Suffragist Movement in America Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Pa

Suffragist Movement in America On July 14, 1848, the American women’s suffrage movement was born. Lucretia Mott, Martha C. Wright, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Mary Ann McClintock decided to call a meeting on that day at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Seneca Falls; they discussed women's rights at what became known as the Seneca Falls Convention. Within this female discussion panel, the women historically announced through the â€Å"Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions† the beginning of their movement to win women the right to vote in political elections. American women demanded suffrage because they believed that it was the most crucial characteristic of full-citizenship. The underlying implication for this demand was that the women believed in the existence of their inalienable rights. When exercised, these natural rights maintain that women â€Å"should enjoy individual rights of self-government, rather than relying on indirect civic participation as the mothers, sisters, or daughters of male voters† (Pleck 1). Furthermore, woman suffrage asserted that women have the right to choose their own representatives. Guaranteeing women’s enfranchisement was difficult because of the approval women had to win from a male electorate that viewed the movement as ridiculous. Scores of men believed that women were in no way suited to take on the responsibility of voting. In fact, it was expected of many anti-suffragists and even respected psychologists to assume that the women who fought for suffrage were mentally ill. H.W. Frink believed that â€Å"a certain proportion of the†¦suffragists are neurotics who in some instances are compensating for masculine trends, in others, are more or less succ... ...men eventually received nationwide suffrage through a constitutional amendment, which was ratified by the states in August 1920. In the end American woman were granted the right to vote because of their significant participation during World War I. Annotation Movement Divisions. http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~mcevoy/movement.html. 16 November 2002. This website focused on the division that arose within the women’s suffrage movement and how the movement ended to win women the right to vote. Goldstein-LeVande, Meredith. Women’s Suffrage Introduction. http://www.history.rochester.edu/class/suffrage/home.htm. 16 November 2002. This website documented anti-suffragist sentiments. Pleck, Elizabeth H. Women’s Suffrage. http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/side/wsffrg.html. 16 November 2002. This website is a worldwide overview of women’s struggle for suffrage.