hardship than women in the North, and were often face to face with starvation.
On the frontier women had always worked in the fields when necessary, and often helped to build the houses they lived in. The fearless pioneering spirit and fine, sturdy character of these women won them the highest respect. This was one reason why western states were the first to grant women the right to vote.
Women's equality with men
Long before the Civil War great leaders in the cause of woman's advancement had appeared. These leaders saw that in many ways women had proved their equality with men. This encouraged them to appeal for wider opportunities for women, who then had almost no legal rights. The leaders now demanded the privileges enjoyed only by men. We should all know the stories of these women of wise and fearless vision.
Born, 1815
216. Elizabeth Cady Stanton.Elizabeth Cady was born in New York, in 1815. Her girlhood was a happy one, spent with her brother and sisters. She was a healthy, rosy-cheeked girl, full of life and fun, who believed girls were the equals of boys and had just as much intellect.
Studies hard
When Elizabeth was eleven years old her brother died. Her father grieved deeply over the loss of his only son, and Elizabeth determined to try to be to her father all that her brother might have been. She therefore applied herself diligently to study and self-improvement.
Finds woman's position unequal
Her father was a lawyer. He had been a member of Congress. Many hours out of school Elizabeth spent in his office, listening while his clients stated their cases. She gradually became indignant at what she found to be the unequal position of women in almost every walk of life. She determined to devote her life to securing for women the same rights and privileges that men had.
Marries Henry B. Stanton
While studying she did not neglect the arts of housekeeping. She regarded these as occupations of the highest dignity and importance. When twenty-five years old she married Henry B. Stanton, a lawyer and journalist who since his student days had talked and written against slavery. But she did not forget her old resolve to struggle for the rights of women, even when occupied with the duties of home and children.
Calls woman's rights convention
217. The First Woman's Rights Convention.In 1848 Mrs. Stanton called a woman's rights convention—the first ever held. Its purpose was "to discuss the social, civil, and religious conditions and rights of women."
"Declaration of Sentiments"
Women demand the right to vote
Mrs. Stanton read to the convention a set of twelve resolutions, the now famous "Declaration of Sentiments." It demanded for women equality with men and "all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States," including the right to vote. This was the first public demand for woman's suffrage. The resolutions were passed. A storm of ridicule followed the convention, but Mrs. Stanton's position remained unchanged.
SUSAN B. ANTHONYFrom a photograph by Veeder, Albany, N.Y.
SUSAN B. ANTHONYFrom a photograph by Veeder, Albany, N.Y.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY
From a photograph by Veeder, Albany, N.Y.
Susan B. Anthony, 1820
218. Susan B. Anthony.A few years after this historic convention, Mrs. Stanton met Susan B. Anthony. Miss Anthony was the daughter of Friends, or Quakers as they are often called. She was born at South Adams, Massachusetts, in 1820. Her father maintained a school at Battenville, New York, and here Susan received her early education.
Teaches school
Won to the cause of woman's rights
From her seventeenth birthday until she met Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony had been engaged in teaching school. But now the great national questions of anti-slavery and temperance were drawing her away from her work as a teacher. At first Miss Anthony had not been in sympathy with the Declaration of Sentiments, but when she met Mrs. Stanton the cause of woman's rights won an able, enthusiastic, and untiring friend.
National Woman's Suffrage Association
From this time on these two fought side by side for the cause of women. They traveled and lectured in all parts of the country. In 1868 they started a weekly paper, which they calledThe Revolution. Miss Anthony was the business manager and Mrs. Stanton was the editor. Its motto was, "The True Republic—men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less."
Miss Anthony casts vote for President
In 1869 they organized the National Woman's Suffrage Association. In many states the question of womansuffrage became an important one at election. Wherever they were needed, in California, in New York, or in any other state, these two women could be found. Every year from 1869 until her death, in 1906, Miss Anthony addressed committees of Congress. In 1872 she cast a vote for President. She declared it to be her right under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. For this act she was arrested and fined, but the fine was never collected.
Women win suffrage
Mrs. Stanton died in 1902. The great movement she had started was on its way to certain victory. Congress passed the suffrage amendment in 1919, and in August, 1920, it became law. Over twenty-five million women were entitled to vote in the presidential elections that year.