Women’s Suffrage

Framework
This lesson has students explore how women succeeded in gaining the right to vote in this country. Until 1920, most states limited the right to vote to men (and in many states only white men). Over a period of about 75 years, a movement of American women used nonviolent tactics at both the state and federal levels to demand their right to vote. The outcome was the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1920.

Objectives
Activities will help students:

• understand that until the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, many states denied women the right to vote
• use primary and secondary sources to understand the ways that women advocated for the right to vote
• evaluate the importance of the federal government in securing women's right to vote

Essential Questions:

• Why did so many states deny women the right to vote? Why was women’s suffrage legal in some states?
• What strategies did women use to win the right to vote? Which were most successful? What made them successful?
• What role did state governments play in extending voting rights to women? What role did the federal government play?

Glossary

suffrage [suhf-rij]
(noun) the right to vote

suffragist [suhf-ruh-jist]
(noun) someone who wants to extend the right to vote; frequently used to refer to women

abridge [uh-brij]
(verb) to deprive; to limit 

Additional Resources
The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States, by Alexander Keyssar. Rev. ed. New York: Basic Books, 2009.

Iron Jaw Angels, a HBO film

Materials

Why Women Couldn’t Vote [2]

Suffragists Change Tactics in Fight for Equal Suffrage [3] and transcript [4] of the video

Strategy Cards [5]

Sandra Day O’Connor Views Alice Paul [6] and transcript [7] of the video

"Votes for Women!/The Woman’s Reason [8]"

"Women in the Home [9]"

Map of Woman Suffrage Before 1920 [10]

Activities
1. For some background information, read Why Women Couldn’t Vote [2]. It explains that in the early 1900s, the United States lacked a coherent national policy guaranteeing women the right to vote. This reading will prepare you for a more in-depth look at the women’s suffrage movement.

2. Different groups of women used different strategies to gain the right to vote. Watch Suffragists Change Tactics [3] from the NBC Learn archives.What are the three different phases of the suffrage movement identified by historian Sarah Chinn in the video? (Note: Moral persuasion, state-by-state and federal amendment. Have students write each one on chart paper and post each chart in a different corner of the room.)

3. (Note: Have students count off by threes.) Students who are "ones" go to the corner with moral persuasion sign, the “twos” go to the state-by-state sign and the “threes” to the federal amendment sign. (Note: Give each group the Strategy Card [5] that corresponds to the strategy identified in their corner. If you have enough computers in the classroom for each group to work on one, have groups work where they are. If you don’t, print a copy of the appropriate documents/transcripts ahead of time and give it to the group.) Read your group’s strategy card and discuss it together to see if you understand it. To get more information, view/read any sources identified on your group’s card, and do any additional research you need so that you have a solid understanding of your group’s beliefs and actions. Create a presentation for the class showing how your group went about trying to win votes for women. Which group might picket, march or chant in public places to draw attention to their cause? What would other groups do? Keep in mind that you want the rest of the class to understand the answers to these two questions: 1) What arguments did your group make about why women should have the right to vote? 2) How did they present those arguments?

4. Form groups of three, with each group having a representative from each of the three strategies (that is, one person from a moral persuasion group, one from a federal amendment group and one from a state-by-state group). Staying in character, discuss your group’s position on women’s suffrage and strategies. Make a three-way Venn diagram [11] to clarify what you have in common and how you differ. Study the diagram together. Have each person take a turn explaining why she either would or would not be willing to work with the other two groups to gain the right to vote. Tell the rest of the class about your group’s decision and how you reached it.

5. Read the Nineteenth Amendment [12]. Plan a celebration of its ratification, with each of the three groups contributing. Be creative with your contributions! They might include, for example, decorations, a speech, a song or costumes.

6. Finally, after the festivities, write an essay or prepare a presentation that addresses this question: Do you think women would have gotten the right to vote if the federal government had not proposed a constitutional amendment? Why or why not?

Standards
Activities and embedded assessments address the following standards from McREL 4th edition [13] and Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts [14].

Civics
8. Understands the central ideas of American constitutional government and how this form of government has shaped the character of American society

14. Understands issues concerning the disparities between ideals and reality in American political and social life

15. Understands how the United States Constitution grants and distributes power and responsibilities to national and state government and how it seeks to prevent the abuse of power

25. Understands issues regarding personal, political, and economic rights

28. Understands how participation in civic and political life can help citizens attain individual and public goals

United States History
20. Understands how Progressives and others addressed problems of industrial capitalism, urbanization, and political corruption

29. Understands the struggle for racial and gender equality and for the extension of civil liberties 

Common Core Standards: College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards [15]

Reading
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

Writing
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. 

Speaking and Listening
1. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.