2. Outline
A little history. . .
Some sociological jargon . . .
What we now know about social
movement success . . .
What does it matter?
3. Abigail Adams to John Adams
March 31, 1776
"I long to hear that you have declared an
independency. And, by the way, in the new
code of laws which I suppose it will be
necessary for you to make, I desire you would
remember the ladies and be more generous
and favorable to them than your ancestors.
"Do not put such unlimited power into the
hands of the husbands. Remember, all men
would be tyrants if they could. If particular
care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we
are determined to foment a rebellion, and will
not hold ourselves bound by any laws in
which we have no voice or representation.”
4. Early activists
A Vindication of the Rights
of Woman (Mary
Wollstonecraft, 1792)—
The 19th century
“triumvirate” of woman
suffrage
Susan B. Anthony
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Lucy Stone Blackwell
+Lucretia Mott
The Subjection of Women
(John Stuart Mill with
Harriet Taylor Mill)--1851
5. What did these women want?
Declaration of Sentiments 1848
Elective Franchise (suffrage)
Property Ownership
Freedom from dominance of husbands and
recognition before the law
Custody of children in case of divorce
Access to well paying occupations
Educational opportunities
Public participation in the affairs of their churches
Representation as a tax paying citizen
6. Conservatism and Woman Suffrage
Woman’s Christian
Temperance Union, 1873
Francis Willard
Focus on social reform
Alcoholism
Prohibition
Moral reform
Prison reform
Evangelical Christian
“more traditionally
feminine and appropriate
organization for women”
7. Mountain West led the way
1869: Wyoming territorial legislature extends the vote to women.
1870: Utah territorial legislature extends the vote to women.
1870: Colorado territorial legislature does not grant women the right to
vote.
1876: Colorado enters the Union without enfranchising women.
1877: Colorado’s first woman suffrage referendum campaign goes
down to defeat. Women receive the right to vote in school elections and
to hold school office (partial suffrage).
1883: Washington territorial legislature extends the vote to women.
1887: Congress rescinds woman suffrage in Utah. Territorial Supreme
Court of Washington rescinds woman suffrage.
1890: Wyoming admitted to the Union as a suffrage state.
1895: Utah Statehood Convention approves woman suffrage.
1893: Colorado becomes the first state to grant women the right to vote
by popular referendum.
1896: Idaho adopts a constitutional amendment granting suffrage to
women.
8. Utah Suffrage Movement
Support from anti-polygamy activists in the East
Mormon women organized through the Relief
Society
LDS Church leadership
supportive
Lost vote; Edmunds-
Tucker Act of 1887.
9. Woman suffrage successes by 1919,
a state by state strategy
WA
1910 MT
1914
OR
1912 ID SD NY
1896 MI 1917
WY 1918 1918
1890
NV
1914 UT
CA 1896 CO
1911 1893 KS
1912
AZ OK
1912 1918
Full Suffrage
1890 - 1896
1910 - 1914
1915 - 1918
No Suffrage
10. Was there something about the West?
Not easy
More successes
Successes came earlier
11 Western states have the vote by 1912
Encouraged women in the East
Susan B. Anthony votes in 1872 election after touring Western
states
Alice Paul and the Women’s Party (13 Western states have the
vote)
pickets the White House
hunger strike
Women in the West can vote?#!@
11. Woman suffrage Social movements
Labor movement
Civil Rights movement
Women’s movement
Anti-War movements
Pro-Choice
Right to Life
LGBT movement
Environmental
movement
Tea Party
Occupy Wall Street
12. Social movements
Social movements
Organized action
Focused on specific political or social issues.
Carry out, resist, or undo social change.
Made up of many different social movement organizations
Suffrage movement consisted of many different
SMOs (social movement organizations)
National Woman Suffrage (1869)
American Woman Suffrage (1869)
National American Woman Suffrage Movement (1890)
Women’s Party (Alice Paul & Lucy Burns 1917)
Women’s Christian Temperance Union (1873) finally joins suffrage
movement under the leadership of Francis Willard
13. Do social movements matter?
Sometimes,
but not always,
and only in certain ways
14. What does matter?
“WHETHER A MOUNTAIN CAN BE MOVED DEPENDS AS
MUCH ON THE CHARACTER OF THE MOUNTAIN AS ON
THE RESOURCES, STRATEGIES, AND COMMITMENT OF
THE WOULD-BE MOVER”
15. The Character of the Mountain matters
The political process matters
Rules and regulations regarding how to change the
constitution
Constitutional majority required
# of sessions required
Support of political elites
Party support
Openness of the political system
Initiative and referendum
Third Party challengers
16. Paths to woman suffrage
Constitutional Convention
Seven conventions, three successful (Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska)
Initiative and Referenda
Nine initiatives, two successful (Oregon and Arizona)
Legislation
582 bills between 1854 and 1918
24 state legislatures passed full suffrage amendments at least once
56 total referenda between 1867 and 1920
40 via legislative process
9 initiative and referenda
7 constitutional convention
18. Legislating suffrage
Legislative process
Bill introduced by a state senator or representative
Bill read and sent to committee
Bills often stalled in committee or returned from committee
with unfriendly proposal
Third reading and roll-call vote.
As constitutional amendment, majority varied
51%
2/5
2/3
¾
Introduced in the other house.
19. Summary of legislative successes
1860-1879 1880-1899 1900-1919 Total
Sessions 576 504 435 1515
Bill introduced 55 104 181 290
Roll call vote 31 70 103 204
Passed 1 house 16 29 60 115
Passed 2 houses 6 22 39 67
Success rate 1% 4.5% 9%
*Only 56 referenda held out of the 67. Some legislatures required that the
amendment pass in consecutive sessions; in some states there was a limit as to how
many amendments could be on the ballot.
21. Opportunities for mobilization are
not opportunities for policy reform
Activists Politicians
Sense of political efficacy Legislators respond to threats
instigates action to their political careers
Seek confirmation goals are Responsible to the will of the
within reach people
Attend to shifts in public
Spurred on by “small
opinion
victories”
Seek for ways to symbolically
Consider different strategies, appease activists
weigh different tactics Are less responsive at most
Outline sequence of actions consequential stages of political
toward end goals process
23. Strong indicators of success?
Women’s employment in
professional occupations
provided resources for
establishing state suffrage
organizations
Bill passage more likely in
states with greater
involvement of women in
non-agricultural
employment
24. What stalls the progress of change?
Lack of agreement among women
Intersections of race, social class, religion, marital
status, sexual orientation, age, nation.
Interests are shaped by the things that divide.
Black women voting rights sacrificed
Regional divides (East vs. West)
Agendas (social agendas vs. voting)
Religious women and well-to-do women did not support
suffrage battle in early years
25. Insights for creating policy changes
Organizing social movements is an activity worlds
apart from creating change
Mobilizing resources—human capital, finances, adherents
Reading the environment, planning, and strategizing
Framing issues and drawing media attention
Accessing support of political system is difficult;
early support more easily achieved than in
consequential stage of the legislation.
Suffrage movement was successful because women
coalesced on one issue.
