A lecture given by Mardi Keyes at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts on July 2nd, 2021. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/
THE LONG BATTLE FOR WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE IN THE UNITED STATES
Winning the right to vote was one of many goals articulated at the first American Women’s Rights Convention, held in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. It took 72 years to achieve. On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Federal Constitution was adopted. It read, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Of all the women present at Seneca Falls, only nineteen-year-old Charlotte Woodward lived to cast her vote in the 1920 presidential election. Such a long campaign toward one goal, is unique in American History and could not have succeeded without political acumen and doggedness. In telling the story, we will consider some of the black and white women, whose courage and determination brought about this legislative victory. We will also consider why the opposition to women’s suffrage was so strong.
